Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

Formerly	Northern Athletics Conference
Association	NCAA
Founded	2006
Commissioner	Jeff Ligney (since 2020)
Sports fielded	21 men's: 11 women's: 10
Division	Division III
No. of teams	14 (13 in 2026, 12 in 2027)
Headquarters	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Region	Upper Midwest
Official website	naccsports.org
Locations

TheNorthern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), formerly theNorthern Athletics Conference (NAC), is anintercollegiate athletic conference. It participates in theNCAA'sDivision III and began its first season in the fall of 2006.

The NACC sponsors 21 sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, and volleyball. Women's squads are fielded in basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field and volleyball. The newest NACC sports are men's volleyball, added in the 2017–18 school year,^[1] and men's and women's lacrosse, added in the 2020-21 school year.^[2]

The NACC became eligible for automatic NCAA postseason berths in 2008–09.

Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

50km
31miles

Alverno

Maranatha

St. Norbert

Illinois Tech

MSOE

Rockford

Dominican

Concordia Chicago

Benedictine

Aurora

Wisconsin Lutheran

Marian

Lakeland

Edgewood

Concordia Wisconsin

   

Location of NACC members: current, former, departing

The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference began its first season of competition in the fall of 2006 as theNorthern Athletics Conference. The name change took place at the beginning of the 2013–14 academic year. The NACC consists of 13 colleges and universities from the shared-border states of Illinois and Wisconsin. Many have shared traditional rivalries dating back to the NACC's predecessor conferences: theLake Michigan Conference and theNorthern Illinois-Iowa Conference.^{[citation needed]}

Charter members include:Alverno College,Aurora University,Benedictine University,Concordia University Chicago,Concordia University Wisconsin,Dominican University,Edgewood University,Lakeland University,Maranatha Baptist University,Marian University,Rockford University andWisconsin Lutheran College.^{[citation needed]}

Just three changes to the league's core membership have occurred, as theMilwaukee School of Engineering joined the NAC in the fall of 2007, and Maranatha withdrew from the league in the summer of 2013.^[3] In 2017, theIllinois Institute of Technology announced that they would be joining the NACC for the 2018 athletic season, coinciding with their acceptance as a full NCAA Division III member.^[4]

Also in 2017, Benedictine, which had been contemplating a move toNCAA Division II, was formally invited to join the D-IIGreat Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), pending NCAA approval of its entry into the D-II transition process. Benedictine formally applied to begin this transition in advance of a February 1, 2018 deadline, and was officially approved to enter the transition process in July of that year. In October 2018, Benedictine reversed course and rescinded its request to withdraw from the NACC.^[5]

The most recent membership change was announced on April 3, 2019, whenSt. Norbert College, already slated to become an affiliate member in men's volleyball (and, subsequently, men's and women's golf) in 2019–20, was upgraded to full NACC membership effective in 2021–22.^[6]

On April 17, 2024, four institutions joined the NCAA as affiliate members for lacrosse, effective in the 2025 spring season of the 2024-25 academic year). The following schools wereCornell College,Lake Forest College andLawrence University for men's and women's lacrosse, and theUniversity of Dubuque for only men's lacrosse.^[7][8] Lawrence was introducing both sports, while Cornell, Dubuque, and Lake Forest had been members of theMidwest Lacrosse Conference /Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference.

• 2006 – The NACC was founded as the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC). Charter members include:Alverno College,Concordia University Wisconsin,Dominican University,Edgewood College (now Edgewood University),Lakeland College (now Lakeland University),Maranatha Baptist Bible College (now Maranatha Baptist University),Marian University andWisconsin Lutheran College [from theLake Michigan Conference (LMC)], andAurora University,Benedictine University,Concordia University Chicago andRockford College [now Rockford University; from theNorthern Illinois-Iowa Conference (NIIC)], beginning the 2006–07 academic year.^{[citation needed]}
• 2007 – TheMilwaukee School of Engineering (MSoE) (also a former member from the defunct Lake Michigan Conference) joined the NAC after spending a season as anNCAA D-III Independent school in the 2007–08 academic year.^{[citation needed]}
• 2011 –Bethany Lutheran College,Martin Luther College, theUniversity of Minnesota Morris,University of Northwestern – St. Paul andPresentation College joined the NAC as affiliate members for women's golf in the 2012 spring season (2011–12 academic year).^{[citation needed]}
• 2012 – Presentation left the NAC as an affiliate member for women's golf to return to theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) after the 2012 spring season (2011–12 academic year).^{[citation needed]}
• 2013:
  • Maranatha Baptist left the NAC to become anNCAA D-III Independent school after the 2012–13 academic year.^{[citation needed]}
  • The NAC was rebranded as the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), beginning the 2013–14 school year.^{[citation needed]}
  • Northland College joined the NACC as an affiliate member for women's golf in the 2014 spring season (2013–14 academic year).^{[citation needed]}
• 2015:
  • Bethany Lutheran, Minnesota–Morris, Northwestern (Minn.) and Northland left the NACC as affiliate members for women's golf after the 2015 spring season (2014–15 academic year).^{[citation needed]}
  • Mount Mary University joined the NACC as an affiliate member for women's cross country in the 2015 fall season (2015–16 academic year).^{[citation needed]}
• 2018:
  • TheIllinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) joined the NACC in the 2018–19 academic year.^{[citation needed]}
  • Eureka College joined the NACC as an affiliate member for football in the 2018 fall season (2018–19 academic year).^{[citation needed]}
• 2019 –St. Norbert College joined the NACC as an affiliate member for men's volleyball, men's golf and women's golf in the 2019–20 academic year.^{[citation needed]}
• 2021:
  • St. Norbert had upgraded to join the NACC for all sports in the 2021–22 academic year.^{[citation needed]}
  • Beloit College joined the NACC as an affiliate member for men's and women's lacrosse in the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year).^{[citation needed]}
• 2024 – Four institutions joined the NACC as affiliate members, all effective in the 2025 spring season (2024–25 academic year):
  • Cornell College,Lake Forest College andLawrence University for men's and women's lacrosse
  • and theUniversity of Dubuque for men's lacrosse
• 2026 – Alverno will leave the NACC to join theCoast to Coast Athletic Conference (C2C), beginning the 2026–27 academic year.
• 2027 – Concordia–Wisconsin will leave the NACC to join theCollege Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), beginning the 2027–28 academic year.

The NACC currently has 14 full members, all areprivate schools:

Notes

The NACC currently has six affiliate members, all areprivate schools:

Notes

The NACC had one former full member, which was also aprivate school:

Notes

The NACC had seven former affiliate members, all wereprivate schools:

Notes

 Full member (all sports)  Full member (non-football)  Associate member (football)  Associate member (sport) 

Teams in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference competition

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Football	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Lacrosse	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track & Field (Indoor)	Y	Y
Track & Field (Outdoor)	Y	Y
Volleyball	Y	Y

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference which are played by NACC schools:

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference which are played by NACC schools:

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNorthern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

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• Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

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