Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

Not to be confused with the Heartland Collegiate Conference, a defunct Division II conference that operated from 1978 to 1990, or the Heartland Conference, a defunct Division II conference that operated from 1999 to 2019.

The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Founded as the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC) in 1987, it reincorporated under its current name in 1998 with the addition of several schools from Ohio.

Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

Association	NCAA
Founded	1987 (as Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference)
Commissioner	Jay Jones (since 2019)
Sports fielded	18 men's: 9 women's: 9
Division	Division III
No. of teams	10
Headquarters	Carmel, Indiana
Region	Ohio Valley
Official website	heartlandconf.org
Locations

Original members of the HCAC included Anderson, Bluffton, Franklin, Hanover, Manchester, Mount St. Joseph, Wabash, and Wilmington. Of the ten current members, six were founding members of the former ICAC.

Former members include DePauw (1987–1998), Taylor (1988–1991), Wabash (1987–1999), Wilmington (1998–2000), and Defiance (2000–2024). Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology (1988–1998) re-joined as of July 1, 2006.

History

The Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC) was formed in June 1987, with 1990–91 being the first full season of competition (all eight teams competing in eight varsity sports).

Charter members in 1987 included Anderson University, DePauw University, Franklin College, Hanover College, Manchester College, and Wabash College. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Taylor University later joined in 1988. Taylor left the conference after the 1990–91 season.

The addition of three Ohio schools (Bluffton College, the College of Mount St. Joseph, and Wilmington College) and the departure of two Indiana schools (DePauw and Rose-Hulman) during the 1998–99 season prompted a change in name to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Wabash and Wilmington later departed in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 seasons respectively. Defiance College and Transylvania University joined in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Rose-Hulman re-joined the HCAC, effective for the 2006–07 season.

In October 2009, Earlham College of Richmond, Indiana was accepted as the 10th member of the conference and began competition in the fall of 2010.

In the summer of 2024, Defiance College departed the HCAC to join the NAIA and the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference. Berea College joined the HCAC at the start of the 2024–25 academic year.

Chronological timeline

Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

110km
68miles

Transylvania

Rose-Hulman

Mount St. Joseph

Manchester

Hanover

Franklin

Earlham

Berea

Bluffton

Anderson

   

Location of member schools: full

• 1987 – In June 1987, the HCAC was founded as the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC). Charter members included Anderson College (now Anderson University), DePauw University, Franklin College, Hanover College, Manchester College, and Wabash College, beginning the 1987–88 academic year.
• 1988 – Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology and Taylor University joined the ICAC in the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1990 – The ICAC began their first full season on competition, competing in eight varsity sports, beginning the 1990–91 academic year.
• 1991 – Taylor left the ICAC to join the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) after the 1990–91 academic year.
• 1998:
  • DePauw and Rose–Hulman (or Rose–Hulman Tech or RHIT) left the ICAC to join the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) after the 1997–98 academic year.
  • Bluffton College (now Bluffton University), the College of Mount St. Joseph (now Mount St. Joseph University) and Wilmington College joined the ICAC in the 1998–99 academic year.
  • The ICAC has been rebranded as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC), beginning the 1998–99 academic year.
• 1999 – Wabash left the HCAC to join the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) after the 1998–99 academic year. Its football program later left after the 1999 fall season (1999–2000 school year).
• 2000:
  • Wilmington left the HCAC to join the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) after the 1999–2000 academic year.
  • Defiance College joined the HCAC in the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2001 – Transylvania University joined the HCAC in the 2001–02 academic year.
• 2006 – Rose–Hulman rejoined the HCAC in the 2006–07 academic year.
• 2010 – Earlham College joined the HCAC in the 2010–11 academic year.
• 2021 – Centenary College of Louisiana, Colorado College, the University of Dallas, Southwestern University of Texas and Spalding University joined the HCAC as affiliate members for men's lacrosse in the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year), although Spalding would also add women's lacrosse into its HCAC affiliate membership that same year; however, lacrosse has not been fully incorporated into the HCAC multi-sport conference, thus corresponding into a separate single-sport league known as the Heartland Collegiate Lacrosse Conference (HCLC), which came to existence since the 2017–18 school year.
• 2022 – Dallas left the HCAC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse (within the HCLC) after the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year).
• 2023 – Centenary (La.), Colorado College and Southwestern (Tex.) left the HCAC as affiliate members for men's lacrosse (within the HCLC) after the 2023 spring season (2022–23 academic year).
• 2024:
  • Defiance left the HCAC to join the NAIA and the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) after the 2023–24 academic year.
  • Berea College joined the HCAC at the start of the 2024–25 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The HCAC currently has ten full members, all private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined[a]	Colors	Football
Anderson University	Anderson, Indiana	1917	Church of God	1,311	Ravens	1987	Orange and Black	Yes
Berea College	Berea, Kentucky	1855	Christian (unaffiliated)	1,613	Mountaineers	2024	Berea Blue and White	No
Bluffton University	Bluffton, Ohio	1899	Mennonite	1,094	Beavers	1998	Purple and White	Yes
Earlham College	Richmond, Indiana	1847	Quaker	612	Quakers	2010	Maroon and White	No
Franklin College	Franklin, Indiana	1834	Baptist	1,047	Grizzlies	1987	Navy Blue and Old Gold	Yes
Hanover College	Hanover, Indiana	1827	Presbyterian	1,068	Panthers	1987	Red and Blue	Yes
Manchester University	North Manchester, Indiana	1860	Church of the Brethren	1,770	Spartans	1987	Black and Gold	Yes
Mount St. Joseph University	Delhi Township, Ohio[b]	1920	Catholic (S.C.C.)	1,889	Lions	1998	Blue and Gold	Yes
Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology	Terre Haute, Indiana	1874	Nonsectarian	2,081	Fightin' Engineers	1988; 2006[c]	Old Rose and White	Yes
Transylvania University	Lexington, Kentucky	1780	Disciples of Christ	963	Pioneers	2001	Crimson and White	No

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Mailing address is located in Cincinnati.
3. Rose–Hulman left the HCAC after the 1997–98 school year, before rejoining in the 2006–07 school year.

Affiliate members

The HCAC currently has one affiliate member, which is also a private school:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined[a]	HCAC sport(s)	Primary conference
Spalding University	Louisville, Kentucky	1814	Catholic (S.C.N.)	1,692	Golden Eagles	2021m.lax.	Men's lacrosse[b]	St. Louis (SLIAC)
						2021w.lax.	Women's lacrosse[b]

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Lacrosse is not fully incorporated into the HCAC multi-sport conference, thus creating a separate single-sport league known as the Heartland Collegiate Lacrosse Conference.

Former members

The HCAC has five former full members, all were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined[a]	Left[b]	Current conference
Defiance College	Defiance, Ohio	1850	United Church of Christ	505	Yellow Jackets	2000	2024	Wolverine–Hoosier (WHAC)[c]
DePauw University	Greencastle, Indiana	1837	United Methodist	2,350	Tigers	1987	1998	North Coast (NCAC)
Taylor University	Upland, Indiana	1846	Interdenominational	1,887	Trojans	1988	1991	Crossroads[c]
Wabash College[d]	Crawfordsville, Indiana	1832	Nonsectarian	910	Little Giants	1987	1999[e]	North Coast (NCAC)
Wilmington College	Wilmington, Ohio	1870	Quakers	990	Quakers	1998	2000	Ohio (OAC)

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
3. Currently an NAIA athletic conference.
4. Wabash is a men's only institution, therefore it does not sponsor women's sports.
5. Wabash left the HCAC for all sports after the 1998–99 school year except for football (which later followed suit at the end of the 1999 fall season [1999–2000 school year]).

Former affiliate members

The HCAC had four former affiliate members, all were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined[a]	Left[b]	HCAC sport(s)	Primary conference
Centenary College of Louisiana	Shreveport, Louisiana	1825	United Methodist	563	Gentlemen & Ladies	2021	2023	Men's lacrosse[c]	Southern (SCAC)
Colorado College	Colorado Springs, Colorado	1874	Nonsectarian	2,266	Tigers	2021	2023	Men's lacrosse[c]	Southern (SCAC)
University of Dallas	Irving, Texas	1956	Catholic	2,538	Crusaders	2021	2022	Men's lacrosse[c]	Southern (SCAC)
Southwestern University	Georgetown, Texas	1840	United Methodist	1,536	Pirates	2021	2023	Men's lacrosse[c]	Southern (SCAC)

Notes

1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
2. Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
3. Lacrosse is not fully incorporated into the HCAC multi-sport conference, thus creating a separate single-sport league known as the Heartland Collegiate Lacrosse Conference.

Membership timeline

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

Sports

See also: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Football	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Swimming & Diving	Y	Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track & Field	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field	Total HCAC sports
Anderson	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Berea	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	7
Bluffton	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	8
Earlham	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	7
Franklin	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Hanover	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Manchester	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Mount St. Joseph	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	7
Rose–Hulman	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Transylvania	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Totals	10	10	10	7	9	10	7	8	10	81

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

School	Lacrosse	Volleyball	Wrestling
Earlham	HCLC
Franklin		IND
Hanover	HCLC
Manchester			IND
Mount St. Joseph		MCVL	IND
Transylvania	HCLC

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field	Volleyball	Total HCAC sports
Anderson	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Berea	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	7
Bluffton	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	8
Earlham	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Franklin	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Hanover	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Manchester	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Mount St. Joseph	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	7
Rose–Hulman	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Transylvania	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Totals	10	10	9	10	10	7	8	10	10	84

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

School	Field Hockey	Lacrosse	Wrestling
Earlham	NCAC
Franklin		HCLC
Hanover		HCLC
Manchester			Y
Transylvania	NCAC	HCLC