Summit League

Summit League

Formerly	Association of Mid-Continent Universities (1982–1989) Mid-Continent Conference (1989–2007)
Association	NCAA
Founded	June 18, 1982; 42 years ago (1982-06-18) [1]
Commissioner	Josh Fenton [2] (since 2021)
Sports fielded	19 men's: 9 women's: 10
Division	Division I
Subdivision	non-football
No. of teams	9 full (7 associates)
Headquarters	Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Region	Midwestern United States Western United States Southern United States
Official website	thesummitleague.org
Locations

The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Missouri and Oklahoma to the South. Founded as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities in 1982, ^[1] it rebranded as the Mid-Continent Conference in 1989, ^[3] then again as the Summit League on June 1, 2007. ^[4] The league headquarters are in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The membership currently consists of nine full members plus seven associate members. The most recent change in the core conference membership is the 2021 arrival of the University of St. Thomas, which began an unprecedented transition from NCAA Division III to Division I. ^[5] A year earlier, the University of Missouri–Kansas City returned as a full member after a seven-year absence with the new athletic identity of the Kansas City Roos, ^[6] while Purdue University Fort Wayne left for the Horizon League. ^[7] A total of 32 schools have been full members; the last charter member remaining in the league, Western Illinois University, left for the Ohio Valley Conference on July 1, 2023 in most sports, with men's soccer playing one more season before leaving at the conclusion of the fall 2023 season. ^[8]

History

Summit League

200km
125miles

Denver

Southern Indiana

Northern Colorado

Illinois State

Drake

Eastern Illinois

St. Thomas

South Dakota State

South Dakota

Oral Roberts

North Dakota State

North Dakota

Omaha

Kansas City

  

Location of Summit League members:
full member
affiliate member
Not shown: future affiliate members Delaware, UMass, Weber State

Early Days

The conference can trace its roots back to 1978, when the Mid-Continent Athletic Association was founded as a football-only conference playing in Division II at the time. ^[9] Its inaugural members were the University of Akron, Eastern Illinois University, University of Northern Iowa, Northern Michigan University, Western Illinois University, and Youngstown State University; Wayne State University had also expressed interest in joining, but ultimately never did. ^[10] Akron left after the 1979 season, while Northern Michigan and Youngstown State left the following year; they were replaced by Southwest Missouri State (now known as Missouri State University) in 1981. The 1981 season also saw the conference as a whole move from Division II to Division I-AA; this would be the conference's final season under the name of the Mid-Continent Athletic Association.

Foundation

The new association was officially created on June 18, 1982, at the O'Hare Hilton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois ^[1] as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (or AMCU or AMCU-8, pronounced Am-cue), which it was known as until 1989. ^[11] Covering all men's sports now in addition to football, the new conference consisted of current MCAA members Northern Iowa, Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, and Southwest Missouri State, along with non-football sponsoring Cleveland State University, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Wisconsin–Green Bay and Valparaiso University. The conference continued to sponsor football at the Division I-AA level, now under the new AMCU name, from 1982 until 1984, when the football sponsoring members of the Missouri Valley Conference joined with the football sponsoring members of the AMCU to form the beginnings of what is now the Missouri Valley Football Conference; current members North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota, and South Dakota State continue to house their FCS football programs there to this day.

Mid-Continent Conference logo, 1982–2007

Changes and the addition of women's sports

The conference saw its first changes in the early 1990s. Southwest Missouri State departed for membership in the Missouri Valley Conference as the University of Akron and Northern Illinois University joined in 1990. Then Wright State University joined in 1991 as Northern Iowa followed Southwest Missouri State to the MVC.

Major changes came to the conference in 1992. First, Akron left for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and another Ohio school, Youngstown State University, replaced it. More significantly, the Mid-Continent added women's sports by absorbing the North Star Conference (NSC), a women's-only league whose final seven members were in the Mid-Continent. All of the final NSC members except for Akron moved their women's sports into the Mid-Continent. At the same time, Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois moved their women's sports into the Mid-Continent when their former women's sports home, the Gateway Conference, merged into the Missouri Valley Conference. The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee joined the Mid-Continent a year later.

Horizon and ECC transitions

In 1994, charter members Cleveland State, UIC and Green Bay, as well as newer members Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Northern Illinois, and Wright State left the conference to join the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, now known as the Horizon League.

The Mid-Continent absorbed Central Connecticut State University, Chicago State University, the University at Buffalo, Troy State University (now Troy University), and Northeastern Illinois University from the collapsed East Coast Conference in response. None of these institutions remain in the league.

Missouri-Kansas City, formerly an independent, also joined the Mid-Continent Conference in 1994.

Declining membership

Eastern Illinois moved to the Ohio Valley Conference in 1996, reducing membership to nine programs. Troy State departed for the Trans America Athletic Conference while Central Connecticut joined the Northeast Conference in 1997. Buffalo joined the MAC in 1998 while Northeastern Illinois ceased intercollegiate athletics at that time. Oral Roberts University and Southern Utah University replaced the former pair while Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI; its athletic program is now IU Indy) and Oakland University moved into the latter duo's spots a year later.

Youngstown State switched to the Horizon League in 2001, and Centenary College replaced it in 2003. Chicago State University announced in the spring of 2006 that it would withdraw from the conference to compete as an independent starting in the 2006–07 school year. Charter member Valparaiso then moved to the Horizon in 2007.

Renewed expansion and contraction

Conference expansion was discussed at length at the Mid-Continent Conference annual Presidents Council meeting in 2006, and Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW, now Purdue Fort Wayne), North Dakota State, and South Dakota State were approved for site visits. On August 30, 2006, IPFW accepted an invitation to join the Mid-Continent Conference as a full member starting July 1, 2007. ^[12] Both North Dakota State and South Dakota State also accepted invitations to join the conference the next day. ^{[13] [14]}

The Summit League continued its renewed expansion push with the admission of the University of South Dakota. The Coyotes began conference play in the 2011–12 academic year and become eligible for all championships the following season. ^[15] Centenary College subsequently announced that it would leave the Summit League following the 2010–2011 campaign. ^[16]

The University of North Dakota had also been openly rumored to have been courted by the Summit League, but controversy over the Fighting Sioux nickname in all likelihood prevented UND's admission at that time. Expectations that UND would join the Summit League came to an end on November 1, 2010, when North Dakota instead accepted an invitation to join the Big Sky Conference. The University of South Dakota entered into very brief negotiations to join the Big Sky as well, rather than continuing their plans to join the Summit. However, South Dakota chose instead to remain with the more compact Summit League (along with other Dakota schools, NDSU and SDSU). As the University of Nebraska Omaha began the transition to Division I athletics in all sports, it joined the Summit League on July 1, 2012. With the departures of Centenary to Division III at the end of the 2010–11 athletic year, and Southern Utah and Oral Roberts for other Division I conferences at the end of the 2011–12 athletic year, the Summit League continued with nine institutions, all within the Midwest geographical region. ^[17]

The conference unveiled the University of Denver (DU) as its tenth member on November 27, 2012, and the Pioneers joined in July 2013. ^[18] While Denver is slightly outside The Summit's current Midwestern base, the city's status as a major air hub seemingly minimized travel issues for the other members. ^[18] With Denver among the eight of ten WAC members switching to other conferences, that league searched for new members. UMKC announced on February 7, 2013, that it would be one of six schools joining the WAC for the 2013–14 season, ^[19] dropping the Summit league back to nine member schools. Membership fell to eight schools on May 7, 2013, when Oakland announced that it was joining the Horizon League. ^[20] Eight of the nine then-current Horizon League programs were former Summit League members with Oakland's move (the Horizon has since added two more members that were never in The Summit League, Northern Kentucky and Robert Morris, as well as another former Summit member in Purdue Fort Wayne).

In December 2013, The Summit League office announced that Oral Roberts University returned to the conference in all sports, effective July 1, 2014. ^[21]

The next changes to the conference's core membership were announced in 2017. First, on January 26, North Dakota, which had resolved its controversy by selecting the new nickname Fighting Hawks, unveiled as a new member beginning in 2018. ^[22] Then, on June 28, IUPUI announced it would leave the conference to join the Horizon League effective July 1, 2017. ^[23]

For much of 2018, speculation involving further league expansion focused on Augustana University, a Division II school located in the Summit's headquarters city of Sioux Falls. Many of the school's boosters have ties to Sanford Health, a hospital company that has long been a major league sponsor and also owns the office complex that houses the league headquarters. ^{[24] [25]} The university announced on December 14 that it would start a transition to Division I, though stating at the time that no such move would take place until at least 2021. ^[26] However, on May 22, 2020, the Summit League commissioner, Tom Douple, informed Augustana president Stephanie Herseth Sandlin that the conference would not be adding more new teams "at this time." ^[27] The conference expanded anyway, announcing in June 2019 that UMKC would return in 2020 after a seven-year absence. ^[28] However, shortly thereafter, Purdue Fort Wayne announced its 2020 departure for the Horizon League, maintaining the full-time conference membership at nine schools. ^[7] Then, on October 4, 2019, the University of St. Thomas, a Minnesota school that was set to be expelled from its longtime athletic home of the NCAA Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in 2021, announced that it received an invitation to join the Summit upon its MIAC departure. ^[29] St. Thomas eventually received a waiver of an NCAA rule mandating that Division III schools can only transition to Division II, allowing the school to move directly to D-I on the originally announced schedule. ^[30]

Shortly before St. Thomas' future conference membership was confirmed, the University of Northern Colorado was announced as a baseball-only member effective in 2021–22. ^[31] The most recent change to the affiliate membership was announced on May 11, 2022, when Lindenwood University and the University of Southern Indiana were announced as new affiliates in men's soccer plus men's and women's swimming & diving effective in 2022–23. Both institutions began transitions from Division II as new members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), which at the time did not sponsor any of these schools' Summit League sports, in July 2022. Southern Indiana started its swimming & diving program for both sexes in 2022–23. ^[32] In late March 2023, the OVC announced that it would begin sponsoring men's soccer that fall, leading to Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood, and Southern Indiana moving that sport to their full-time home. ^[33] Eastern Illinois and Southern Indiana remain swimming & diving affiliates, while Lindenwood dropped both of its swimming & diving programs after the 2023–24 season.

In early May 2023, it was announced that founding member Western Illinois would be leaving the Summit League in all sports and would join the Ohio Valley Conference beginning in fall 2023. ^[34] In mid-June, Western Illinois announced that its men's soccer team would remain in the Summit League for the fall 2023 season, and depart for the OVC after that. ^[35]

On April 4, 2024, both entities announced that Delaware would be joining the conference as an associate member in men's soccer starting in 2025. ^[36]

On May 7, 2024, the league announced that Northern Colorado, who is also an affiliate in baseball, and Weber State would be joining the league for men's golf starting in the fall of 2024. ^[37]

On December 23, 2024, the league announced that UMass would be joining the conference as an affiliate in men's soccer starting in the 2025 season. ^[38]

Member schools

Current full members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Endowment [39]	Nickname	Colors
University of Denver	Denver, Colorado	1864	2013	Private	14,130	$900,300,000	Pioneers
University of Missouri–Kansas City	Kansas City, Missouri	1933	1994; 2020 [a]	Public	16,017	$152,800,000	Roos [b]
University of Nebraska Omaha	Omaha, Nebraska	1908	2012	Public	15,328	$110,000,000	Mavericks
University of North Dakota	Grand Forks, North Dakota	1883	2018	Public	15,019	$352,100,000	Fighting Hawks
North Dakota State University	Fargo, North Dakota	1890	2007	Public	11,952	$457,000,000	Bison
Oral Roberts University	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1963	1997; 2014 [c]	Private (Evangelical)	5,051	$45,000,000	Golden Eagles
University of St. Thomas	Saint Paul, Minnesota	1885	2021 [5]	Private (Catholic)	9,347	$653,300,000	Tommies
University of South Dakota	Vermillion, South Dakota	1862	2011	Public	10,619	$328,500,000	Coyotes
South Dakota State University	Brookings, South Dakota	1881	2007	Public	11,465	$213,000,000	Jackrabbits

Notes

1. Kansas City, a previous member of the conference from 1994–95 to 2012–13 under its former athletic identity of the UMKC Kangaroos, rejoined the Summit effective the 2020–21 school year.
2. Since July 1, 2019, UMKC has branded its athletic program, previously the UMKC Kangaroos, as the Kansas City Roos. ^{[6] [28]}
3. Oral Roberts, a previous member of the conference from 1997–98 to 2011–12, rejoined the Summit effective the 2014–15 school year.

Current associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary conference	Summit sport(s)
Drake University	Des Moines, Iowa	1881	2017	Private	4,875	Bulldogs	MVC	Men's tennis [40]
Eastern Illinois University	Charleston, Illinois	1895	2005	Public	8,608	Panthers	OVC	Swimming & diving [41]
Illinois State University	Normal, Illinois	1857	2017	Public	20,233	Redbirds	MVC	Men's tennis [40]
University of Northern Colorado	Greeley, Colorado	1889	2021	Public	10,348	Bears	Big Sky	Baseball [31]
			2024					Men's golf [37]
University of Southern Indiana	Evansville, Indiana [a]	1965	2022	Public	7,938	Screaming Eagles	OVC	Swimming & diving
Weber State University	Ogden, Utah	1889	2024	Public	29,914	Wildcats	Big Sky	Men's golf [37]

1. The campus has an Evansville mailing address but is located in unincorporated Vanderburgh County.

Future associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joining	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary conference	Summit sport(s)
University of Delaware	Newark, Delaware	1743	2025	Public [a]	23,774 [42]	Blue Hens	CAA (CUSA in 2025)	Men's soccer [43]
University of Massachusetts Amherst	Amherst, Massachusetts	1863	2025	Public	28,635	Minutemen	Atlantic 10 (MAC in 2025)	Men's soccer [38]

1. Delaware is officially chartered as a "privately-governed, state-assisted" institution. This status is broadly similar to that of New York State's statutory colleges, most of which are housed at Cornell University, or institutions in Pennsylvania's Commonwealth System of Higher Education.

Former members

All institutional names and nicknames used reflect those in the final school year of conference membership.

Former full members

The Summit League has 23 former members.

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Nickname	Subsequent conference	Current conference
University of Akron	Akron, Ohio	1870	Public	29,251	1990	1992	Zips	Mid-American (MAC)
University at Buffalo	Buffalo, New York [a]	1846	Public	28,601	1994	1998	Bulls	Mid-American (MAC)
Centenary College of Louisiana	Shreveport, Louisiana	1825	Private (UMC)	787	2003	2011	Gentlemen (men's) Ladies (women's)	American Southwest [b]	SCAC [b]
Central Connecticut State University	New Britain, Connecticut	1849	Public	11,360	1994	1997	Blue Devils	Northeast (NEC)
Chicago State University	Chicago, Illinois	1867	Public	3,578	1994	2006	Cougars	NCAA D-I Independent	Northeast (NEC)
Cleveland State University	Cleveland, Ohio	1964	Public	17,204	1982 [c]	1994	Vikings	Horizon
Eastern Illinois University	Charleston, Illinois	1895	Public	11,651	1982 [d]	1996	Panthers	OVC
University of Illinois Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	1858	Public	28,091	1982 [c]	1994	Flames	Horizon	Missouri Valley
Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis [e]	Indianapolis, Indiana	1969	Public	27,184	1998	2017	Jaguars	Horizon
Northeastern Illinois University	Chicago, Illinois	1867	Public	11,149	1994	1998	Golden Eagles	Discontinued intercollegiate athletics
Northern Illinois University	DeKalb, Illinois	1895	Public	25,313	1990 [c]	1994	Huskies	Horizon	Mid-American (MAC)
University of Northern Iowa	Cedar Falls, Iowa	1876	Public	11,147	1982	1991	Panthers	Missouri Valley
Oakland University [20]	Rochester, Michigan [f]	1957	Public	19,379	1998	2013	Golden Grizzlies	Horizon
Purdue University Fort Wayne	Fort Wayne, Indiana	1964 [g]	Public	10,139	2007	2020	Mastodons	Horizon
Southern Utah University	Cedar City, Utah	1897	Public	8,297	1997	2012	Thunderbirds	Big Sky	WAC
Southwest Missouri State University [h]	Springfield, Missouri	1905	Public	21,059	1982	1990	Bears (men's) Lady Bears (women's) [i]	Missouri Valley (CUSA in 2025)
Troy State University [j]	Troy, Alabama	1887	Public	29,689	1994	1997	Trojans	TAAC	Sun Belt
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay	Green Bay, Wisconsin	1965	Public	6,700	1982 [c]	1994	Phoenix	Horizon
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	1885	Public	30,502	1993	1994	Panthers	Horizon
Valparaiso University	Valparaiso, Indiana	1859	Private (Lutheran)	4,061	1982 [c]	2007	Crusaders [k]	Horizon	Missouri Valley
Western Illinois University	Macomb, Illinois	1899	Public	7,643	1982 [l]	2023 [m]	Leathernecks	OVC
Wright State University	Dayton, Ohio [n]	1967	Public	17,789	1991 [c]	1994	Raiders	Horizon
Youngstown State University	Youngstown, Ohio	1908	Public	15,194	1992	2001	Penguins	Horizon

Notes

1. The UB campus has a Buffalo mailing address, but is mostly located in the adjacent town of Amherst.
2. Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference
3. This school joined the then-Mid-Continent Conference before the league began sponsoring women's sports in the 1992–93 school year. It had previously been a member of the women's sports-only North Star Conference, which was absorbed by the Mid-Con after the 1991–92 school year.
4. Before the Mid-Con began sponsoring women's sports in the 1992–93 school year, Eastern Illinois had been a member of the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference, which began as a women's-only conference and added football in the 1985 fall season (1985–86 school year); EIU was a member of both sides of the conference. When the Gateway merged its women's side into the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), EIU moved its women's sports into the Mid-Con, but kept its football team in the Gateway until it moved its entire athletic program into the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), effective with the 1996–97 school year.
5. The Indiana University and Purdue University systems dissolved IUPUI at the end of the 2023–24 school year, replacing it with separate IU- and Purdue-affiliated institutions. The new IU Indianapolis, which took over the vast majority of IUPUI academic programs, inherited the athletic program, now known as the IU Indy Jaguars. ^[44]
6. The Oakland campus has a Rochester mailing address, but is physically divided between the separate cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills.
7. Purdue Fort Wayne (PFW) did not begin operation until 2018, but inherited its athletic program from Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), founded in 1964. IPFW dissolved in 2018, and the Purdue University and Indiana University systems each established a new Fort Wayne campus. ^[45]
8. Known since 2005 as Missouri State University.
9. The women's beach volleyball team uses the nickname "Beach Bears" instead of "Lady Bears".
10. Known since 2005 as Troy University.
11. Dropped nickname of Crusaders in February 2021; adopted new nickname of Beacons that August.
12. The Mid-Con did not sponsor women's sports until the 1992–93 school year. Before that time, Western Illinois had been a member of the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference , which began as a women's-only conference and added football in the 1985–86 school year; WIU was a member of both sides of the conference. When the Gateway merged its women's side into the Missouri Valley Conference, WIU moved its women's sports into the Mid-Con, but kept its football team in the Gateway (now known as the Missouri Valley Football Conference ) through the 2023 season.
13. Western Illinois departed the Summit League as its full-time conference on July 1, 2023, but elected to keep its men's soccer team in the league until the conclusion of the fall 2023 season.
14. The Wright State campus has a Dayton mailing address, but is physically located in the adjacent city of Fairborn.

Former associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Nickname	Primary conference during associate membership	Current conference in former Summit sport [a]	Summit sport
University of Akron	Akron, Ohio	1870	Public	10,378	1978	1980	Zips	D-II Independent	Mid-American (MAC)	football
DePaul University	Chicago, Illinois	1898	Private	24,414	1992	1999	Blue Demons	Great Midwest, CUSA [b]	Big East	softball
Howard University	Washington, D.C.	1867	Private	10,000	1996	1999	Bison	Mid-Eastern (MEAC)	Northeast (NEC) [c]	men's soccer
Lindenwood University	St. Charles, Missouri	1827	Private	7,003	2022	2024	Lions	OVC	— [d]	men's swimming & diving
C.W. Post of Long Island University	Brookville, New York	1954	Public	8,472	1994	1998	Pioneers	East Coast (ECC) [e]	Northeast (NEC) [f]	baseball
New York Institute of Technology	New York, New York	1955	Private	13,000	1994	1998	Bears	East Coast (ECC) [e] [g]	TBA [h]	baseball
Northern Michigan University	Marquette, Michigan	1899	Public	6,764	1978	1981	Wildcats	D-II Independent	Great Lakes (GLIAC) [e]	football
Oral Roberts University	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1963	Private	3,417	2012	2014	Golden Eagles	Southland [i]	Summit	men's soccer
Pace University	New York, New York	1906	Private	12,772	1994	1998	Setters	East Coast (ECC) [e] Northeast-10 (NE-10) [e] [j]	Northeast-10 (NE-10)	baseball
Quincy University	Quincy, Illinois	1860	Private	1,269	1994	1996	Hawks	Great Lakes (GLVC) [e]		men's soccer
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIU Edwardsville or SIUE)	Edwardsville, Illinois	1957	Public	13,850	1994	1996	Cougars	Great Lakes (GLVC) [e]	Ohio Valley (OVC)	men's soccer
University of South Dakota	Vermillion, South Dakota	1862	Public	10,151	2009	2011	Coyotes	Great West (GWC)	Summit	men's swimming & diving women's swimming & diving
South Dakota State University	Brookings, South Dakota	1881	Public	12,851	2005	2007	Jackrabbits	D-I Independent	Summit	men's swimming & diving women's swimming & diving
State University of New York at Oneonta	Oneonta, New York	1889	Public	5,852	1996	1998	Red Dragons	New York State (SUNYAC) [k]		men's soccer
Valparaiso University	Valparaiso, Indiana	1859	Private	4,500	2017	2020	Crusaders	Missouri Valley (MVC)	— [l]	men's tennis
					2017	2021			Missouri Valley (MVC)	men's swimming [m]
Youngstown State University	Youngstown, Ohio	1908	Public	11,298	1978	1981	Penguins	D-II Independent	Missouri Valley (MVFC)	football

Notes

1. Except as noted, this matches each school's current primary conference.
2. When DePaul joined for softball, it was a member of the Great Midwest Conference. In 1995, that conference merged with the Metro Conference to form Conference USA.
3. Howard remains a full member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, which does not sponsor soccer for either men or women.
4. Lindenwood dropped men's swimming & diving after the 2023–24 school year.
5. Currently an NCAA Division II athletic conference.
6. After the 2018–19 school year, Long Island University merged the LIU Post athletic program with the program of its other principal campus, LIU Brooklyn, creating a new Division I program that now competes as the LIU Sharks. The unified athletic program, which maintains Brooklyn's memberships in Division I and the Northeast Conference, now fields a single baseball team that plays on the Post campus in Brookville. ^[46]
7. NYIT remained in Division I baseball through the 2017 spring season (2016–17 school year), after which it downgraded baseball to Division II and added that sport to its existing ECC membership.
8. NYIT shut down its athletic program after the 2019–20 school year due to COVID-19 impacts. It was expected to resume athletics in 2022–23, but has yet to do so by far or announce a future conference affiliation.
9. Between Oral Roberts' 2012 departure for the Southland Conference and 2014 return to the Summit League, it maintained Summit associate membership in men's soccer.
10. When Pace joined for baseball, it was a member of the ECC (then known as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference (NYCAC). In 1997, it joined the Northeast-10.
11. Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.
12. Valparaiso dropped men's tennis after the 2019–20 school year. ^[47]
13. Valparaiso's men's aquatics program fields swimmers, but no divers.

Membership timeline

Full membersFull members (non-football)Associate members (football only)Associate member (baseball, men's soccer, softball, swimming and diving, or men's tennis)Other ConferenceOther Conference

• Purdue Fort Wayne joined the league as IPFW. The athletic branding was changed to "Fort Wayne" in 2016, and to Purdue Fort Wayne shortly before the dissolution of IPFW on July 1, 2018.
• Southwest Missouri State adopted its current name of Missouri State University in 2005.
• The two former members that are part of the University of Wisconsin System, namely UW–Green Bay and UW–Milwaukee, now brand themselves for athletic purposes as "Green Bay" and "Milwaukee".
• Troy State adopted its current name of Troy University in 2004.
• UMKC rebranded its athletic program as "Kansas City" in 2019, a year before its return to the league. ^[6]

Sponsored sports

The Summit League sponsors championship competition in nine men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports. ^[48] Former full member Eastern Illinois is an associate member for men's and women's swimming and diving and men's soccer. Drake and Illinois State became associate members in men's tennis starting in 2017–18, and former full member Valparaiso rejoined for men's swimming and men's tennis at the same time. Valparaiso dropped men's tennis after the 2019–20 season; it remained a swimming associate until moving that sport to the Mid-American Conference in 2021. Northern Colorado became a baseball associate starting in the 2022 season (2021–22 school year), and Lindenwood and Southern Indiana became associates in men's soccer plus men's and women's swimming & diving in the 2022–23 school year. Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood, and Southern Indiana moved men's soccer to their primary home of the Ohio Valley Conference in 2023–24 while remaining Summit affiliates in swimming & diving. Western Illinois elected to leave the league full time in 2023, but its men's soccer team remained in the Summit through the fall 2023 season.

Teams in Summit League competition

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	6	–
Basketball	9	9
Cross country	7	8
Golf	11	9
Soccer	5 (7 in 2025)	9
Softball	–	7
Swimming and diving	8	8
Tennis	8	8
Track and field (indoor)	7	8
Track and field (outdoor)	7	8
Volleyball	–	9

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross country	Golf	Soccer	Swimming & diving	Tennis	Indoor Track & field	Outdoor Track & field	Total Summit League sports
Denver	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	5
Kansas City	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	7
North Dakota	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	6
North Dakota State	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	6
Omaha	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	6
Oral Roberts	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	8
St. Thomas	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	8
South Dakota	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	6
South Dakota State	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	7
Associate members
Drake							Yes			1
Eastern Illinois						Yes				1
Illinois State							Yes			1
Northern Colorado	Yes			Yes						2
Southern Indiana						Yes				1
Weber State				Yes						1
Future member
Delaware in 2025					Yes					1
UMass in 2025					Yes					1
Totals	6	9	7	11	7	7	8	7	7	70

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by The Summit League which are played by member schools:

School	Football	Ice hockey	Lacrosse	Skiing	Wrestling
Denver	—	NCHC	Big East	RMISA	—
North Dakota	MVFC	NCHC	—	—	—
North Dakota State	MVFC	—	—	—	Big 12
Omaha	—	NCHC	—	—	—
St. Thomas	Pioneer	CCHA [a]	—	—	—
South Dakota	MVFC	—	—	—	—
South Dakota State	MVFC	—	—	—	Big 12

1. St. Thomas will move its men's hockey program to the NCHC in 2026.

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & diving	Tennis	Indoor track & field	Outdoor track & field	Volleyball	Total Summit League sports
Denver	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	6
Kansas City	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	9
North Dakota	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	9
North Dakota State	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	8
Omaha	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Oral Roberts	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	8
St. Thomas	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
South Dakota	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
South Dakota State	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	9
Associate members
Eastern Illinois						Yes					1
Southern Indiana						Yes					1
Totals	9	8	9	9	7	7	8	8	8	9	84

Notes

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Summit League which are played by member schools:

School	Equestrian	Gymnastics	Ice hockey	Lacrosse	Skiing
Denver	—	Big 12	—	Big East	RMISA
St. Thomas	—	—	WCHA	—	—
South Dakota State	United Equestrian Conference & National Collegiate Equestrian Association	—	—	—	—

Football

Main article: Association of Mid-Continent Universities football

Men's basketball

Men's basketball in the NCAA tournament

See also: Summit League men's basketball tournament

Year	Team	Seed	Results
1983	none
1984	none
1985	none
1986	Cleveland State	14*	defeated Indiana defeated Saint Joseph's lost to Navy
1987	Southwest Missouri State [49]	13	defeated Clemson lost to Kansas
1988	Southwest Missouri State	13	lost to UNLV
1989	Southwest Missouri State	14	lost to Seton Hall
1990	Southwest Missouri State	9*	lost to North Carolina
	Northern Iowa	14	defeated Missouri lost to Minnesota
1991	Green Bay	12	lost to Michigan State
	Northern Illinois	13*	lost to St. John's
1992	Eastern Illinois	15	lost to Indiana
1993	Wright State	16	lost to Indiana
1994	Green Bay	12	defeated California lost to Syracuse
1995	none
1996	Valparaiso	14	lost to Arizona
1997	Valparaiso	12	lost to Boston College
1998	Valparaiso	13	defeated Ole Miss defeated Florida State lost to Rhode Island
1999	Valparaiso	15	lost to Maryland
2000	Valparaiso	16	lost to Michigan State
2001	Southern Utah	14	lost to Boston College
2002	Valparaiso	13	lost to Kentucky
2003	IUPUI	16	lost to Kentucky
2004	Valparaiso	15	lost to Gonzaga
2005	Oakland	16	defeated Alabama A&M** Lost to North Carolina
2006	Oral Roberts	16	lost to Memphis
2007	Oral Roberts	14	lost to Washington State
2008	Oral Roberts	13	lost to Pittsburgh
2009	North Dakota State	14	lost to Kansas
2010	Oakland	14	lost to Pittsburgh
2011	Oakland	13	lost to Texas
2012	South Dakota State	14	lost to Baylor
2013	South Dakota State	13	lost to Michigan
2014	North Dakota State	12	defeated Oklahoma lost to San Diego State
2015	North Dakota State	15	lost to Gonzaga
2016	South Dakota State	12	lost to Maryland
2017	South Dakota State	16	lost to Gonzaga
2018	South Dakota State	12	lost to Ohio State
2019	North Dakota State	16	defeated NCCU** lost to Duke
2021	Oral Roberts	15	defeated Ohio State defeated Florida lost to Arkansas
2022	South Dakota State	13	lost to Providence
2023	Oral Roberts	12	lost to Duke

*At-large bid
**First Four game

Summit League championships won per school

School	Conference		Tournament
	Titles	Last title	Titles	Last title
Valparaiso	9	2003–04	8	2004
South Dakota State	8	2021–22	6	2022
Oral Roberts	7	2022–23	5	2023
Missouri State	4	1989–90	2	1989
North Dakota State	4	2019–20	5	2020
Oakland	3	2010–11	3	2011
Cleveland State	3	1992–93	1	1986
Western Illinois	2	2012–13	1	1984
Green Bay	2	1993–94	2	1994
Purdue Fort Wayne	1	2015–16	0	N/A
South Dakota	1	2016–17	0	N/A
IUPUI	1	2005–06	1	2003
Illinois-Chicago	1	1983–84	0	N/A
Northern Illinois	1	1990–91	0	N/A
Southern Utah	1	2000–01	1	2001
Eastern Illinois	0	N/A	2	1992
Wright State	0	N/A	1	1993
Northern Iowa	0	N/A	1	1990

Italics indicate a school no longer a part of the Summit League.

Women's Basketball

Summit League championships won per school

School	Conference		Tournament
	Titles	Last title	Titles	Last title
South Dakota State	9	2022–23	10	2023
Western Illinois	6	2016–17	2	2017
South Dakota	5	2021–22	4	2022
Youngstown State	5	1998–99	3	2000
Oakland	3	2006–07	2	2006
Oral Roberts	2	2010–11	5	2008
Northern Illinois	2	1993–94	1	1993
Valparaiso	2	2001–02	2	2004
Troy	1	1996–97	1	1997
Buffalo	1	1994–95	0	N/A
Green Bay	0	N/A	1	1994

Italics indicate a school no longer a part of the Summit League.

Facilities

Future members in gray

School	Soccer stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity	Baseball field	Capacity	Softball field	Capacity
Delaware	Stuart and Suzanne Grant Stadium	1,400	Men's soccer-only member (from 2025)
Denver	CIBER Field at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium	2,000	Hamilton Gymnasium	2,500	Non-baseball school		Non-softball school
Kansas City	Durwood Soccer Stadium	850	Swinney Recreation Center [50]	1,500	Non-baseball school		Urban Youth Academy	—
North Dakota	Bronson Field	—	Betty Engelstad Sioux Center [a]	3,300	Non-baseball school		Apollo Sports Complex	150
North Dakota State	Dacotah Field [51]	2,600 [52]	Scheels Center	5,460 [53]	Newman Outdoor Field	4,600	Tharaldson Park [54]	735
Northern Colorado	Baseball-only member				Jackson Field	1,500	Baseball-only member
Omaha	Al F. Caniglia Field [55]	3,097	Baxter Arena [56]	7,898	Tal Anderson Field	1,500	Connie Claussen Field	650 [57]
Oral Roberts	Case Soccer Complex	1,000	Mabee Center	10,575	J. L. Johnson Stadium	2,418	Non-softball school
St. Thomas	South Field	800	Schoenecker Arena [b]	1,800 [58]	Koch Diamond	250	South Field	150
South Dakota	First Bank & Trust Soccer Complex	800	Sanford Coyote Sports Center	6,000	Non-baseball school		Nygard Field	500 [59]
South Dakota State	Fishback Soccer Park	1,500	First Bank and Trust Arena [c]	6,500	Erv Huether Field	600	Jackrabbit Softball Stadium	200
UMass	Rudd Field	800	Men's soccer-only member (from 2025)

1. North Dakota also schedules basketball games at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.
2. Lee and Penny Anderson Arena is scheduled to open in fall 2025 as St. Thomas' new arena for basketball and ice hockey. The basketball capacity is expected to be 5,300.
3. Prior to a renovation completed in 2024, the arena was known as Frost Arena

Media rights

On August 10, 2023, the Summit League announced the signing of a new three-year media rights deal that would tie the league with CBS Sports Network and even closer ties with Midco Sports through the 2025–26 academic year. ^{[60] [61]} The new deal transfers the Summit League's men's/women's basketball championship game rights over to CBS Sports Network from ESPN, and adds a guaranteed six regular-season men's basketball games on the network with an option of six more men's or women's basketball games during the season. For the 2024 tournament, CBS Sports Network will also broadcast the women's basketball tournament semifinal. In 2025 and 2026 there will remain an option to have the men's and women's tournaments semifinals on CBS Sports Network if scheduling allows.

The Midco contract will now expand to the creation of a new all-league media platform called The Summit League Network. It will provide access to all nine member institutions' live streams of every home game, both non-conference and in-conference, as well as interviews and other league info. This expansion will preserve the local media rights given out at select institutions, as the provider for the university will supply Midco with that broadcast/live stream to be simulcast on the Summit League Network.

See also

• List of Summit League champions
• Summit League women's soccer tournament
• Summit League men's soccer tournament
• Summit League men's basketball tournament
• Summit League women's basketball tournament
• Summit League baseball tournament
• Summit League softball tournament

References

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External links

• Official website