Middle Atlantic Conferences

Updated on Dec 19, 2023

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Established 1912 Division Division III Region Mid-Atlantic		Association NCAA Members 17

Sports fielded 24 (men's: 12; women's: 12)

The Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) is an umbrella organization of three athletic conferences that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The 18 member teams are in the Mid-Atlantic United States.

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

History

In 1912, the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletics Association (MASCAA) was founded primarily as a track association and had its first event, a track meeting, 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. 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.

Throughout 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: Commonwealth, Freedom, and Middle Atlantic.

In May 2006, the organization offered membership to Arcadia University and Manhattanville College as part of the Freedom Conference. 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 Freedom to the Commonwealth Conference.

In 2007, Alvernia University, Misericordia University, and Eastern University, all from the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference, accepted membership in the Freedom Conference and started participation in the 2008–09 school year. Starting in the 2009–10 school year, Alvernia switched from the Freedom to the Commonwealth Conference to balance both conferences with eight teams each. Stevenson University and Hood College accepted invitations to join the MAC and Commonwealth starting in July 2012 expanding the conference to 18 members.

Upon completion of the 2013–14 academic year, Elizabethtown College moved to the Landmark Conference. The switch was effective July 1, 2014.

MAC football

In 1958, the MAC began sponsoring football. The football conference essentially operated as two separate conferences with the larger schools (Delaware, Temple, Lafayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, Gettysburg, and Rutgers) playing a round robin schedule, and the smaller schools (Juniata, Lycoming, Wilkes, Widener, and Albright) playing a separate round robin schedule. Although the upper division of the conference (which also included Muhlenberg, Drexel, La Salle, and St. Joe'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 Delaware, Lafayette, Lehigh, Gettysburg, and Bucknell 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 between 8 MAC members. Eventually, those 8 schools and two others broke apart from the MAC for all sports, founding the Centennial Conference. Since the Centennial Conference break in 1991, all league members that sponsor football have competed in the MAC Football Conference.

Commonwealth Conference

‡ — Conference records prior to 1946 are incomplete so years given are the earliest known that were officially recorded.

Freedom Conference

‡ — Conference records prior to 1946 are incomplete so years given are the earliest known that were officially recorded.

Sports

Member teams currently compete in 24 sports, 12 men's and 12 women's. With the addition of men's and women's ice hockey and men's volleyball in 2017–18, the only NCAA Division III sport not sponsored by the MAC will be women's rowing.