Midwest Collegiate Conference
The Midwest Collegiate Conference was a college athletic conference, consisting of colleges and universities located in Iowa and Wisconsin. Founded in 1988, the conference's member schools competed at the NAIA level in 15 different sports.
History
When the Midwest Collegiate Conference was originally formed in 1988, it consisted of six Roman Catholic colleges and universities situated across the Midwestern United States. Dubbed the Midwest Catholic Conference, member schools originally competed in only men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, and men's soccer.The charter members of the conference were Clarke College, Edgewood College, Marycrest University, Mount Mercy College, Mount St. Clare College and Viterbo College. Edgewood left the conference before the start of the 1989–90 season. With the inclusion of Grand View College that year, the conference changed its name to the Midwest Classic Conference.
St. Ambrose University's basketball teams joined the conference for the 1990 season, and the school's other sports joined the MCC in 1991. Iowa Wesleyan College joined the conference for the 1995–96 season. The following year, Clarke University left the MCC to participate in NCAA Division III athletics. William Penn University became a member of the Conference in 2001. Marycrest International University ceased operations after the 2001–02 season. Waldorf College joined the conference for the 2003–04 season, completing the nine-school lineup. Clarke University returned to the conference in 2007, and the MCC officially took the name of the Midwest Collegiate Conference.
[Image:Midwest Classic Conference logo.png|right|thumb|Midwest Classic Conference logo]
Members Ashford University and Waldorf College were voted out of the conference on May 17, 2011, with effect at the end of the 2011–12 season. On October 14, 2011, Iowa Wesleyan College announced they would join National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. On January 10, 2014, Grand View University and William Penn University announced they would join the Heart of America Athletic Conference after the 2014–15 season. On February 5, 2015, AIB College of Business announced they would end their athletic programs as the school prepared to be coming a part of the University of Iowa.
Chronological timeline
- 1988 – The Midwest Collegiate Conference was founded as the Midwest Catholic Conference. Charter members included Clarke College, Edgewood College, Marycrest University, Mount Mercy College, Mount St. Clare College and Viterbo College, beginning the 1988–89 academic year.
- 1989 – Edgewood left the Midwest Catholic after spending just one season, only to fully align in the Division III ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Lake Michigan Conference after the 1988–89 academic year.
- 1989 – Grand View College joined the Midwest Catholic in the 1989–90 academic year.
- 1989 – The MCC has been renamed as the Midwest Classic Conference in the 1989-90 academic year.
- 1990 – St. Ambrose College joined the Midwest Classic in the 1990–91 academic year.
- 1995 – Iowa Wesleyan College joined the Midwest Classic in the 1995–96 academic year.
- 1996 – Clarke left the Midwest Classic and the NAIA to join the NCAA Division III ranks and the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference after the 1995–96 academic year.
- 2001 – William Penn University joined the Midwest Classic in the 2001–02 academic year.
- 2002 – Marycrest International left the Midwest Classic as the school announced that it would close after the 2001–02 academic year.
- 2003 – Waldorf College joined the Midwest Classic in the 2003–04 academic year.
- 2007 – Clarke re-joined the Midwest Classic in the 2007–08 academic year.
- 2007 – The MCC has been renamed as the Midwest Collegiate Conference in the 2007–08 academic year.
- 2010 – AIB College of Business joined the Midwest Collegiate in the 2010–11 academic year.
- 2012 – Three institutions left the Midwest Collegiate to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2011–12 academic year:
- * Ashford and Iowa Wesleyan as NAIA Independents
- * and Waldorf to join the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference
- 2015 – The Midwest Collegiate ceased operations as an athletic conference after the 2014–15 academic year; as many schools left to join their respective new home primary conferences, beginning the 2015–16 academic year:
- * Grand View and William Penn to the Heart of America Athletic Conference
- * Clarke and Mount Mercy as NAIA Independents
- * St. Ambrose to the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference
- * Viterbo to the North Star Athletic Association
- * and AIB would discontinue its athletic program, before eventually ceasing operations after the 2015–16 school year, to be part of the University of Iowa
Member schools
Final members
The MCC ended with seven full members, all were private schools:;Notes:
Former members
The MCC had five former full members, all were private schools:;Notes:
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1988 till:2030
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Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb
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
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bar:1 color:FullxF from:1988 till:2012 text:Ashford
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2016 text:NAIA Ind.
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1996 text:Clarke
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2006 text:N. Ill.-Iowa
bar:2 shift: color:OtherC2 from:2006 till:2007 text:NAIA Ind.
bar:2 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2015 text:
bar:2 shift: color:OtherC1 from:2015 till:2016 text:NAIA Ind.
bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2016 till:end text:Heart of America
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1989 text:Edgewood
bar:3 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:2006 text:Lake Michigan
bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:2006 till:end text:Northern
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1988 till:2002 text:Marycrest International
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1988 till:2015 text:Mount Mercy
bar:5 shift: color:OtherC1 from:2015 till:2016 text:NAIA Ind.
bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2016 till:end text:Heart of America
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1988 till:2015 text:Viterbo
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2015 till:2024 text:North Star
bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:2024 till:end text:Chicagoland
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2015 text:Grand View
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2015 till:end text:Heart of America
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2015 text:St. Ambrose
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2015 till:end text:Chicagoland
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2012 text:Iowa Wesleyan
bar:9 shift: color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2013 text:NAIA Ind.
bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2021 text:St. Louis
bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:2021 till:2023 text:NAIA Ind.
bar:10 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2015 text:William Penn
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2015 till:end text:Heart of America
bar:11 color:FullxF from:2003 till:2012 text:Waldorf
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2015 text:Midlands
bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:2015 till:2024 text:North Star
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text:Great Plains
bar:12 color:AssocOS from:2010 till:2011 text:AIB
bar:12 color:FullxF from:2011 till:2015 text:
bar:N color:green from:1988 till:1989 text:MCC
bar:N shift: color:blue from:1989 till:2007 text:Midwest Classic Conference
bar:N color:green from:2007 till:2015 text:Midwest Collegiate Conference
bar:N color:blue from:2015 till:end text:Post-MCC
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text:^"Midwest Collegiate 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
The Midwest Collegiate Conference oversaw the following sports:| Sport | Men's | Women's |
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Cross Country | ||
| Golf | ||
| Soccer | ||
| Softball | ||
| Track & Field Indoor | ||
| Track & Field Outdoor | ||
| Volleyball |
Member schools also participated in a number of sports not affiliated with the MCC, including competitive dance, tennis, men's volleyball, and wrestling. Several football teams from Midwest Collegiate Conference schools competed in the Mid-States Football Association.