Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference that operates in NCAA Division III. The conference was founded in 1915 and it consists of twelve small private schools that are located in Southern California and organized into nine athletic programs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer are combined teams for sports purposes.
The SCIAC currently sponsors men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, men's and women's golf, women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field, women's volleyball and men's and women's water polo.
History
A forerunner conference to the SCIAC was the Intercollegiate Football Association of Southern California, which existed in the 1890s. It included Occidental, Caltech, USC, Chaffey College and Los Angeles High School.The SCIAC was founded in 1915 with five member schools with the goals to promote amateurism in athletics. The five founding members, all of whom are still members, are Throop College of Technology, Occidental College, Pomona College, the University of Redlands, and Whittier College. Although all five original charter members are still affiliated with the SCIAC, only two, Occidental and Redlands, have had uninterrupted membership. The acronym SCIAC was in use during 1913 and 1914 until that organization became the CIF Southern Section.
On May 12, 2011, the SCIAC announced that Chapman University would become the ninth member, beginning with the 2011–12 academic year. The addition of Chapman marks the first expansion of the conference since California Lutheran University joined in 1991. At one time, most of the colleges were the southern California affiliates of various Christian denominations such as the Quakers and the Presbyterians. Today, only California Lutheran University maintains an affiliation with a church.
There are three former members of the SCIAC: University of California, Los Angeles, San Diego State University and University of California, Santa Barbara. All former members now compete in NCAA Division I athletics.
Chronological timeline
- 1915 – The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was founded. Charter members included Occidental College, Pomona College, the University of Redlands, Throop College of Technology and Whittier College, beginning the 1915–16 academic year.
- 1920 – The Southern Branch of the University of California joined the SCIAC in the 1920–21 academic year.
- 1926 – La Verne College and San Diego State Teachers College joined the SCIAC in the 1926–27 academic year.
- 1927 – UCLA left the SCIAC after the 1926–27 academic year.
- 1931 – Santa Barbara State College joined the SCIAC in the 1931–32 academic year.
- 1934 – Caltech and Pomona left the SCIAC after the 1933–34 academic year.
- 1938:
- * La Verne and UC Santa Barbara left the SCIAC after the 1937–38 academic year
- * Caltech and Pomona rejoined the SCIAC in the 1938–39 academic year.
- 1939 – San Diego State left the SCIAC after the 1938–39 academic year.
- 1943 – Whittier left the SCIAC after the 1942–43 academic year.
- 1946 – Whittier rejoined the SCIAC in the 1946–47 academic year.
- 1947 – Claremont Men's College joined the SCIAC in the 1947–48 academic year.
- 1950 – Chapman College joined the SCIAC in the 1950–51 academic year.
- 1952 – Chapman left the SCIAC after the 1951–52 academic year.
- 1958 – Claremont combined with Harvey Mudd College for athletics to become Claremont–Mudd, beginning the 1958–59 academic year.
- 1971 – Pomona combined with Pitzer College for athletics to become Pomona–Pitzer, while La Verne rejoined the SCIAC, both effective in the 1971–72 academic year.
- 1976 – Claremont–Mudd combined with Scripps College for athletics to become Claremont–Mudd–Scripps, beginning the 1976–77 academic year.
- 1991 – California Lutheran University joined the SCIAC, effective in the 1991–92 academic year.
- 2011 – Chapman rejoined the SCIAC in the 2011–12 academic year.
- 2020 – Occidental dropped its football program before the start of the 2020 fall season.
- 2023 – Whittier dropped its football program after the 2022 fall season.
- 2024 – Azusa Pacific announced that it would transition from NCAA Division II and the Pacific West Conference to the SCIAC in conjunction with the restart of its football program for the 2026 fall season.
Member schools
Current member schools
The SCIAC currently has nine full members, all are private schools:| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Football |
| California Institute of Technology | Pasadena | 1891 | Nonsectarian | 2,086 | Beavers | 1915; 1938 | No |
| California Lutheran University | Thousand Oaks | 1959 | Lutheran ELCA | 3,298 | Kingsmen and Regals|Kingsmen] & Regals | 1991 | Yes |
| Chapman University | Orange | 1861 | DoC & UCC | 10,001 | Panthers | 1950; 2011 | Yes |
| Claremont-Mudd-Scripps —Claremont McKenna College —Harvey Mudd College —Scripps College | Claremont | 1946 1955 1926 | Nonsectarian | 1,328 746 878 | Stags and Athenas|Stags] & Athenas | 1976 1947 1958 1976 | Yes |
| University of La Verne | La Verne | 1891 | Nonsectarian | 1,685 | Leopards | 1926; 1971 | Yes |
| Occidental College | Los Angeles | 1887 | Nonsectarian | 1,839 | Tigers | 1915 | No |
| Pomona-Pitzer —Pomona College —Pitzer College | Claremont | 1887 1963 | Nonsectarian | 950 | Sagehens | 1971 1915; 1938 1971 | Yes |
| University of Redlands | Redlands | 1907 | Nonsectarian | 4,400 | Bulldogs | 1915 | Yes |
| Whittier College | Whittier | 1887 | Secular | 1,540 | Poets | 1915; 1946 | No |
;Notes:
Future member
The SCIAC will have one new member in 2026, also a private school.| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joining | Colors | Current conference |
| Azusa Pacific University | Azusa | 1899 | Evangelical | 7,133 | Cougars | 2026 | Pacific West (PacWest) |
;Notes:
Former member schools
The SCIAC had three former full members, all were public schools:| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference | ||||||||
| Los Angeles | 1919 | Public | 39,271 | Bruins | 1920 | 1927 | Big Ten (B1G) | |||||||||
| San Diego State University | San Diego | 1897 | Public | 31,303 | Aztecs | 1926 | 1939 | Mountain West (MW) | Santa Barbara | 1891 | Public | 22,850 | Santa Barbara Gauchos|Gauchos] | 1931 | 1938 | Big West (BWC) |
;Notes:
Membership timeline
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All-sports champions
| Year | Overall Champion |
| 2023–24 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2022–23 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2021–22 | Pomona-Pitzer |
| 2020–21 | Not awarded due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2019–20 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2018–19 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2017–18 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2016–17 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2015–16 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2014–15 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2013–14 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2012–13 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2011–12 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2010–11 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2009–10 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2008–09 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2007–08 | Redlands |
| 2006–07 | Redlands |
| 2005–06 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2004–05 | Redlands |
| 2003–04 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2002–03 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2001–02 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 2000–01 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1999–2000 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1998–99 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1997–98 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1996–97 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1995–96 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1994–95 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1993–94 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1992–93 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1991–92 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1990–91 | Pomona-Pitzer |
| 1989–90 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1988–89 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1987–88 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1986–87 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1985–86 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1984–85 | Occidental |
| 1983–84 | Occidental |
| 1982–83 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1981–82 | Pomona-Pitzer |
| 1980–81 | Pomona-Pitzer |
| 1979–80 | Pomona-Pitzer |
| 1978–79 | Occidental |
| 1977–78 | Pomona-Pitzer |
| 1976–77 | Pomona-Pitzer |
| 1975–76 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1974–75 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| 1973–74 | Redlands |
| 1972–73 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| School | Number of titles |
| Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 37 |
| Pomona-Pitzer | 7 |
| Redlands | 4 |
| Occidental | 3 |
Sports
The SCIAC sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in the following sports:| Sport | Men's | Women's |
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Cross Country | ||
| Football | ||
| Golf | ||
| Lacrosse | ||
| Soccer | ||
| Softball | ||
| Swimming & Diving | ||
| Tennis | ||
| Track and field | ||
| Volleyball | ||
| Water Polo |