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Middle Atlantic Conferences

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The Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) is an umbrella organization of three intercollegiate athletic conferences that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The 16 member colleges are in the Mid-Atlantic United States.

Middle Atlantic Conferences
FormerlyMiddle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletics Association
Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Conference
AssociationNCAA
Founded1912
CommissionerMegan Morrison
Sports fielded
  • 27
    • men's: 14
    • women's: 13
DivisionDivision III
No. of teams16 (8, MAC Commonwealth; 8, MAC Freedom)
HeadquartersAnnville, Pennsylvania
RegionMid-Atlantic
Official websitegomacsports.com
Locations
Location of teams in {{{title}}}

The organization is divided into two main conferences: the MAC Commonwealth and the MAC Freedom. A third conference, named the Middle Atlantic Conference (singular), draws members from both the Commonwealth and Freedom conferences and sponsors sports that only a certain set of members participate in, such as track & field and cross country.

History

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In 1912, the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletics Association (MASCAA) was founded primarily as a track association and had its first event, a track meet, at Lafayette College in May 1913. In 1922, it was reorganized as the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC or MAC). The original 13 members present at the formation meeting in 1922 were: Bucknell University, Drexel University, Franklin & Marshall College, Gettysburg College, Haverford College, Muhlenberg College, New York University, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Susquehanna University, Swarthmore College, and the University of Delaware.[1] In addition, another five members who were not present at the initial meeting but formally approved of the plan were: Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, Lehigh University, Ursinus College, and Widener University.[1]

During its history, the organization has had at least 50 different members associated with it. The conference had as many as 37 members at one time in the late 1950s. A major reduction in the league occurred in 1974 after the NCAA created Divisions I, II, and III. At that time, 11 members left to form the Division I East Coast Conference and by 1976, the MAC became fully associated with Division III. An additional 11 members left in 1992 to form the Centennial Conference; the football programs for eight of those schools had already left in 1981. In 1999, the current corporation formed with its three conferences: MAC Commonwealth, MAC Freedom, and Middle Atlantic.[1]

Arcadia University and Manhattanville College joined MAC Freedom for 2007–08. They replaced Juniata College, Drew University, Moravian College, Susquehanna University, and the University of Scranton, who left to join the new Landmark Conference. To offset the change in numbers, it was also decided to switch Lycoming College from the MAC Freedom to the MAC Commonwealth.

Alvernia University, Misericordia University, and Eastern University, all from the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference, accepted membership in the MAC Freedom and started participation in the 2008–09 school year.[1] Starting in the 2009–10 school year, Alvernia switched from the MAC Freedom to the MAC Commonwealth, thereby giving the Commonwealth and Freedom leagues the same number of members.

Stevenson University and Hood College accepted invitations to join the MAC and MAC Commonwealth starting with the 2012–13, expanding the conference to 18 members.[2] Elizabethtown College moved to the Landmark Conference for 2014–15. In May 2018, Manhattanville College announced that they would leave the MAC Freedom Conference and return to the Skyline Conference for the 2019–20 academic year. Manhattanville was a charter member of the Skyline before leaving to join the MAC in 2007.[3] Three months later, the MAC announced that Stevens Institute of Technology, which had left the conference in 1978, would return in 2019–20 and replace Manhattanville in the MAC Freedom.[4] In April 2019, the MAC announced that York College of Pennsylvania would join the MAC Commonwealth in 2020–21.[5]

In May 2019, the MAC announced it would realign the Commonwealth and Freedom conferences into two equally-sized leagues effective with York's arrival in 2020. At that time, Arcadia and Lycoming moved from the MAC Commonwealth to the MAC Freedom, while Eastern made the opposite move.[6]

In February 2022, the Landmark Conference announced that Wilkes University and Lycoming College accepted invitations to the conference starting in the 2023-24 season.[7]

MAC football

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In 1958, the MAC began sponsoring football. The football conference essentially operated as three separate conferences with the larger schools (Bucknell, Delaware, Gettysburg, Lafayette, Lehigh, Muhlenberg, Rutgers, and Temple) playing a round-robin schedule in the "University Division," and the smaller schools being split into the "College Division - North" (Albright, Dickinson, Juniata, Lebanon Valley, Lycoming, Moravian, Susquehanna, Wagner, and Wilkes) and the "College Division - South" (Drexel, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, Pennsylvania Military, Swarthmore, Ursinus, and Western Maryland) each playing a separate round-robin schedule. Although the upper division of the conference (which later included Drexel, La Salle, and Saint Joseph's) competed at the Division I (then known as the University Division) level in other sports, only Rutgers was considered a University Division football school. Following the 1969 season, the upper level of MAC football was disbanded as Temple dropped out to upgrade their football schedule. Rutgers had previously dropped out of the MAC for all sports and a five-team football league was not desirable. The lower division continued as MAC football, but Bucknell, Delaware, Gettysburg, Lafayette, and Lehigh operated as football independents for the rest of their tenure with the league. Numerous other MAC schools competed in other football leagues throughout most of the league's history.

In 1983, the Centennial Football League was formed by eight MAC members. Eventually, those eight schools and two others broke apart from the MAC for all sports, founding the Centennial Conference in 1991. Since then, all league members that sponsor football have competed in the MAC Football Conference.

Member schools

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30km
20miles
 
Neumann
 
Wilkes
 
York
 
Widener
 
Stevenson
 
Stevens
 
Misericordia
 
Messiah
 
Lebanon Valley
 
King's
 
Hood
 
Farleigh Dickinson
 
Eastern
 
DeSales
 
Delaware Valley
 
Arcadia
 
Alvernia
 
Albright
Locations of current MAC members.
  MAC Commonwealth
  MAC Freedom
  Affiliates

MAC Commonwealth

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Main article: MAC Commonwealth
Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment[8] Nickname Joined
MAC![a][b] 		Colors
Albright College Reading, Pennsylvania 1856 Methodist 2,304 Lions 1945–46[c]    
Alvernia University Reading, Pennsylvania 1958 Catholic 2,872 Golden Wolves 2008–09    
Eastern University St. Davids, Pennsylvania 1925 Baptist 3,420 Eagles 2008–09    
Hood College Frederick, Maryland 1893 Reformed 1,174 Blazers 2012–13    
Messiah University Grantham, Pennsylvania 1909 Christian 3,305 Falcons 1983–84    
Stevenson University Stevenson, Maryland 1947 Nonsectarian 3,621 Mustangs 2012–13    
Widener University Chester, Pennsylvania 1821 Nonsectarian 6,402 Pride 1946–47[c]    
York College of Pennsylvania York, Pennsylvania 1787 Nonsectarian 5,564 Spartans 2020–21    
Notes
  1. ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
  2. ^ Date when the school joined the overall MAC; this does not necessarily reflect when that school joined MAC Commonwealth.
  3. ^ a b Conference records prior to 1946 are incomplete so years given are the earliest known that were officially recorded.[1]

MAC Freedom

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Main article: MAC Freedom
Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment[8] Nickname Joined
MAC![a][b] 		Colors
Arcadia University Glenside, Pennsylvania 1853 Presbyterian 2,473 Knights 2007–08    
Delaware Valley University Doylestown, Pennsylvania 1896 Nonsectarian 2,375 Aggies 1965–66    
DeSales University Center Valley, Pennsylvania 1965 Catholic 3,309 Bulldogs 1997–98    
Fairleigh Dickinson University–Florham Madison, New Jersey 1942 Nonsectarian 2,546 Devils 1977–78    
King's College Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 1946 Catholic 2,421 Monarchs 1977–78    
Lebanon Valley College Annville, Pennsylvania 1866 Methodist 1,712 Flying Dutchmen 1945–46[c]    
Misericordia University Dallas, Pennsylvania 1924 Catholic 2,879 Cougars 2008–09    
Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, New Jersey 1870 Nonsectarian 5,260 Ducks 1946–47,
2019–20[d] 		   
Notes
  1. ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
  2. ^ Date when the school joined the overall MAC; this does not necessarily reflect when that school joined MAC Freedom.
  3. ^ Conference records prior to 1946 are incomplete so years given are the earliest known that were officially recorded.[1]
  4. ^ Stevens is officially listed as having been a MAC member in 1946, the earliest year for which complete conference records exist. However, because it was represented at the original formation meeting of the all-sports MAC in 1922, it is often regarded as a founding member. Stevens left the MAC after the 1977–78 school year; before re-joining back, effective in the 2019–20 school year.[1]

Affiliates

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Institution Location Nickname Founded Affiliation Enrollment MAC
sport(s) 		Year
joined 		Primary
conference 		Colors
Neumann University Aston, Pennsylvania Knights 1965 Catholic
(Franciscan) 		3,000 ice hockey 2024–25[9] Atlantic East (AEC)      
Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Colonels 1933 Private 5,000 ice hockey 2024–25[9] Landmark    

Former members

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Main article: List of former Middle Atlantic Conference members

Sports

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See also: Middle Atlantic Conference men's basketball tournaments

Member teams currently compete in 27 sports, 14 men's and 13 women's.[10] The most recently added sports are men's and women's ice hockey and men's volleyball, all added for 2017–18. The MAC now sponsors all NCAA Division III sports except women's rowing.[11]

Conference sports
Sport Men's Women's
Baseball  Y
Basketball  Y  Y
Cross Country  Y  Y
Field Hockey  Y
Football  Y
Ice Hockey  Y  Y
Golf  Y  Y
Lacrosse  Y  Y
Soccer  Y  Y
Softball  Y
Swimming  Y  Y
Tennis  Y  Y
Track & field (indoor)  Y  Y
Track & field (outdoor)  Y  Y
Volleyball  Y  Y
Wrestling  Y

Middle Atlantic Conference

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The Middle Atlantic Conference combines schools from both the MAC Commonwealth and MAC Freedom and is currently used for cross country, football, women's golf, ice hockey, track & field (indoor / outdoor), swimming, men's volleyball, and wrestling.[11] The MAC officially sponsored men's and women's ice hockey for many year but it wasn't until the addition of Neumann and Wilkes as affiliate members that the conference received an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament. As a result the first MAC ice hockey tournaments will take place in 2025.[9] Previously, the MAC used the regular-season results of UCHC games involving all MAC members to extrapolate a MAC champion (the same model used by the Ivy League, which has a similar relationship with ECAC Hockey).

Men's Sports

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Team Cross
Country
 Football
[12] 		Ice
Hockey
 Indoor
Track
& Field 		Outdoor
Track
& Field 		Swimming Volleyball Wrestling Totals
Albright  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 5
Alvernia  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
Arcadia  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
DeSales  Y  Y  Y 3
Delaware Valley  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 5
Eastern  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 5
FDU-Florham  Y  Y  Y 3
Hood  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 5
King's  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 8
Lebanon Valley  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
Messiah  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
Misericordia  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
Stevens  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
Stevenson  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 7
Widener  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
York  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 5
Neumann  Y 1
Wilkes  Y 1
Totals 16 10 7 15 15 12 10 5 89

Women's Sports

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Team Cross Country Golf Ice Hockey Indoor
Track & Field 		Outdoor
Track & Field 		Swimming Totals
Albright  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 5
Alvernia  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 5
Arcadia  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
DeSales  Y  Y  Y 3
Delaware Valley  Y  Y  Y  Y 4
Eastern  Y  Y  Y  Y 4
FDU-Florham  Y  Y  Y 3
Hood  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 5
King's  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
Lebanon Valley  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
Messiah  Y  Y  Y  Y 4
Misericordia  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 5
Stevens  Y  Y  Y  Y 4
Stevenson  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 6
Widener  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 5
York  Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 5
Neumann  Y 1
Wilkes  Y 1
Totals 16 13 7 15 15 12 78

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "A History of the Middle Atlantic Conferences" (PDF). Middle Atlantic Conferences. August 4, 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  2. ^ "Latest News". NCAA.org. Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
  3. ^ "Manhattanville to Join Skyline Conference in 2019-20 Academic Year". Skyline Conference. Skyline Conference. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  4. ^ "MAC Welcomes Stevens Institute of Technology Back in 2019-20" (Press release). Middle Atlantic Conferences. August 15, 2018. Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  5. ^ "MAC to Add York (Pa.) as 18th Member Beginning in 2020-21" (Press release). Middle Atlantic Conferences. April 2, 2019. Archived from the original on April 23, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  6. ^ "MAC Announces Realignment for 2020-21" (Press release). Middle Atlantic Conferences. May 7, 2019. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  7. ^ "Landmark Membership to Expand; Lycoming & Wilkes to Join in '23" (Press release). Landmark Conference. February 10, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Best Colleges". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  9. ^ a b c "Wilkes and Neumann join the MAC as Associate Members in Ice Hockey". MAC. October 12, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  10. ^ "History". Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  11. ^ a b "MAC to Sponsor Ice Hockey and Men's Volleyball Beginning 2017-18" (Press release). Middle Atlantic Conferences. October 12, 2016. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  12. ^ "Middle Atlantic Conference". D3Football.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
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