Middle Atlantic Conferences

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

Formerly	Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletics Association Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Conference
Association	NCAA
Founded	1912
Commissioner	Megan Morrison
Sports fielded	27 men's: 14 women's: 13
Division	Division III
No. of teams	16 (8, MAC Commonwealth; 8, MAC Freedom)
Headquarters	Annville, Pennsylvania
Region	Mid-Atlantic
Official website	gomacsports.com
Locations

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

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

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

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

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. Conference records prior to 1946 are incomplete so years given are the earliest known that were officially recorded.^[1]

MAC Freedom

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

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

Main article: List of former Middle Atlantic Conference members

Sports

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

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

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	Y		7
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	8	15	15	12	10	5	89

Women's Sports

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

1. "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. "Best Colleges". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
9. "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. "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.

External links

• Official website
• Media related to Middle Atlantic Conferences at Wikimedia Commons