Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference


The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is a [List of National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA conferences|college athletic conference] affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level. The conference was originally formed in 1951 as the State Teachers Conference, and was temporarily named the Pennsylvania State Teachers College Conference in 1956 before assuming its current name in 1964.
The conference's 17 full-time members include 16 based in Pennsylvania and one in West Virginia. The conference's headquarters are in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and staffed by a commissioner, two assistant commissioners, and a director of media relations.
WWW psacsports.org

History

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education organized the conference in 1951 to promote competition in men's sports amongst the system's 14 universities.
In 1977, following growing interest, the conference was expanded to offer competition in women's sports. From its inception, each conference member selected its own competitive division within the NCAA.
In 1980, however, the presidents voted to reclassify the entire conference to Division II within the NCAA.
Membership remained unchanged until the conference announced on June 18, 2007, that it had invited three private universities—Gannon University and Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania and C.W. Post of Brookville, New York—to join the conference. Gannon and Mercyhurst left the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to join the PSAC, effective July 1, 2008. C.W. Post became an associate member for football and field hockey.
In 2010, Seton Hill University was accepted to join the conference as an associate member for field hockey. With the transition of West Chester from Division I to Division II, the number of teams competing in field hockey increased from 10 to 12 for the 2011 season.
On August 19, 2012, the PSAC announced that Seton Hill and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, formerly members of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, would become full members beginning with the 2013–14 school year. This announcement was fallout from a split in the WVIAC that ultimately led to the formation of the Mountain East Conference. Although Seton Hill was one of the schools that initially broke away from the WVIAC, it chose not to join the MEC. The arrival of these two schools brought the PSAC to 18 full members, making it the largest NCAA all-sports conference in terms of membership at that time. While two other conferences briefly expanded to more members, the D-II Lone Star Conference to 19 in 2019–20 and the D-III USA South Athletic Conference to the same number in 2021–22, both have since reduced their memberships to less than 18, once again giving the PSAC the largest membership of any NCAA all-sports conference.
In March 2018, charter member Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, facing crises in enrollment, graduation rates, and finances, announced that it would leave NCAA Division II and the PSAC at the end of the 2017–18 school year. The school had dropped football in December 2017.
Later that year, the conference announced that it would expand into West Virginia, bringing in Shepherd University from the MEC as a full member effective with the 2019–20 school year. Shepherd is the first full PSAC member outside of Pennsylvania.
As of April 4, 2024, Mercyhurst announced that it will leave the PSAC to transition to NCAA Division I and join the Northeast Conference, beginning the 2024–25 academic year. The PSAC responded on June 26, 2025 by extending an invitation to Lackawanna College to join as a full member, becoming the third-ever institution to transition from the National Junior College Athletic Association directly into Division II.

Role in Division I conference realignment

The PSAC played a little-known but nonetheless significant role in the history of NCAA Division I conference realignment. In 1986, the conference was seeking a way out of a football scheduling conundrum. The PSAC had 14 members at the time, and had been split into divisions for decades. One of the methods it historically used to determine a football champion involved a championship game between the winners of its two divisions. However, due to NCAA limits on regular-season games, every PSAC team had to leave a schedule spot open, with only the two division winners getting to play all of their allowed regular-season games. Then-conference commissioner Tod Eberle asked Dick Yoder, then athletic director at West Chester and member of the Division II council, to draft NCAA legislation that would allow the PSAC to play a conference title game that would be exempt from regular-season limits. The initial draft required that a qualifying league have 14 members and play a round-robin schedule within each division; only the PSAC then qualified.
Before Yoder formally introduced the proposal, he was approached by the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, which was interested in co-sponsoring the legislation because it was also split into football divisions and wanted the option of a championship game. Since the CIAA then had 12 members, Yoder changed the legislation to require 12 members instead of 14. Although at the time all NCAA legislation had to be approved by the entire membership, regardless of divisional alignment, the proposal passed with little notice. It was generally seen as a non-issue by Division I-A (now FBS) schools since no conference in that group then had more than 10 members. While the PSAC planned to stage its first exempt title game in 1988, it decided against doing so at that time because the D-II playoffs expanded from 8 to 16 teams that season, and it feared that the result of a title game could cost the league a playoff berth. The new NCAA rule would not see its first use until the Southeastern Conference took advantage of it by expanding to 12 members in 1991 and launching a title game the following year.

Chronological timeline

;Notes

Member schools

Current members

The PSAC currently has 17 full members, all but two being public schools. Also, only three of the 15 public members are outside of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
InstitutionLocationFoundedAffiliationEnrollmentNicknameJoinedColors
'Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania1839Public7,206Huskies1951
'Lock Haven, Pennsylvania1870Public2,702Bald Eagles1951
'Mansfield, Pennsylvania1857Public1,195Mountaineers1951
East Stroudsburg University of PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania1893Public5,636Warriors1951
Gannon UniversityErie, Pennsylvania1925Catholic
4,665Golden Knights2008
Indiana University of PennsylvaniaIndiana, Pennsylvania1875Public9,081Crimson Hawks1951
Kutztown University of PennsylvaniaKutztown, Pennsylvania1866Public7,468Golden Bears1951
Millersville University of PennsylvaniaMillersville, Pennsylvania1855Public7,009Marauders1951
'California, Pennsylvania1852Public2,717Vulcans1951
'Clarion, Pennsylvania1867Public1,743Golden Eagles1951
'Edinboro, Pennsylvania1857Public2,259Fighting Scots1951
Johnstown, Pennsylvania1927Public
1,809Mountain Cats2013
Seton Hill UniversityGreensburg, Pennsylvania1883Catholic
1,989Griffins2013
Shepherd UniversityShepherdstown, West Virginia1871Public3,339Rams2019
Shippensburg University of PennsylvaniaShippensburg, Pennsylvania1871Public5,165Raiders1951
Slippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock, Pennsylvania1889Public8,394The Rock1951
West Chester University of PennsylvaniaWest Chester, Pennsylvania1871Public17,202Golden Rams1951

;Notes

Future members

The PSAC will have one future full member, which will be a private school, yet a date will to be announced:
InstitutionLocationFoundedAffiliationEnrollmentNicknameJoiningColorsCurrent
conference
Lackawanna CollegeScranton, Pennsylvania1894Nonsectarian1,939FalconsTBA Eastern Pennsylvania (EPAC)

;Notes

Affiliate members

The PSAC has three affiliate members, one public school and two private schools:
InstitutionLocationFoundedAffiliationNicknameJoinedPSAC
sport		Primary
conference
Chestnut Hill CollegePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania1924Catholic
Griffins2025men's tennisCentral Atlantic (CACC)
Frostburg State UniversityFrostburg, Maryland1898PublicBobcats2024field hockeyMountain East (MEC)
Thomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania1824NonsectarianRams2025men's tennisCentral Atlantic (CACC)

;Notes

Former members

The PSAC had two former full members, a public school and a private school:
InstitutionLocationFoundedAffiliationEnrollmentNicknameJoinedLeftColorsCurrent
conference
Cheyney University of PennsylvaniaCheyney, Pennsylvania1837Public642Wolves19512018Independent
Mercyhurst UniversityErie, Pennsylvania1926Catholic2,801Lakers20082024Northeast (NEC)

;Notes

Former affiliate members

The PSAC had one former affiliate member, which was also a private school:
InstitutionLocationFoundedAffiliationNicknameJoinedLeftPSAC
sport		Primary
conference
Long Island University-PostBrookville, New York1954NonsectarianPioneers20082013Field hockeyNortheast (NEC)
Long Island University-PostBrookville, New York1954NonsectarianPioneers20082013FootballNortheast (NEC)

;Note:

Membership timeline


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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
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bar:1 color:Full from:1951 till:end text:Bloomsburg
bar:2 color:Full from:1951 till:end text:California
bar:3 color:Full from:1951 till:2018 text:Cheyney
bar:4 color:Full from:1951 till:end text:Clarion
bar:5 color:Full from:1951 till:end text:East Stroudsburg
bar:6 color:Full from:1951 till:end text:Edinboro
bar:7 color:Full from:1951 till:1966 text:Indiana
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1966 till:1974
bar:7 color:Full from:1974 till:end
bar:8 color:Full from:1951 till:end text:Kutztown
bar:9 color:Full from:1951 till:end text:Lock Haven
bar:10 color:Full from:1951 till:2007 text:Mansfield
bar:10 color:FullxF from:2007 till:end
bar:11 color:Full from:1951 till:end text:Millersville
bar:12 color:Full from:1951 till:end text:Shippensburg
bar:13 color:Full from:1951 till:end text:Slippery Rock
bar:14 color:Full from:1951 till:1977 text:West Chester
bar:14 color:FullxF from:1977 till:1982
bar:14 color:Full from:1982 till:end
bar:15 color:Full from:2008 till:end text:Gannon
bar:16 color:Full from:2008 till:2024 text:Mercyhurst
bar:17 color:AssocF from:2008 till:2013 text:LIU–Post
bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:2013 text:Seton Hill
bar:18 color:Full from:2013 till:end
bar:19 color:FullxF from:2013 till:end text:Pitt-Johnstown
bar:20 color:Full from:2019 till:end text:Shepherd
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Sports

In wrestling; Bloomsburg, Clarion, Edinboro, and Lock Haven compete as members of the Division I Mid-American Conference. The PSAC held an annual championship open to all Division I and Division II teams, however with the transition of all of the former members of the Wrestling League into the MAC starting in 2019 the Division I level PSAC programs will focus on Division I level competition. The PSAC offers championships in the following sports.
SportMen'sWomen's
Baseball
Basketball
Cross Country
Field Hockey
Football
Golf
Lacrosse
Soccer
Softball
Swimming & Diving
Tennis
Track & Field Indoor
Track & Field Outdoor
Volleyball
Wrestling

Other sponsored sports by school

In addition to the above:
  • Edinboro sponsors coeducational varsity teams in esports and wheelchair basketball.
  • Gannon recognizes its cheerleaders and all-female dance team as varsity athletes.
  • Mansfield fields a varsity team in sprint football, a weight-restricted form of football played under standard NCAA rules but governed outside the NCAA.
  • Shepherd and West Chester recognize their female cheerleaders, but not their male ones, as varsity athletes.

Notable alumni

The following is a list of alumni of the respective universities, including before the formation of the Conference in 1951.

Football

Baseball

Basketball

Soccer

Olympians