Association | NCAA (1993–2013) NAIA (until 1995) |
---|---|
Founded | 1924 |
Ceased | 2013 |
Commissioner | Barry Blizzard (1987–2013) |
Sports fielded |
|
Division | Division II |
No. of teams | 15 |
Headquarters | Princeton, West Virginia |
Region | Appalachia |
Locations | |
The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a collegiate athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but briefly had one Kentucky member in its early years, and expanded into Pennsylvania in its final years. It participated in the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), originally affiliated in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) until 1995, but held its final athletic competitions in spring 2013, and officially disbanded on September 1 of that year. Its football-playing members announced in June 2012 that they planned to withdraw to form a new Division II conference at the end of the 2012–13 season; this led to a chain of conference moves that saw all but one of the WVIAC's members find new conference homes.
The conference was one of the oldest in intercollegiate athletics, dating back to its founding in 1924 by the West Virginia Department of Education.
In its final school year of 2012–13, the WVIAC offered championships in 16 sports and was headquartered in Princeton, West Virginia. Men's championships were offered in football, basketball, baseball, track, cross country, soccer, tennis, and golf. Women's titles were contested in volleyball, softball, basketball, cross country, soccer, track, tennis, and golf.
The WVIAC moved into the NCAA Division II in 1995 after its long affiliation with the NAIA.
Its post-season basketball tournament, which was first conducted in 1936, was at the time of the conference's demise one of the oldest college post-season tournaments in continuous existence—only the Southern Conference men's basketball tournament, established in 1922, was older.
On June 18, 2012, nine football-playing members of the WVIAC announced they would withdraw from the league to form a new regional all-sports conference. [1]
The WVIAC officially ceased to exist on September 1, 2013. [2] Eight of the nine football-playing members (Concord, Charleston, Fairmont State, Glenville State, Shepherd, West Liberty, West Virginia State, and West Virginia Wesleyan) and one non-football playing member (Wheeling Jesuit) of the conference joined a provisional D-II member from Virginia (UVA-Wise) and two associate Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference members from Ohio (Notre Dame and Urbana) to form a new all-sports conference, the Mountain East Conference. [3] Seton Hill and Pitt-Johnstown joined the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Three of the remaining non-football members (Alderson–Broaddus, Davis & Elkins, and Ohio Valley) accepted invitations to join the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. [4] The final remaining member, Bluefield State, competed as a D-II independent for 9 years before being invited to rejoin its former conference in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 2023. [5]
The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. CIAA institutions mostly consist of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Seton Hill University is a private Catholic university in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Originally a women's college, it became a coeducational university in 2002 and enrolls about 2,200 students.
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 Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Kentucky and Tennessee. The league is headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and the commissioner is Eric Leach.
NAIA independent schools are four-year institutional members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) that do not have formal conference affiliations. NAIA schools that are not members of any other athletic conference are members of the Continental Athletic Conference (CAC), formerly the Association of Independent Institutions (AII), which provides member services to the institution and allows members to compete in postseason competition. The CAC has one member institution in Canada's British Columbia. It provides services to the member institutions that are not fitting in any other NAIA conference and allows members to compete in postseason competition. The AII renamed itself the Continental Athletic Conference at the end of June 2021, citing the need to identify as a proper conference.
Alderson Broaddus University (AB) was a private Baptist university in Philippi, West Virginia. It was founded in 1871 and suspended its operations on August 31, 2023.
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a competitive college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level.
Bluefield State University is a public historically black university (HBCU) in Bluefield, West Virginia. Despite being an HBCU, Bluefield's undergraduate student body is now over 80% white. The university is part of West Virginia's public university education system.
The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Members of the conference are located in the Southeastern United States in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.
The American Mideast Conference (AMC) was an affiliate of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics that included eight member institutions in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. Founded in 1949, it was known as the Mid-Ohio League, and named the Mid-Ohio Conference from 1962 until 1998, when it adopted its final moniker. The name change was the first step in a multi-phase expansion that extended the conference into states beyond Ohio before the league was eventually disbanded in 2012.
The River States Conference (RSC), formerly known as the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC), is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Although it was historically a Kentucky-only conference, it has now expanded to include members in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, and at various times in the past has also had members in Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia.
The Morehead State Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Morehead State University (MSU), located in Morehead, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) since the 1948–49 academic year; while its football team competes in the Pioneer Football League (PFL). The Eagles previously competed in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1933–34 to 1947–48; and in the defunct West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) from 1929–30 to 1932–33.
The West Virginia State Yellow Jackets are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia State University, located in Institute, West Virginia, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Yellow Jackets compete as members of the Mountain East Conference for all ten varsity sports. West Virginia State was a founding member of the conference following the demise of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2013. WVSU's main rival is the University of Charleston (WV).
Ohio Valley University was a private Christian college located between Parkersburg and Vienna in West Virginia. Founded in 1958, the school integrated education with teachings of the Christian faith. The college was physically located on two separate campuses totalling 267 acres (108 ha). At one time, OVU offered bachelor's degrees in more than 30 different subject areas, but scaled back its academic options as enrollment numbers and financial stability dropped significantly. The college was accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and was placed under academic probation in 2020 by the Higher Learning Commission due to ongoing long-term financial struggles. In December 2021, the OVU Board of Directors voted to close the college after the Fall 2021 semester. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission voted to revoke OVU's authority to grant degrees shortly thereafter. Seniors were allowed to finish their degrees without the loss of any credit hours in the spring semester of 2022 at several other institutions of higher education related to Churches of Christ through "teach out" agreements.
The Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. It was named the 24th NCAA Division II conference and operates in the Great Lakes and East South Central States regions of the United States. The G-MAC began conference play in the 2012–13 academic year hosting 12 championships and continued to work through the educational assessment program. The conference received approval and became an active Division II conference in 2013–14, hosting 17 championships.
The Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II Lacrosse League, also known as the ECAC Division II Lacrosse League, was an American NCAA Division II college athletic conference and part of the Eastern College Athletic Conference that only sponsors men's Division II lacrosse. The league was founded in March 2012 and began play in the 2012–13 academic year. The founding members included Alderson Broaddus University, Lake Erie College, Lindenwood University, Mercyhurst University, Ohio Valley University, Seton Hill University, Walsh University, and Wheeling Jesuit University. The new conference brings together four former associate member in men's lacrosse only of the East Coast Conference: Lake Erie, Mercyhurst, Seton Hill, and Wheeling Jesuit; Lindenwood from the Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association; and Ohio Valley from competing as an Independent program; Walsh, in the program's first season of NCAA competition as part of the university's transition from NAIA; and Alderson-Broaddus, the program's first season in existence.
The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 11 schools, mostly in West Virginia with other members in Maryland and Ohio.
Chris Grassie is an English football coach who is currently the head coach of the Marshall University men's soccer team. During his tenure as coach of the Herd, he led the program to 3 Conference USA trophies, 1 Sun Belt Conference trophy, and the 2020 NCAA National Championship.
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