North_Coast_Athletic_Conference Knowpia

North Coast Athletic Conference
Association	NCAA
Founded	1983
Commissioner	Keri Alexander Luchowski
Sports fielded	23 men's: 11; women's: 12; ;
Division	Division III
No. of teams	9 (10 in 2025)
Headquarters	Cleveland, Ohio
Region	Great Lakes
Official website	http://www.northcoast.org
Locations

The North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of colleges located in Ohio and Indiana. It sponsors 23 sports, 11 for men and 12 for women.

North Coast Athletic Conference

100km
62miles

Wooster

Wittenberg

Wabash

Ohio Wesleyan

Oberlin

Kenyon

Hiram

DePauw

Denison

John Carroll

Location of NCAC members:

full members and

future full member.

History edit

The formation of the NCAC was announced at joint news conferences in Cleveland, Columbus and Pittsburgh in 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. The conference offered 10 women's sports, the most offered by a conference at that time.

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.

Allegheny left the NCAC after the 2021–22 school year to return to its former home of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Allegheny and Earlham remain single-sport NCAC members in field hockey.^[1]

The most recent change to the NCAC membership was announced on January 18, 2024, when John Carroll University announced it was leaving the Ohio Athletic Conference to join the NCAC. Previously, on November 15, 2022, Transylvania University and Washington & Jefferson College joined the NCAC as single-sport members in the sport of field hockey, beginning with the 2023 season.

Chronological timeline edit

1983 - In February 1983, the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) was founded. Charter members included Allegheny College, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University and The College of Wooster, effective beginning the 1984–85 academic year.
1988 - Earlham College and Wittenberg College joined the NCAC, effective in the 1989–90 academic year.
1999 - Case Western Reserve left the NCAC to fully align all of its sports to the University Athletic Association (UAA), effective after the 1998–99 academic year.
1998 - Hiram College and Wabash College joined the NCAC, effective in the 1999–2000 academic year.
2010 - Earlham left the NCAC to join the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC), effective after the 2009–10 academic year.
2011 - DePauw University joined the NCAC, effective in the 2011–12 academic year.
2022 - Allegheny left the NCAC to rejoin the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) after a 38-year absence, effective in the 2022–23 academic year.
2024 - John Carroll University announces they will depart the Ohio Athletic Conference to join the NCAC effective in the 2025–26 academic year.^[2]

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives edit

In 2019, the NCAC was one of the first NCAA conferences to participate in the organization's LGBTQ OneTeam Program, which launched in fall 2019. Two facilitators from the NCAC – Seth Hayes of Denison University and Rhea Debussy of Kenyon College – were among the first 30 facilitators for this NCAA Division III program.^[3] In 2021, the NCAA announced that two NCAC staff members – Kate Costanzo of Allegheny College and Rhea Debussy of Kenyon College – were finalists for the NCAA Division III LGBTQ Administrator/Coach/Staff of the Year Award.^[4]

Member schools edit

Current members edit

The NCAC currently has nine full members, all private schools.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	2022 US News ranking^[5]	2021 Forbes Top Colleges^[6]	Nickname	Joined
Denison University	Granville, Ohio	1831	Nonsectarian	2,100	42	288	Big Red	1984
DePauw University	Greencastle, Indiana	1837	Methodist	2,350	46	130	Tigers	2011
Hiram College	Hiram, Ohio	1850	Disciples of Christ	1,395	—	—	Terriers	1999
Kenyon College	Gambier, Ohio	1824	Episcopal/Anglican	1,640	30	287	Owls^[7]	1984
Oberlin College	Oberlin, Ohio	1833	Nonsectarian	2,850	37	290	Yeomen (men's) Yeowomen (women's)	1984
Ohio Wesleyan University	Delaware, Ohio	1842	Nonsectarian^[a]	1,850	98	446	Battling Bishops	1984
Wabash College^[b]	Crawfordsville, Indiana	1832	Nonsectarian	850	57	327	Little Giants	1999
Wittenberg University	Springfield, Ohio	1845	Lutheran ELCA	2,050	155	435	Tigers	1989
The College of Wooster	Wooster, Ohio	1866	Nonsectarian	1,827	71	428	Fighting Scots	1984

Notes

^ Formerly affiliated with the United Methodist Church until 2019.
^ This institution is a men's college, therefore it does not compete in women's teams.

Future member edit

The NCAC will have one future full member, which is also a private school.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Year Joining	Current conference
John Carroll University	University Heights, Ohio	1886	Catholic (Jesuit)	2,615	Blue Streaks		2025^[8]	Ohio (OAC)

Affiliate members edit

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	NCAC sport(s)	Primary conference
Allegheny College	Meadville, Pennsylvania	1815	United Methodist	1,442	Gators	2022	field hockey	Presidents' (PAC)
Earlham College	Richmond, Indiana	1847	Quaker	900	Quakers	2021		Heartland (HCAC)
Transylvania University	Lexington, Kentucky	1780	Disciples of Christ	963	Pioneers	2023		Heartland (HCAC)
Washington & Jefferson College	Washington, Pennsylvania	1781	Nonsectarian	1,168	Presidents	2023^[9]		Presidents' (PAC)

Former members edit

The NCAC has three former full members, all private schools. Allegheny and Earlham still remain in the NCAC as affiliate members in field hockey.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current conference
Allegheny College	Meadville, Pennsylvania	1815	United Methodist	2,100	Gators	1984	2022	Presidents' (PAC)
Case Western Reserve University^[a]	Cleveland, Ohio	1826	Nonsectarian	11,824	Spartans	1984	1999	University (UAA)
Earlham College	Richmond, Indiana	1847	Quakers	1,181	Quakers	1989	2010	Heartland (HCAC)

Notes

^ Case Western Reserve had dual athletic conference membership with the University Athletic Association from 1986–87 to 1998–99, then the Spartans left the NCAC in order to fully align with the UAA.

Membership timeline edit

References edit

^ "Allegheny College Announces Return to the Presidents' Athletic Conference Beginning July 1, 2022" (Press release). Allegheny Gators. August 23, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
^ "John Carroll University Joins North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC)" (Press release). January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ Smola, Jennifer (2019-11-19). "Denison, Kenyon training other colleges to better support LGBTQ athletes as part of NCAA program". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
^ @NCAC (January 14, 2021). "NCAA LGBTQ Award 2021" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ "National Liberal Arts Colleges Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
^ "Forbes America's Top Colleges List 2021". Forbes. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
^ "Introducing the Kenyon Owls".
^ "John Carroll University Joins North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC)". John Carroll University. 2024-01-18. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
^ "W&J Field Hockey joins North Coast as affiliate member, set to begin NCAC play in 2023". Washington & Jefferson College Athletics. 2022-11-15. Retrieved 2023-10-12.