Horizon League


The Horizon League is a collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in and near the Great Lakes region and in part of the Southern United States.
The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midwestern City Conference. The conference changed its name to Midwestern Collegiate Conference in 1985 and then the Horizon League in 2001. The conference started with a membership of six teams and has fluctuated in size with 24 different schools as members at different times. The league currently has 11 members.
The Horizon League currently sponsors 19 sports and is a non-football conference.

History

Foundation (1978–1979)

In May 1978, DePaul University hosted a meeting with representatives from Bradley, Dayton, Detroit, Illinois State, Loyola–Chicago, Air Force, and Xavier who all agreed in principle that a new athletic conference was needed. Further progress was made through a series of early 1979 meetings in San Francisco, Chicago, and St. Louis that included participation by Butler, Creighton, Marquette, and Oral Roberts. On June 16, 1979, the Midwestern City Conference was formed by charter members Butler, Evansville, Loyola, Oklahoma City, Oral Roberts, and Xavier, with Detroit joining the following year., Detroit, now known as Detroit Mercy, is the only remaining member from the league's original members.

Maturity (1980–1992)

In 1980, the league established its headquarters in Champaign, Illinois. The MCC gained an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 1981, followed by the announcement that Saint Louis University would be joining the following season. The University of Notre Dame joined the conference for all sports except basketball and football in 1982. The conference attained automatic qualification for the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship in 1984 and the conference moved its headquarters to Indianapolis. Three changes occurred in the summer of 1985: Oklahoma City dropped out of the NCAA altogether; the conference name was altered slightly to Midwestern Collegiate Conference; and the conference began sponsoring women's athletics. The latter triggered Notre Dame's temporary withdrawal from the league as its women's teams were contracted to the North Star Conference. ESPN began televising the MCC Championship game in 1986. In 1987, Oral Roberts left the conference while Dayton joined and Notre Dame rejoined. The conference earned its first at-large bid to the men's basketball tournament and automatic qualification to the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship in 1989. In 1991, the conference received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament and lost members Marquette and Saint Louis. Duquesne and La Salle joined the MCC in 1992, the same year the conference gained an automatic berth to the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship. Duquesne and Dayton left the conference in 1993.

Modern era (1990-)

The largest non-merger conference expansion in NCAA history up to that time occurred on December 9, 1993, when Cleveland State, UIC, Northern Illinois, Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Wright State left the Mid-Continent Conference to join the Midwestern Collegiate Conference beginning with the 1994–95 academic year. With Evansville's departure to the Missouri Valley Conference, there were 12 league members. Xavier, Notre Dame, and La Salle withdrew the following summer of 1995, followed by Northern Illinois in 1997. The conference changed its name to the Horizon League on June 4, 2001, in part due to the initials causing confusion between the MCC and the Mid-Continent Conference, who also used the initials. That year, Youngstown State University joined from the Mid-Continent Conference, and on May 17, 2006, Valparaiso University announced it would do the same in 2007.
In April 2013, the split of the original Big East Conference caused a ripple effect that fell to the Horizon League; Loyola announced that it would leave the Horizon League effective July 1 to join the Missouri Valley Conference, which itself lost Creighton to the reconfigured Big East.
Butler also left the Horizon League. It spent a season in the Atlantic 10 before joining the Big East.
The Horizon announced that Oakland University, formerly of the Summit League, would immediately replace Loyola within a month.
The next change in the Horizon League's membership came in 2015 with the arrival of Northern Kentucky University from the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Two more membership changes were announced near the end of the 2016–17 school year. First, Valparaiso announced on May 25, 2017, that it would leave for the MVC effective July 1. The Crusaders replaced Wichita State, which announced that it would leave the MVC for the American Athletic Conference. Three days before Valparaiso's departure, the Horizon League Board of Directors unanimously approved the membership of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis to replace Valparaiso, also effective July 1. IUPUI was dissolved in 2024 and replaced by separate institutions affiliated with the Indiana University and Purdue University systems. At that time, the athletic program transferred to the new Indiana University Indianapolis with an athletic brand name of IU Indy, maintaining IUPUI's Division I and Horizon League memberships.
The start of the 2020s set further membership changes into motion, with the arrivals of Purdue Fort Wayne and Robert Morris from the Summit League and the Northeast Conference, respectively, announced on August 5, 2019 and June 15, 2020. This brought the Horizon League up to 12 full-time members for the first time since the 1994–95 season. It was short-lived, however, as the UIC Flames were reported to be following many of their former conference colleagues to the MVC effective July 1, 2022.
On July 6, 2022, the Horizon League and Ohio Valley Conference jointly announced that they would merge their men's tennis leagues under the Horizon banner, effective immediately. The five OVC members that sponsored the sport became Horizon associates. At the same time, the Horizon announced that Belmont, which had just left the OVC for the Missouri Valley Conference, would become a men's tennis associate, and Chicago State, which became a D-I independent after leaving the Western Athletic Conference days earlier, would become an associate in both men's and women's tennis. The Horizon later lost men's associate Lindenwood after they dropped nine NCAA sports, including men's tennis, after the 2023–24 season. Men's and women's associate Chicago State also announced it would join the Northeast Conference, which sponsors the sport for both sexes - however, CSU announced that it would keep its tennis programs in the Horizon for one extra year before moving them to the NEC for the 2025–26 season.
Prior to the 2023–24 academic year, the conference announced a brand refresh with the introduction of a new secondary logo. The logo is a gold stylized H that incorporates the arch of the conference's primary logo and a number one to symbolize unity. The logo was promoted to primary status ahead of the 2024–25 academic year.
On February 24, 2025, multiple media reports indicated that Northern Illinois was set to rejoin the Horizon League in 2026, coinciding with NIU football becoming an affiliate member of the Mountain West Conference. The move became official on February 27, after approval by NIU's governing board. That May, men's tennis affiliate Eastern Illinois announced it was dropping that sport effective immediately, citing issues stemming from the impending settlement of the House v. NCAA legal case.
On October 30, 2025, conference commissioner Julie Roe Lach, who had served in the position since 2021, was announced to be leaving the conference at the end of the fall 2025 semester to join Pacers Sports & Entertainment as executive vice president. On December 1, COO Christine Neuman took over as interim commissioner during the search for a permanent replacement.
, eight of the 11 full Horizon League members are former members of the Mid-Con, with the exceptions being Detroit Mercy, Northern Kentucky, and Robert Morris.

Member schools

Current full members

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Future members

Associate members

Former full members

Nicknames and school names reflect those used in the last school year of conference membership.
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Membership timeline


DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1979 till:2029
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
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 in some sports, but not all
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1985 text:Oklahoma City
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1985 till:1986
bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:1986 till:end text:SAC
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1987 text:Oral Roberts
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:1989 text:D-I Ind
bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:1991 text:NAIA Ind
bar:2 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:1997 text:D-I Ind
bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1997 till:2007 text:Mid-Con
bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2007 till:2012 text:Summit
bar:2 shift: color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2014 text:Southland
bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2014 till:end text:Summit
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1994 text:Evansville
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1994 till:end text:MVC
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1995 text:Xavier
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1995 till:2013 text:A-10
bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:Big East
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1979 till:2012 text:Butler
bar:5 shift: color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2013 text:A-10
bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:Big East
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1979 till:2013 text:Loyola Chicago
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2022 text:MVC
bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:2022 till:end text:A-10
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1980 text:D-I Ind
bar:7 shift: color:FullxF from:1980 till:1990 text:Detroit
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1990 till:end text:Detroit Mercy
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1981 text:Metro
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1981 till:1991 text:St. Louis
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:1995 text:GMC
bar:8 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:2005 text:C-USA
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:end text:A-10
bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1982 text:D-I Ind
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1982 till:1986 text:Notre Dame
bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1986 till:1987
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1995
bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1995 till:2013 text:Big East
bar:9 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:ACC
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1987 text:D-I Ind
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1993 text:Dayton
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:1993 till:1995 text:GMC
bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:end text:A-10
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1988 text:D-I Ind
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1991 text:Marquette
bar:11 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:1995 text:GMC
bar:11 shift: color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:2005 text:C-USA
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2013 text:Big East
bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:Big East
bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1992 text:A-10
bar:12 color:FullxF from:1992 till:1993 text:Duquesne
bar:12 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1993 till:end text:A-10
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1983 text:ECC
bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:1983 till:1992 text:MAAC
bar:13 color:FullxF from:1992 till:1995 text:La Salle
bar:13 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1995 till:end text:A-10
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1986 text:MAC
bar:14 color:OtherC2 from:1986 till:1990 text:D-I Ind
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:1990 till:1994 text:Mid-Con
bar:14 color:FullxF from:1994 till:1997 text:Northern Illinois
bar:14 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1997 till:2026 text: MAC
bar:14 color:FullxF from:2026 till:end text:
bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1982 text:D-I Ind
bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:1982 till:1989 text:AMCU
bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:1994 text:Mid-Con
bar:15 color:FullxF from:1994 till:end text:Cleveland State
bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1981 text:CCAC
bar:16 color:OtherC2 from:1981 till:1982
bar:16 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1982 till:1989 text:AMCU
bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:1994 text:Mid-Con
bar:16 color:FullxF from:1994 till:2022 text:UIC
bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text:MVC
bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1981 text:D-II Ind
bar:17 shift: color:OtherC2 from:1981 till:1982 text:D-I Ind
bar:17 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1982 till:1989 text:AMCU
bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:1994 text:Mid-Con
bar:17 color:FullxF from:1994 till:end text:Green Bay
bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1980 text:D-I Ind
bar:18 shift: color:OtherC2 from:1980 till:1985 text:D-III Ind-
bar:18 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1985 till:1987 text:NAIA Ind
bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:1987 till:1990 text:D-II Ind
bar:18 shift: color:OtherC1 from:1990 till:1993 text:D-I Ind
bar:18 shift: color:OtherC2 from:1993 till:1994 text:Mid-Con
bar:18 color:FullxF from:1994 till:end text:Milwaukee
bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1987 text:D-II Ind.
bar:19 color:OtherC2 from:1987 till:1991 text:D-I Ind
bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:1994 text:Mid-Con
bar:19 color:FullxF from:1994 till:end text:Wright State
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1981 text:D-II Ind.
bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:1981 till:1988 text:OVC
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:1988 till:1992 text:D-I Ind.
bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:1992 till:2001 text:Mid-Con
bar:20 color:FullxF from:2001 till:end text:Youngstown State
bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1982 text:D-I Ind.
bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:1982 till:1989 text:AMCU
bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:2007 text:Mid-Con
bar:21 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2017 text:Valparaiso
bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:2017 till:end text:MVC
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1997 text:GLIAC
bar:22 shift: color:OtherC2 from:1997 till:1998 text:D-I Ind
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:1998 till:2007 text:Mid-Con
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2013 text:Summit
bar:22 color:FullxF from:2013 till:end text:Oakland
bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1985 text:D-II Ind
bar:23 color:OtherC2 from:1985 till:2012 text:GLVC
bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2015 text:A-Sun
bar:23 color:FullxF from:2015 till:end text:Northern Kentucky
bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1993 text:NAIA Ind
bar:24 color:OtherC2 from:1993 till:1998 text:D-II Ind
bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:1998 till:2007 text:Mid-Con
bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2017 text:Summit
bar:24 color:FullxF from:2017 till:2024 text:IUPUI
bar:24 color:FullxF from:2024 till:end text:IU Indy
bar:25 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1981 text:D-III Ind
bar:25 shift: color:OtherC2 from:1981 till:1984 text:D-II Ind
bar:25 color:OtherC1 from:1984 till:2001 text:GLVC
bar:25 color:OtherC2 from:2001 till:2007 text:D-I Ind.
bar:25 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2020 text:Summit
bar:25 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text:Purdue Fort Wayne
bar:26 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1981 text:D-I Ind
bar:26 color:OtherC2 from:1981 till:1988 text:ECAC Metro
bar:26 color:OtherC2 from:1988 till:2020 text:NEC
bar:26 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text:Robert Morris
bar:N color:orange from:1979 till:1985 text:Midwestern City Conference
bar:N shift: color:redorange from:1985 till:2001 text:Midwestern Collegiate Conference
bar:N color:orange from:2001 till:end text:Horizon League
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1980
TextData =
fontsize:M
textcolor:black
pos: tabs:
text:^"Horizon League membership history"
  1. > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six 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. <#

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