The Red River Athletic Conference began competition in fall 1998 with 16 charter members.

[1] The conference at present counts 14 members, one of the most recent additions being Texas A&M University–Texarkana in 2016.

[5][6] Xavier and Louisiana Christian officially joined the RRAC for the 2021–22 academic year.

On January 20, 2022, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) invited founding Red River member Wiley College (now Wiley University) to become the GCAC's first Texas institution, effective later in July.

[7] On July 6, 2023, North American University was accepted as the RRAC's 14th conference member for the 2023–24 school year.