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Midwest Conference

NCAA Division III athletic conference From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Midwest Conference
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The Midwest Conference (MWC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the Midwestern United States in the states of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The Midwest Conference was created in 1994 with the merger of the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference, which had been sponsoring men's sports since 1921, and the Midwest Athletic Conference for Women, which was formed in 1977.

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History

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Midwest Conference
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110km
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Beloit
MSOE
St. Norbert
Chicago
Luther
Cornell College
Illinois College
Lake Forest
Grinnell
Monmouth
Ripon
Lawrence
Knox
Location of Midwest members: current, future, affiliate

The organization of the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC) was conceived at a meeting at Coe College on May 12, 1921. Charter members were Beloit College, Carleton College, Coe College, Cornell College, Knox College (Illinois) and Lawrence University. Hamline University and Millikin University joined the league in December 1921, but both of them later withdrew: Hamline after the 1929–30 academic year, and Millikin after the 1924–25 academic year.

Ripon College joined the conference in 1923, followed by Monmouth College in 1924, Grinnell College in 1940 and Lake Forest College in 1974. Illinois College and St. Norbert College joined in 1982 and Carroll University followed in 1992. Carleton withdrew following the 1982–83 academic year. St. Olaf College also competed in the conference from 1952 to 1974, as did the University of Chicago from 1976 to 1987. Coe and Cornell withdrew following the 1996–97 academic year with Cornell rejoining the league starting in the 2012–13 year. Macalester College joined as a football-only member starting in 2014. The University of Chicago returned as a football-only member in 2017, and added baseball to its conference membership in the 2019 season (2018–19 school year).

The MWC split into North and South divisions for football, men's and women's tennis, baseball, and softball from 2012 through 2016. Divisional play ended with the departure of Carroll after the 2015–16 school year,[1] and resumed for football only with the addition of the University of Chicago as an affiliate member for the 2017–18 season.[2] St. Norbert left in 2021 for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.[3]

On March 11, 2025, the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSoE) announced that it would join the MWC as an affiliate member for men's and women's swimming & diving, beginning the 2025–26 winter season.[4]

Chronological timeline

  • 1921 – The Midwest Conference (MWC) was founded as the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC). Charter members included Beloit College, Carleton College, Coe College, Cornell College, Knox College and Lawrence College (now Lawrence University), beginning the 1921–22 academic year.
  • 1922 – Hamline University and Millikin College (now Millikin University) joined the MCAC in the 1922–23 academic year.
  • 1923 – Ripon College joined the MCAC in the 1923–24 academic year.
  • 1924 – Monmouth College joined the MCAC in the 1924–25 academic year.
  • 1925 – Millikin left the MCAC after the 1924–25 academic year.
  • 1930 – Hamline left the MCAC to fully align with the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) after the 1929–30 academic year.
  • 1940 – Grinnell College joined the MCAC in the 1940–41 academic year.
  • 1941 – Carleton left the MCAC after the 1940–41 academic year; as the school withdrew from the conference in June 1941.[5]
  • 1945 – Carleton rejoined the MCAC during the 1946 spring season of the 1945–46 academic year; specifically for track & field.[6]
  • 1952 – St. Olaf College joined the MCAC in the 1952–53 academic year.
  • 1974:
    • St. Olaf left the MCAC after the 1973–74 academic year.
    • Lake Forest College joined the MCAC in the 1974–75 academic year.
  • 1976 – The University of Chicago joined the MCAC in the 1976–77 academic year.
  • 1982 – Illinois College and St. Norbert College joined the MCAC in the 1982–83 academic year.
  • 1983 – Carleton left the MCAC to rejoin the MIAC after the 1982–83 academic year.
  • 1987 – U. of Chicago left the MCAC to join the University Athletic Association (UAA) after the 1986–87 academic year.
  • 1992 – Carroll College (now Carroll University) joined the MCAC in the 1992–93 academic year.
  • 1994 – The MCAC has rebranded when the conference merged with the women's-only Midwest Athletic Conference for Women (MACW; founded since the 1977–78 school year) to become the Midwest Conference (MWC), effective beginning the 1994–95 academic year.
  • 1997 – Coe and Cornell left the MWC to join the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (now the American Rivers Conference [A-R-C]) after the 1996–97 academic year.
  • 2012 – Cornell rejoined the MWC in the 2012–13 academic year.
  • 2014 – Macalester College joined the MWC as an affiliate member for football in the 2014 fall season (2014–15 academic year).
  • 2016 – Carroll left the MWC to join the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) after the 2015–16 academic year.
  • 2017 – The University of Chicago rejoined the MWC, but as an affiliate member for football in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).
  • 2018 – U. of Chicago added baseball into its MWC affiliate membership in the 2019 spring season (2018–19 academic year).
  • 2021:
    • St. Norbert left the MWC as a full member to join the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) after the 2020–21 academic year. St. Norbert would remain as an affiliate member for men's and women's swimming & diving.
    • Macalester left the MWC as an affiliate member for football after the 2020 fall season (2020–21 academic year).
  • 2024 – U. of Chicago left the MWC as an affiliate member for baseball after the 2024 spring season (2023–24 academic year).
  • 2025 – The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSoE) joined the MWC as an affiliate member for men's and women's swimming & diving in the 2025–26 academic year.
  • 2026 – Luther College will join the MWC, beginning the 2026–27 academic year.
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Member schools

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Every member in the history of the MWC and its predecessor conferences, whether full, affiliate, current, or former, has been a private school.

Current members

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Former Midwest Conference until spring 2022

The MWC currently has nine full members.

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Notes
  1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
  2. Cornell left the MWC to join the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC; now known as the American Rivers Conference) after the 1996–97 school year; before rejoining in the 2012–13 school year.

Future member

The MWC will have one future member.

More information Institution, Location ...
Notes
  1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.

Affiliate members

The MWC currently has three affiliate members.

More information Institution, Location ...
Notes
  1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
  2. Chicago had been a full member of the MWC from 1976–77 to 1986–87.
  3. Chicago competed in the MWC as an affiliate member for baseball from the 2019 to 2024 spring seasons (2018–19 to 2023–24 school years).
  4. St. Norbert had been a full member of the MWC from 1982-83 to 2020-21.

Former members

The MWC had eight former full members.

More information Institution, Location ...
Notes
  1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
  2. Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
  3. Chicago has rejoined the MWC as an affiliate member for football.
  4. St. Norbert has remained in the MWC as an affiliate member for swimming & diving.

Former affiliate members

The MWC had two former affiliate members.

More information Institution, Location ...
Notes
  1. Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
  2. Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
  3. Chicago had been a full member of the MWC from 1976–77 to 1986–87.
  4. Chicago remains in the MWC as an affiliate member for football.

Membership timeline

Luther College (Iowa)Milwaukee School of EngineeringMacalester CollegeCarroll UniversitySt. Norbert CollegeIllinois CollegeUniversity of ChicagoLake Forest CollegeSt. Olaf CollegeGrinnell CollegeMonmouth CollegeRipon College (Wisconsin)Millikin UniversityHamline UniversityLawrence UniversityKnox College (Illinois)Cornell CollegeCoe CollegeCarleton CollegeBeloit College

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

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Sports

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Men's Sports

More information School, Baseball ...

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

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Women's Sports

More information School, Basketball ...

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

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Conference facilities

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See also

Footnotes

  1. Swimming only
  2. Co-Ed

References

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