North Coast Athletic Conference


The North Coast Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III which is composed of colleges located in Ohio and Indiana. It sponsors 23 sports, 11 for men and 12 for women.
WWW northcoast.org𝕏 ncac

History

The formation of the NCAC was announced at joint news conferences in Cleveland, Columbus and Pittsburgh in February 1983. Allegheny College, Case Western Reserve University, Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University, and The College of Wooster were charter members in 1984, the same year that NCAC athletic conference play began. The conference offered 10 women's sports, the most offered by a conference at that time.
In 1988, Earlham College and Wittenberg College accepted invitations to join the NCAC, pushing conference membership to nine schools in three states. The two schools would begin play in the fall of 1989. In 1998, Hiram College, and Wabash College accepted invitations to join the NCAC, pushing conference membership to 10 schools in three states, which both schools began play in the fall of 1999. Case Western Reserve, a charter member of the NCAC, announced that it would leave the NCAC following the 1998–99 academic year. The Spartans would compete on a full-time basis in the University Athletic Association after more than a decade of joint conference membership affiliation.
Earlham announced it would depart the NCAC for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, beginning with the 2010–11 season. DePauw University became the 10th member of the NCAC beginning in the 2011–12 season.
Allegheny left the NCAC after the 2021–22 school year to return to its former home of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Allegheny and Earlham remain single-sport NCAC members in field hockey. Later in 2022, Transylvania University and Washington & Jefferson College were announced as single-sport NCAC members for field hockey, beginning with the 2023 season.
The most recent changes to the NCAC membership were announced in 2024. First, on January 18, John Carroll University announced it was leaving the Ohio Athletic Conference to join the NCAC. Then on April 23, Hiram announced it would leave the NCAC in 2025 to return to the PAC, which it had left in 1989.

Chronological timeline

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives

In 2019, the NCAC was one of the first NCAA conferences to participate in the organization's LGBTQ OneTeam Program, which launched in fall 2019. Two facilitators from the NCAC – Seth Hayes of Denison University and Rhea Debussy of Kenyon College – were among the first 30 facilitators for this NCAA Division III program. In 2021, the NCAA announced that two NCAC staff members – Kate Costanzo of Allegheny College and Rhea Debussy of Kenyon College – were finalists for the NCAA Division III LGBTQ Administrator/Coach/Staff of the Year Award.

Member schools

Current members

The NCAC currently has nine full members, all private schools.
InstitutionLocationFoundedAffiliationEnrollment2022 US News
ranking		2021 Forbes
Top Colleges		NicknameJoinedColors
Denison UniversityGranville, Ohio1831Nonsectarian2,10042288Big Red1984
DePauw UniversityGreencastle, Indiana1837Methodist2,35046130Tigers2011
John Carroll UniversityUniversity Heights, Ohio1886Catholic
2,615Blue Streaks2025
Kenyon CollegeGambier, Ohio1824Episcopal/Anglican1,64030287Owls1984
Oberlin CollegeOberlin, Ohio1833Nonsectarian2,85037290Yeomen &
Yeowomen		1984
Ohio Wesleyan UniversityDelaware, Ohio1842Nonsectarian1,85098446Battling Bishops1984
Wabash CollegeCrawfordsville, Indiana1832Nonsectarian85057327Little Giants1999
Wittenberg UniversitySpringfield, Ohio1845Lutheran ELCA2,050155435Tigers1989
Wooster, Ohio1866Nonsectarian1,82771428Fighting Scots1984

;Notes:

Affiliate members

The NCAC has four affiliate members, all are private schools.
InstitutionLocationFoundedAffiliationEnrollmentNicknameJoinedNCAC
sport		Primary
conference
Allegheny CollegeMeadville, Pennsylvania1815United Methodist1,442Gators2022Field hockeyPresidents' (PAC)
Earlham CollegeRichmond, Indiana1847Quaker900Quakers2010Field hockeyHeartland (HCAC)
Transylvania UniversityLexington, Kentucky1780Disciples of Christ963Pioneers2023Field hockeyHeartland (HCAC)
Washington & Jefferson CollegeWashington, Pennsylvania1781Nonsectarian1,168Presidents2023Field hockeyPresidents' (PAC)

;Notes:

Future affiliate member

The NCAC will have one future affiliate member, a private school.
InstitutionLocationFoundedAffiliationEnrollmentNicknameJoinedNCAC
sport		Primary
conference
Washington University in St. Louis1853Nonsectarian14,117Bears2026FootballUniversity (UAA)

;Notes:

Former members

The NCAC has three former full members, all private schools.
InstitutionLocationFoundedAffiliationEnrollmentNicknameJoinedLeftCurrent
conference
Allegheny CollegeMeadville, Pennsylvania1815United Methodist2,100Gators19842022Presidents' (PAC)
Case Western Reserve UniversityCleveland, Ohio1826Nonsectarian11,824Spartans19841999University (UAA)
Earlham CollegeRichmond, Indiana1847Quakers1,181Quakers19892010Heartland (HCAC)
Hiram CollegeHiram, Ohio1850Disciples of Christ1,395Terriers19992025Presidents' (PAC)

;Notes:

Membership timeline


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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
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bar:1 color:Full from:1984 till:2022 text:Allegheny
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bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:end text:UAA
bar:3 color:Full from:1984 till:end text:Denison
bar:4 color:Full from:1984 till:end text:Kenyon
bar:5 color:Full from:1984 till:end text:Oberlin
bar:6 color:Full from:1984 till:end text:Ohio Wesleyan
bar:7 color:Full from:1984 till:end text:Wooster
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bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2010 till:2021 text:HCAC
bar:8 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:HCAC
bar:9 color:Full from:1989 till:end text:Wittenberg
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2000 text:Hiram
bar:10 color:Full from:2000 till:2025
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2025 till:end text:PAC
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2000 text:Wabash
bar:11 color:Full from:2000 till:end
bar:12 color:FullxF from:2011 till:2012 text:DePauw
bar:12 color:Full from:2012 till:end
bar:13 color:AssocOS from:2023 till:end text:Transylvania
bar:14 shift: color:AssocOS from:2023 till:end text:Washington and Jefferson
bar:15 shift: color:Full from:2025 till:end text:John Carroll
bar:16 shift: color:AssocF from:2026 till:end text:Washington (Mo.)
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Sports

Conference Sports
SportMen'sWomen's
Baseball
Basketball
Cross Country
Field Hockey
Football
Golf
Lacrosse
Soccer
Softball
Swimming & Diving
Tennis
Track & Field
Track & Field
Volleyball