North Coast Athletic Conference

The North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of colleges located in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania. When founded in 1984, the league was a pioneer in gender equality, offering competition in a then-unprecedented 10 women's sports. Today it remains true to that legacy, sponsoring 23 sports, 11 for men and 12 for women.

North Coast Athletic Conference
NCAC
Established1983
AssociationNCAA
DivisionDivision III
Members10
Sports fielded
  • 23
    • men's: 11
    • women's: 12
RegionGreat Lakes
HeadquartersWestlake, Ohio
CommissionerKeri Alexander Luchowski
Websitehttp://www.northcoast.org
Locations

The NCAC is respected for the academic strength of its member institutions all of which have Phi Beta Kappa chapters. In its most recent college rankings, U.S. News & World Report recognized all 10 members as top-tier liberal arts colleges, and ranked five NCAC institutions among the nation's top 70 such colleges.

History

The formation of the NCAC was announced at joint news conferences in Cleveland, Columbus and Pittsburgh on February 1983. Allegheny College, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University, and The College of Wooster were charter members in 1984, the same year that NCAC athletic conference play began.

In 1988, Earlham College and Wittenberg College accepted invitations to join the NCAC, pushing conference membership to nine schools in three states. The two schools would begin play in the fall of 1989. In 1998, Hiram College, and Wabash College accepted invitations to join the NCAC, pushing conference membership to 10 schools in three states, which both schools began play in the fall of 1999. Case Western Reserve, a charter member of the NCAC, announced that it would leave the NCAC following the 1998-99 academic year. The Spartans would compete on a full-time basis in the University Athletic Association (UAA) after more than a decade of joint conference membership affiliation.

Earlham announced it would depart the NCAC for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC), beginning with the 2010-11 season. DePauw University became the 10th member of the NCAC beginning in the 2011-12 season.

Member schools

Current members

The league currently has 10 full members:

Institution Location Nickname Colors Founded Type Enrollment 2017 US News
ranking [1]
2017 Forbes
Top Colleges [2]
Joined
Allegheny College Meadville, Pennsylvania Gators     1815 Private/Methodist 2,100 #82 #304 1984
Denison University Granville, Ohio Big Red     1831 Private/Non-sectarian 2,100 #46 #120 1984
DePauw University Greencastle, Indiana Tigers     1837 Private/Methodist 2,350 #53 #117 2011
Hiram College Hiram, Ohio Terriers     1850 Private/Disciples of Christ 1,395 #141 #619 1999
Kenyon College Gambier, Ohio Lords (men's)
Ladies (women's)
    1824 Private/Episcopal 1,640 #26 #63 1984
Oberlin College Oberlin, Ohio Yeomen (men's)
Yeowomen (women's)
    1833 Private/Non-sectarian 2,850 #26 #53 1984
Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware, Ohio Battling Bishops     1842 Private/Methodist 1,850 #101 #408 1984
Wabash College* Crawfordsville, Indiana Little Giants   1832 Private/Non-sectarian 850 #65 #214 1999
Wittenberg University Springfield, Ohio Tigers     1845 Private/Lutheran 2,050 #158 #340 1988
The College of Wooster Wooster, Ohio Fighting Scots     1866 Private/Presbyterian 1,827 #63 #245 1984

* Wabash is an all-male institution, therefore does not sponsor women's teams.

Former members

Institution Location Nickname Founded Type Enrollment Joined Left Current conference
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio Spartans 1826 Private 11,824 1984 1999 UAA
Earlham College Richmond, Indiana Quakers 1847 Private 1,181 1988 2010 HCAC

Membership timeline

DePauw UniversityWabash CollegeHiram CollegeWittenberg CollegeHeartland Collegiate Athletic ConferenceEarlham CollegeCollege of WoosterOhio Wesleyan UniversityOberlin CollegeKenyon CollegeDenison UniversityUniversity Athletic AssociationCase Western Reserve UniversityAllegheny College

See also

References

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