Bismarck State College announces move to NAIA, Frontier Conference

BISMARCK Bismarck State College is heading to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Frontier Conference.

The school announced its transition from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) to the NAIA for athletics Thursday night, Oct.

24, as the college moves from a two-year to a four-year institution.

Its exciting, said BSC athletic director Myron Schulz.

Weve called it a rebirth.

Schulz said moving to a four-year school is in line with the schools polytechnic mission on the academic side and also allows for growth in athletics.

Its nice that we can have athletes around for two more years, Schulz said.

Were looking to grow our sports portfolio.

BSC is set to join the Frontier Conference which is based in Helena, Montana as a full-time conference member for the 2025-2026 school year.

Dickinson State, Mayville State and Valley City State are also scheduled to join the Frontier league in 2025-2026.

Those NAIA schools are from the North Star Athletic Association, which is set to dissolve after this school year.

Its huge, Schulz said of having a conference landing spot that includes multiple schools based in North Dakota.

The Frontier Conference will have 12 full-time members, including BSC, in 2025-2026 along with five football-only affiliate members.

Today is the culmination of a lot of heavy lifting by a terrific group of people getting the conference to 12 full-member institutions," said Scott Crawford, Frontier Conference Commissioner, via news release.

"We have been very intentional about getting sports schedules set for the 2025-26 academic year believing this day would come." The Mystics currently dont have a football program.

Weve had it before, Schulz said.

Its not in the queue, but the idea is floating out there.

Bismarck State College currently offers baseball, basketball, cross country, track and field, rodeo, mens wrestling, womens volleyball, clay target and esports.

Schulz said womens wrestling is among the sports the athletic department is looking to add as it moves to NAIA.

The first BSC athletic team was men's basketball in 1940 after the school was established in 1939.

Multiple other sports were launched in the 1940s.

Bismarck State College will allow the Frontier Conference to have six schools with baseball programs so it can have a conference with an automatic qualifier for NAIA tournaments in that sport.

BSC has already broken ground on a $40 million athletic facility that is set to house multiple sports, including basketball, volleyball and wrestling.

The Bavendick Center is expected to reach completion in January of 2026.

The Mystics will compete in the MonDak Athletic Conference through the end of this school year.

There also is a little bittersweet with the people in the MonDak Conference, Schulz said..

This article has been shared from the original article on inforum, here is the link to the original article.