Formerly | Virginia College Conference |
---|---|
Association | NCAA |
Founded | 1975 |
Commissioner | Brad Bankston |
Sports fielded |
|
Division | Division III |
No. of teams | 15 full, 2 associates (14 full in 2025) |
Headquarters | Forest, Virginia |
Region | South Atlantic |
Official website | odaconline.com |
Locations | |
The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference. Of its 15 member schools, all but one are located in Virginia; the other full member is in North Carolina. The conference also has two associate members: one in Virginia and one in North Carolina.
The conference was founded in May 1975 as the Virginia College Conference. [1] On January 1, 1976, the name was changed to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The 1976–77 season was the first in which championships were offered. In 1980, Maryville College joined and became the first member outside of Virginia. In 1981, Catholic University joined the conference after leaving Division I's Colonial Athletic Association. In 1982–83, women's sports were added, and Hollins College (now university), Randolph–Macon Woman's College (now Randolph College), and Sweet Briar College all joined. Mary Baldwin College (now university) joined in 1984. In 1988, Maryville left and was replaced by Virginia Wesleyan College (now university). In 1989 Catholic left the conference to become a charter member of the Capital Athletic Conference, returning in 1999 as a football-only member. [2] They were replaced by Guilford College two years later. The next school to leave the conference was Mary Baldwin, which left in 1992.
In 2010 the ODAC announced the addition of Shenandoah University as a full-time member, with its first full year of involvement during the 2012–13 academic year. [3]
The league office moved its physical location from Salem, to Forest in eastern Bedford County located just outside centrally located Lynchburg, Virginia. They also contracted Jim Ward Design for its new marks. [4]
On March 3, 2015, Sweet Briar College announced it was to close (cease operations) at the end of the 2015 summer session. [5] However, on June 20, 2015, the Virginia Attorney General announced a mediation agreement that kept Sweet Briar College open for the 2015–16 academic year. [6] Sweet Briar reactivated its sports teams in the 2015–16 season and remained a full member of the ODAC.
On September 29, 2015, it was announced that Catholic University would withdraw in 2017 as associate member to join the new football league at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference. [7]
In June 2017, it was announced that Ferrum College would become the 15th full-time member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference after it moved from the USA South Conference.
Southern Virginia University, which joined the ODAC as a football only member in 2019, announced in December of that year that it was leaving both the ODAC and Coast to Coast Athletic Conference to join the football-sponsoring USA South Athletic Conference as a full member. [8]
The conference has hosted Division III championships in football and men's basketball, both of which were held in Salem, Virginia. D-III softball has also used Salem as a championship host along with Division III women's lacrosse and volleyball on several occasions. Since 1993 - the conference and city have hosted over 80 Division III national championships.
It was announced on November 17, 2020, that Emory & Henry College would leave the ODAC and begin its transition to Division II in July 2021 and compete in the South Atlantic Conference in 2022. [9]
The most recent change in conference membership was announced on March 8, 2021, that Averett University would leave the USA South and join its former USA South counterpart Ferrum College in the ODAC as a full member in 2022. [10]
The ODAC currently has 15 full members; all are private schools:
The ODAC currently has two associate members; both are private schools:
Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Primary conference | ODAC sport(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Greensboro College | Greensboro, North Carolina | 1838 | Private | 1,250 | Pride | 2011–12w. swim.; 2022–23m. wrest. | USA South | women's swimming, men's wrestling |
Southern Virginia University | Buena Vista, Virginia | 1867 | LDS Church | 1,106 | Knights | 2022–23 | USA South | men's wrestling |
The ODAC has four former full members; all are private schools:
Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Catholic University of America | Washington, D.C. | 1887 | Catholic (Pontifical) | 3,469 | Cardinals | 1981 | 1989 [lower-alpha 1] | Landmark |
Emory & Henry College | Emory, Virginia | 1836 | United Methodist | 1,000 | Wasps | 1976 | 2021 | SAC (NCAA D-II) |
Maryville College | Maryville, Tennessee | 1819 | Presbyterian | 1,176 | Scots | 1980 | 1988 | CCS |
Mary Baldwin College [lower-alpha 2] [lower-alpha 3] | Staunton, Virginia | 1842 | Presbyterian | 2,542 | Fighting Squirrels | 1984 | 1992 | USA South |
The ODAC had three former associate members; all are private schools:
Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | ODAC sport(s) | Current primary conference | Current conference in former ODAC sport(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Catholic University of America [lower-alpha 1] | Washington, D.C. | 1887 | Catholic (Pontifical) | 3,469 | Cardinals | 1999 | 2017 | football | Landmark | |
Notre Dame of Maryland University [lower-alpha 2] | Baltimore, Maryland | 1873 | Catholic (SSND) | 4,878 | Gators | 2011 | 2016 | women's swimming | UEC | (dropped sport) |
Southern Virginia University | Buena Vista, Virginia | 1867 | LDS Church | 1,106 | Knights | 2019 | 2021 | football | USA South |
This timeline is expressed with color bars.
Purple denotes football playing member.
Green denotes non-football playing member.
Red denotes associate member (football-only).
Blue denotes associate member (non-football).
The conference sponsors championships in the following sports:
Sport | Men's | Women's |
---|---|---|
Baseball | ||
Basketball | ||
Cross Country | ||
Equestrian | ||
Field Hockey | ||
Football | ||
Golf | ||
Lacrosse | ||
Soccer | ||
Softball | ||
Swimming | ||
Tennis | ||
Track and field (indoor) | ||
Track and field (outdoor) | ||
Wrestling | ||
Volleyball | [lower-alpha 1] |
The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, whose member institutions consist entirely of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
The USA South Athletic Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member schools are located in North Carolina and Virginia.
The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), formerly the New Jersey State Athletic Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. All of its full members are public universities in New Jersey. Affiliate members are located in Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) was formed in 1902 and is the third oldest athletic conference in the United States. Its current commissioner is Sarah Otey. Former commissioners include Mike Cleary, who was the first General Manager of a professional basketball team to hire an African American head coach, and would later run the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). The Ohio Athletic Conference competes in the NCAA's Division III. Through the years, 31 schools have been members of the OAC. The enrollments of the current ten member institutions range from around 1,000 to 4,500. Member teams are located in Ohio.
The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The conference was founded in 1969 as the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC), later becoming the Nebraska–Iowa Athletic Conference (1992) before being renamed the Great Plains Athletic Conference (2000).
Randolph–Macon College is a private liberal arts college in Ashland, Virginia. Founded in 1830, the college has an enrollment of more than 1,500 students. It is the second-oldest Methodist-run college in the country, and the oldest in continuous operation. The college primarily offers bachelor's degrees.
Sweet Briar College is a private women's liberal arts college in Sweet Briar, Amherst County, Virginia. It was established in 1901 by Indiana Fletcher Williams in memory of her deceased daughter, Daisy. The college formally opened its doors in 1906 and granted the B.A. degree for the first time in 1910. It nearly closed in 2015 but was saved by donations and legal actions by alumnae.
The Coast to Coast Athletic Conference, formerly named Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located throughout the United States in the states of California, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
Ferrum College is a private college in Ferrum, Virginia. The college was established in 1913 as the Ferrum Training School for primary and secondary education to serve the mountain communities of rural Southwest Virginia.
Averett University is a private Baptist university in Danville, Virginia. Founded in 1859 as a women's college, Averett became a 4-year, coeducational institution in 1969. In 2011, the university restored its Baptist affiliation, renewing a relationship that had existed from Averett's founding until 2005.
Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Division II level. It is also considered as one of the seven Division I conferences for men's volleyball. Originally formed in 1930, the league reached its modern incarnation in 1994. Member institutions are located in the southeastern United States in the states of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The Conference Carolinas membership currently consists of 14 small colleges or universities, 12 private and two public.
The Mason–Dixon Conference is a defunct NCAA Division II athletics conference, formed in 1936 and disbanded in October 1978. A track championship bearing the conference's name continued for several years after the demise of the all-sports league. Its members were predominantly from states bordering the eponymous Mason–Dixon line. A similarly named Mason-Dixon Athletic Conference began play in NCAA Division II men's basketball in 1983–84 with three of the previous members plus Longwood University, Liberty University and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
The Roanoke Maroons are the athletic teams that represent Roanoke College, located in Salem, Virginia, a suburban independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia.
The Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets are the athletic teams that represent Randolph–Macon College, located in Ashland, Virginia, in NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports. The Yellow Jackets compete as members of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Altogether, Randolph–Macon sponsors 18 sports, with 9 teams for each gender. The school's newest sport of men's volleyball, introduced for the 2019 season, is the only team that does not compete in the ODAC, instead competing in the Continental Volleyball Conference.
The Shenandoah Hornets are the athletic teams that represent Shenandoah University, located in Winchester, Virginia, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) since the 2012-13 academic year. The Hornets previously competed in the USA South Athletic Conference from 1992 to 2012.
Paul D. Cronin is an American horseman, riding instructor, and author. He studied under Vladimir Littauer for 30 years, and teaches Littauer's forward seat riding system. His book Schooling and Riding the Sport Horse (2004) was intended to be a modern and updated version of Littauer's Commonsense Horsemanship. In it, Cronin detailed the history of the American forward seat riding system, gave advice on training young and green horses, and outlined a three-part system based on controls, position and schooling.
Meta Glass was an American classics scholar, educator, and college administrator. From 1925 through 1946, she was the third president of Sweet Briar College. She was also president of the Association of American Colleges and the American Association of University Women for several years.
The ODAC men's basketball tournament is the annual conference basketball championship tournament for the NCAA Division III Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The tournament has been held annually since 1977. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records.