Conference of New England

The Conference of New England (CNE), formerly known as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in New England in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

Conference of New England

Formerly	Commonwealth Coast Conference (1984–2024)
Association	NCAA
Founded	1984
Commissioner	Patrick Colbert (since 2023)
Sports fielded	20 men's: 10 women's: 10
Division	Division III
No. of teams	11
Headquarters	Biddeford, Maine, U.S.
Region	New England
Official website	cnesports.org
Locations

Overview

Previous logo

The CCC and Commonwealth Coast Football unveiled a new family of logos during a June 2019 visual rebrand.^[1]

History

100km
62miles

Saint Joseph

New England College

Colby–Sawyer

Maine Maritime

Johnson & Wales

Hartford

Suffolk

Husson

Western New England

Wentworth

Univ. of New England

Roger Williams

Nichols

Gordon

Endicott

Curry

   

Location of current members:
full member
associate member

Recent events

On June 21, 2022, the University of Hartford announced that it would join the CCC, starting the 2023–24 academic year;^[2] while Salve Regina announced it would leave both the CCC and CCC Football to join the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), once concluding the 2022–23 school year.^[3]

On December 8, 2022, Johnson & Wales (R.I.) announced it would join the CCC as soon as the 2024–25 academic year.^[4] first as an associate member for men's and women's ice hockey, before eventually going for full membership status, ^[5]

In 2023, two schools announced they would be reinstating their varsity football programs and joining the CCC for football, starting the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year); first Maine Maritime Academy on January 9,^[6] then New England College followed suit on November 14.^[7]

On August 1, 2024, 40 years after it was founded, the conference announced that it would be rebranding as the Conference of New England (CNE), effective with the 2024–25 season.^[8]

Chronological timeline

• 1984 – On 1984, the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) was founded. Charter members included Anna Maria College, Curry College, Emerson College, Hellenic College, Salve Regina College (now Salve Regina University), the United States Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard) and Wentworth Institute of Technology (Wentworth Tech), beginning the 1984–85 academic year.
• 1985:
  • Hellenic left the CCC when the school dropped its athletic program after lasting only one season after the 1984–85 academic year.
  • Roger Williams College (now Roger Williams University) joined the CCC in the 1985–86 academic year.
• 1986 – The CCC was granted membership within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III ranks in the 1986–87 academic year.
• 1987:
  • The U.S. Coast Guard left the CCC to join the Constitution Athletic Conference after the 1986–87 academic year.
  • Gordon College joined the CCC in the 1987–88 academic year.
• 1988 – Regis College joined the CCC in the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1989:
  • Emerson left the CCC to become an NCAA D-III Independent after the 1988–89 academic year.
  • New England College of New Hampshire joined the CCC in the 1989–90 academic year.
• 1992 – Eastern Nazarene College joined the CCC in the 1992–93 academic year.
• 1995 – Colby–Sawyer College and Nichols College joined the CCC in the 1995–96 academic year.
• 1999 – Endicott College and the University of New England of Maine joined the CCC in the 1999–2000 academic year.
• 2007 – Western New England University joined the CCC in the 2007–08 academic year.
• 2011 – Four member schools left the CCC to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2010–11 academic year:
  • Anna Maria to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC)
  • Regis (Mass.) to the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC)
  • and Colby–Sawyer and New England (N.H.) to the North Atlantic Conference (NAC)
• 2016 – Becker College, Johnson and Wales University, Providence and Suffolk University joined the CCC as associate members for men's ice hockey in the 2016–17 academic year.
• 2017:
  • The CCC added football as a sponsored sport, although not directly as it absorbed the former and defunct New England Football Conference and rebranded as Commonwealth Coast Football (CCC Football) in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).
  • Becker added football to join the CCC Football league in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).
• 2018:
  • Eastern Nazarene left the CCC to join the NECC after the 2017–18 academic year.
  • Johnson & Wales (R.I.) and Suffolk left the CCC as associate members for men's ice hockey after the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2019 – Husson University joined CCC Football in the 2019 fall season (2019–20 academic year).
• 2020 – Suffolk upgraded as a full member of the CCC for all sports in the 2020–21 academic year.
• 2022 – Due to changes in NCAA legislation regarding the number of member schools required for an automatic qualifier (AQ), football was fully incorporated into the CCC multi-sport conference, eliminating the need for the single-sport Commonwealth Coast Football league, beginning the 2022–23 academic year.
• 2023:
  • Salve Regina left the CCC (and CCC Football) to join the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) after the 2022–23 academic year; while it remained in the conference as an associate member for men's and women's ice hockey only for the 2023–24 academic year.
  • The University of Hartford joined the CCC in the 2023–24 academic year.
• 2024:
  • The University of Saint Joseph of Connecticut (with Colby–Sawyer returning) joined the CCC as associate members for men's tennis in the 2025 spring season (2024–25 academic year).
  • The CCC was rebranded as the Conference of New England (CNE), effective beginning the 2024–25 academic year.
  • Johnson & Wales (R.I.) returned to the CNE as an associate member for men's and women's ice hockey for the 2024–25 academic year.
  • The CNE announced that it would add a women's golf championship in 2025–26, coinciding with the addition of the sport by full member Roger Williams; giving the CNE the six women's golf members needed to qualify for an automatic bid to the NCAA championship.^[9]
• 2025:
  • Johnson & Wales (R.I.) will upgrade as a full member of the CNE for all sports, beginning the 2025–26 academic year.
  • Maine Maritime Academy (with New England (N.H.) following suit) reinstated their varsity football programs and joined the CNE as associate members for football, beginning the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year).

Member schools

Current members

The CNE currently has 11 full members, all private schools.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined[a]	Colors
Curry College	Milton, Massachusetts	1879	Nonsectarian	2,410	Colonels	1984
Endicott College	Beverly, Massachusetts	1939	Nonsectarian	4,528	Gulls	1999
Gordon College	Wenham, Massachusetts	1889	Evangelical	1,816	Fighting Scots	1987
University of Hartford	West Hartford, Connecticut	1877	Nonsectarian	6,792	Hawks	2023
Johnson & Wales University	Providence, Rhode Island	1914	Nonsectarian	4,652	Wildcats	2025[b]
Nichols College	Dudley, Massachusetts	1815	Nonsectarian	1,518	Bison	1995
Roger Williams University	Bristol, Rhode Island	1956	Nonsectarian	4,702	Hawks	1985
Suffolk University	Boston, Massachusetts	1906	Nonsectarian	6,832	Rams	2020[c]
University of New England	Biddeford, Maine	1831	Nonsectarian	7,208	Nor'easters	1999
Wentworth Institute of Technology	Boston, Massachusetts	1904	Nonsectarian	4,397	Leopards	1984
Western New England University	Springfield, Massachusetts	1919	Nonsectarian	3,702	Golden Bears	2007

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Johnson & Wales competed in the CCC as an associate member for men's ice hockey from 2016–17 to 2017–18, and later on for both men's and women's ice hockey during the 2024–25 school year, before became an full member starting in 2025–26.
3. Suffolk competed in the CCC as an associate member for men's ice hockey from 2016–17 to 2017–18.

Associate members

The CNE currently has five associate members, all private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined[a]	Primary conference	CNE sport(s)	Colors
Colby–Sawyer College	New London, New Hampshire	1946	Nonsectarian	2,262	Chargers	2024	Great Northeast (GNAC)	Men's tennis
Husson University	Bangor, Maine	1898	Nonsectarian	3,476	Eagles	2019	North Atlantic (NAC)	Football
Maine Maritime Academy	Castine, Maine	1941	Public	941	Mariners	2025	North Atlantic (NAC)	Football
New England College	Henniker, New Hampshire	1946	Nonsectarian	4,327	Pilgrims	2025	Great Northeast (GNAC)	Football
University of Saint Joseph	West Hartford, Connecticut	1932	Catholic (R.S.M.)	2,467	Blue Jays	2024	Great Northeast (GNAC)	Men's tennis

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.

Former members

The CNE had nine former full members, with all but one being private schools.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined[a]	Left[b]	Current conference
Anna Maria College	Paxton, Massachusetts	1946	Catholic	1,432	AMCats	1984	2011	Great Northeast (GNAC)
Colby–Sawyer College	New London, New Hampshire	1837	Nonsectarian	1,200	Chargers	1995	2011	Great Northeast (GNAC)
Eastern Nazarene College	Quincy, Massachusetts	1900	Nazarene	1,063	Lions	1992	2018	Closed in 2025
Emerson College	Boston, Massachusetts	1880	Nonsectarian	4,290	Lions	1984	1989	New England (NEWMAC)
Hellenic College	Brookline, Massachusetts	1937	GOArch	222	Owls	1984	1985	N/A[c]
New England College	Henniker, New Hampshire	1946	Nonsectarian	1,460	Pilgrims	1989	2011	Great Northeast (GNAC)
Regis College[d]	Weston, Massachusetts	1927	Catholic (Sisters of St. Joseph)	1,737	Pride	1988	2011	Great Northeast (GNAC)
Salve Regina University	Newport, Rhode Island	1934	Catholic (Sisters of Mercy)	2,771	Seahawks	1984	2023	New England (NEWMAC)
United States Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard)	New London, Connecticut	1876	Federal	1,045	Bears	1984	1987	New England (NEWMAC)

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
3. Hellenic dropped its athletics program following the 1984–85 school year.
4. This institution is a former women's college, which later had become a co-educational college (Regis (Mass.) since 2007–08).

Former associate members

The CNE had three former associate members, all private schools.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined[a]	Left[b]	Primary conference	CCC/CNE sport(s)
Becker College	Worcester, Massachusetts	1784	Nonsectarian	1,892	Hawks	2016m.i.h.	2021m.i.h.	Closed in 2021	Men's ice hockey
						2017fb.	2021fb.		Football
Johnson & Wales University	Providence, Rhode Island	1914	Nonsectarian	4,652	Wildcats	2016m.i.h.	2018m.i.h.	C. New England (CNE)	Men's ice hockey
						2024m.i.h.	2025m.i.h.
						2024w.i.h.	2025w.i.h.		Women's ice hockey
Suffolk University	Boston, Massachusetts	1906	Nonsectarian	16,095	Rams	2016	2018	C. New England (CNE)	Men's ice hockey

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.

Membership timeline

 Full member (all sports)   Full member (non-football)   Associate member (football)   Associate member (sport) 

Sports

See also: Conference of New England men's basketball tournament and Conference of New England men's ice hockey tournament

The CNE sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in 20 sports. The conference started sponsoring football in the 2017–18 season, absorbing the former football-only New England Football Conference. From 2017 to 2021 football was operated as a single-sport conference branded Commonwealth Coast Football.^[10] Due to changes in NCAA legislation regarding the number of members required for a conference to receive and automatic qualifier (AQ), football was fully incorporated into the multi-sport conference in 2022, eliminating the need for the football-only league. Women's ice hockey was added as a conference sport in 2020–21 when the CNE took over operations of the Colonial Hockey Conference.^[11] Women's golf will be added in 2025–26.^[9]

Championship sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross country	Y	Y
Field hockey		Y
Football	Y
Golf	Y	2025–26
Ice hockey	Y	Y
Lacrosse	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track and field	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Ice Hockey	Lacrosse	Soccer	Tennis	Track & Field	Total CNE sports
Curry	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Endicott	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	9
Gordon	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Hartford	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Johnson & Wales	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	5
New England	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	8
Nichols	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Roger Williams	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Suffolk	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Wentworth Tech	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Western New England	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Totals	10	11	10	5+3	9	9	10	11	10+2	8
Colby–Sawyer									Y
Husson				Y
Maine Maritime				Y
New England (NH)				Y
Saint Joseph									Y

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the CNE that are played by CNE schools

School	Equestrian	Rowing	Sailing	Swimming	Volleyball	Wrestling
Curry					NEVC
Endicott	Y				NEVC
Gordon		Y		METS
Johnson & Wales	YCo-Ed					NEWA
Nichols					NEVC
Roger Williams	YCo-Ed		YCo-Ed	NJAC		NEWA
Wentworth Tech					GNAC
Western New England						NEWA

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Field Hockey	Golf	Ice Hockey	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & Field	Volleyball	Total CNE sports
Curry	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Endicott	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Gordon	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Hartford	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Johnson & Wales	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	9
New England	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Nichols	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Roger Williams	Y	Y	Y	Y	2026-27	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Suffolk	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Wentworth Tech	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	7
Western New England	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Totals	11	11	8	6	7	11	11	11	9	11	11

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the CNE that are played by CNE schools

School	Equestrian	Rowing	Rugby	Sailing	Swimming	Wrestling
Endicott	Y
Gordon		Y			METS
Johnson & Wales	YCo-Ed
New England			NIRA		LEC
Roger Williams	YCo-Ed			YCo-Ed	NJAC
Western New England					LEC	Y