Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference is an NCAA conferences|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 in 1987, it reincorporated under its current name in 1998 with the addition of several schools from Ohio.
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, Taylor, Wabash, Wilmington, and Defiance. Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology re-joined as of July 1, 2006.
History
The Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference was formed in June 1987, with 1990–91 being the first full season of competition.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 and the departure of two Indiana schools 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
- 1987 – In June 1987, the HCAC was founded as the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference. Charter members included Anderson College, 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 after the 1990–91 academic year.
- 1998:
- * DePauw and Rose–Hulman left the ICAC to join the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after the 1997–98 academic year.
- * Bluffton College, the College of Mount St. Joseph and Wilmington College joined the ICAC in the 1998–99 academic year.
- * The ICAC rebranded as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, beginning the 1998–99 academic year.
- 1999 – Wabash left the HCAC to join the North Coast Athletic Conference after the 1998–99 academic year. Its football program later left after the 1999 fall season.
- 2000:
- * Wilmington left the HCAC to join the Ohio Athletic Conference 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, 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 , which came to existence since the 2017–18 school year.
- 2022 – Dallas left the HCAC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse after the 2022 spring season.
- 2023 – Centenary, Colorado College and Southwestern left the HCAC as affiliate members for men's lacrosse after the 2023 spring season.
- 2024:
- * Defiance left the HCAC to join the NAIA and the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference 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:;Notes:
Affiliate members
The HCAC currently has one affiliate member, which is also a private school:| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | HCAC sport | Primary conference |
| Spalding University | Louisville, Kentucky | 1814 | Catholic | 1,692 | Golden Eagles | 2021 | Men's lacrosse | St. Louis [Intercollegiate Athletic Conference|St. Louis (SLIAC)] |
| Spalding University | Louisville, Kentucky | 1814 | Catholic | 1,692 | Golden Eagles | 2021 | Women's lacrosse | St. Louis (SLIAC) |
;Notes:
Former members
The HCAC has five former full members, all were private schools:| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference |
| Defiance College | Defiance, Ohio | 1850 | United Church of Christ | 505 | Yellow Jackets | 2000 | 2024 | Wolverine–Hoosier (WHAC) |
| 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 |
| Wabash College | Crawfordsville, Indiana | 1832 | Nonsectarian | 910 | Little Giants | 1987 | 1999 | North Coast (NCAC) |
| Wilmington College | Wilmington, Ohio | 1870 | Quakers | 990 | Quakers | 1998 | 2000 | Ohio (OAC) |
;Notes:
Former affiliate members
The HCAC had four former affiliate members, all were private schools:| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | HCAC sport | Primary conference |
| Centenary College of Louisiana | Shreveport, Louisiana | 1825 | United Methodist | 563 | Gentlemen & Ladies | 2021 | 2023 | Men's lacrosse | Southern (SCAC) |
| Colorado College | Colorado Springs, Colorado | 1874 | Nonsectarian | 2,266 | Tigers | 2021 | 2023 | Men's lacrosse | Southern (SCAC) |
| Irving, Texas | 1956 | Catholic | 2,538 | Crusaders | 2021 | 2022 | Men's lacrosse | Southern (SCAC) | |
| Southwestern University | Georgetown, Texas | 1840 | United Methodist | 1,536 | Pirates | 2021 | 2023 | Men's lacrosse | Southern (SCAC) |
;Notes:
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1987 till:2029
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5
Colors =
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:Anderson (Ind.)
bar:1 color:Full from:1989 till:end
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:DePauw
bar:2 color:Full from:1989 till:1998
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:Franklin (Ind.)
bar:3 color:Full from:1989 till:end
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:Hanover
bar:4 color:Full from:1989 till:end
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:Manchester (Ind.)
bar:5 color:Full from:1989 till:end
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:Wabash
bar:6 color:Full from:1989 till:1999
bar:6 color:AssocF from:1999 till:2000
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1989 text:Rose–Hulman (RHIT)
bar:7 color:Full from:1989 till:1998
bar:7 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1989 text:Taylor
bar:8 color:Full from:1989 till:1991
bar:9 color:Full from:1998 till:end text:Bluffton
bar:10 color:Full from:1998 till:end text:Mount St. Joseph
bar:11 color:Full from:1998 till:2000 text:Wilmington (Oh.)
bar:12 color:Full from:2000 till:2024 text:Defiance
bar:13 color:FullxF from:2001 till:end text:Transylvania
bar:14 color:Full from:2010 till:2018 text:Earlham
bar:14 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end
bar:15 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:2023 text:Centenary (La.)
bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:2023 text:Colorado College
bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:2022 text:Dallas
bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:2023 text:Southwestern (Tex.)
bar:19 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:Spalding
bar:20 color:FullxF from:2024 till:end text:Berea
bar:N color:green from:1987 till:1998 text:Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference
bar:N color:blue from:1998 till:end text:Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
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text:^"Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference membership history"
- > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space.
Sports
Conference sports| Sport | Men's | Women's |
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Cross Country | ||
| Football | ||
| Golf | ||
| Soccer | ||
| Softball | ||
| Swimming & Diving | ||
| Tennis | ||
| Track & Field | ||
| Volleyball |
Men's sponsored sports by school
| School | Baseball | Basketball | Cross Country | Football | Golf | Soccer | Swimming & Diving | Tennis | Track & Field | Total HCAC sports |
| Anderson | 9 | |||||||||
| Berea | 7 | |||||||||
| Bluffton | 8 | |||||||||
| Earlham | 7 | |||||||||
| Franklin | 9 | |||||||||
| Hanover | 9 | |||||||||
| Manchester | 8 | |||||||||
| Mount St. Joseph | 7 | |||||||||
| Rose–Hulman | 9 | |||||||||
| Transylvania | 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 | Division III independent schools|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 | 9 | |||||||||
| Berea | 7 | |||||||||
| Bluffton | 8 | |||||||||
| Earlham | 8 | |||||||||
| Franklin | 9 | |||||||||
| Hanover | 9 | |||||||||
| Manchester | 9 | |||||||||
| Mount St. Joseph | 7 | |||||||||
| Rose–Hulman | 9 | |||||||||
| Transylvania | 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 | |||
| Transylvania | NCAC | HCLC |