American Collegiate Athletic Association

The American Collegiate Athletic Association was an athletic conference with no regular-season competition. The ACAA competed in the NCAA's Division III. The conference was formed in 2017 primarily by Independent schools in the Northeastern United States, but also had members in Michigan, Wisconsin, and California.[1] The members of the ACAA merged with the Capital Athletic Conference in 2020.

American Collegiate Athletic Association
Established2017
Dissolved2020
(merged with
Capital Athletic Conference)
AssociationNCAA
DivisionDivision III
Members7
Sports fielded
  • 8
RegionNortheastern United States, Great Lakes region, California
Locations

History

The ACAA was formally announced as an NCAA Division III conference in February 2017, with plans to start offering official conference championships in the 2017-18 academic year. Unofficial championships were held during the 2016-17 year.[2] Initial members were Alfred State College, Finlandia University, Mills College, State University of New York at Canton, State University of New York at Delhi, Pine Manor College, University of Maine at Presque Isle, and University of Valley Forge. Finlandia, Maine-Presque Isle, Mills, and Pine Manor were formerly members of the Great South Athletic Conference, which disbanded in 2016.

In November 2017, it was announced that SUNY Canton and UMPI departed the ACAA, effective July 1, 2018, and would join the North Atlantic Conference.[3]

In January 2018, it was announced that Mount Mary University of Wisconsin joined the ACAA, effective in the 2018-19 academic year. Mount Mary was formerly an NCAA Division III independent school.[4]

On February 16, 2018, Pratt Institute announced that the college also joined the ACAA, effective in the 2018-19 academic year.[5] Pratt was a member of the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.

On June 28, 2018, it was announced that Alfred State College was leaving the ACAA, and joined the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, effective 2019-20.[6]

In July 2018, it was announced that Thomas More College, now known as Thomas More University, joined the ACAA effective immediately for the 2018-19 season. Thomas More was previously a full member of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Thomas More will re-joined the NAIA and joined the Mid South Conference beginning the fall of 2019.[7]

On November 30, 2018, SUNY Delhi, a North Atlantic Conference associate member in six sports (men's golf, men's lacrosse, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's track & field), announced that it would leave the ACAA and become a full member of the NAC effective in the fall of 2019. At that time, five additional Delhi sports—men's and women's cross country, men's golf, men's and women's soccer, and women's volleyball—were about to begin NAC play. Three more sports—men's and women's basketball, plus softball—remained in the ACAA until starting NAC play in 2020–21.[8]

On June 6, 2019, it was announced that the University of Valley Forge was leaving the ACAA, and joined the Colonial States Athletic Conference, effective 2020-21.[9]

On July 11, 2019, it was announced that the University of California, Santa Cruz would be joining the ACAA in seven sports, effective 2019-20.[10]

On May 26, 2020, it was announced that the American Collegiate Athletic Association would merge with the Capital Athletic Conference. The ACAA will have all of its full members join the CAC in the 2020-21 school year. Pine Manor College, which recently entered into a partnership with Boston College, will participate in the Conference for one academic year in four sports: men's soccer, men's basketball, women's basketball and baseball. [11]

Final members
InstitutionLocationFoundedJoinedTypeEnrollment (2016)[12]Nickname
Finlandia University Hancock, Michigan 1896 2017 Private 507 Lions
Mills College† Oakland, California 1852 2017 Private 1,345 Cyclones
Mount Mary University† Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1913 2018 Private 1,209 Blue Angels
Pine Manor College Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 1911 2017 Private 419 Gators
Pratt Institute Brooklyn, New York 1877 2018 Private 4,829 Cannoneers
University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California 1965 2019 Public 19,700 Banana Slugs

† - Women's college, therefore not competing in men's sports.

Departing members
InstitutionLocationFoundedJoinedLeavesTypeEnrollment (2016)[12]NicknameFuture Conference
University of Valley Forge Phoenixville, Pennsylvania 1939 2017 2020 Private 877 Patriots Colonial States Athletic Conference

Former associate members
InstitutionLocationFoundedJoinedLeftTypeNicknameSportPrimary Conference
State University of New York at Delhi* Delhi, New York 1913 2019 2020 Public Broncos basketball (M);
basketball (W);
softball		 North Atlantic
University of Wisconsin–Whitewater Whitewater, Wisconsin 1868 2019 2020 Public Warhawks soccer (M) WIAC
  • SUNY Delhi was a full member from 2017 to 2019.

Former members
Institution Location Founded Joined Left Type Nickname Current conference
State University of New York at Canton Canton, New York 1906 2017 2018 Public Roos North Atlantic
University of Maine at Presque Isle Presque Isle, Maine 1903 2017 2018 Public Owls North Atlantic
Alfred State College Alfred, New York 1908 2017 2019 Public Pioneers AMCC
Thomas More University Crestview Hills, Kentucky 1921 2018 2019 Private Saints Mid-South (NAIA)

Sports
SchoolMen's BasketballWomen's BasketballMen's Cross CountryWomen's Cross CountryMen's SoccerWomen's SoccerSoftballWomen's VolleyballTotal sports
FinlandiaYYYYYYYY8
Mills†YYY3
Mount Mary†YYYYY5
Pine ManorYYYYYYYY8
PrattYYYYYYY7
Valley ForgeYYYYYYYY8
UCSCYYYYYYY7
Totals5+16+1575+174+1746+4

† - Women's college, therefore not competing in men's sports.

References
  1. "University of Maine at Presque Isle set to join new athletics conference". Bangor Daily News. February 15, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  2. "New Division III conference approved" D3Sports.com website. Accessed: July 5, 2018.
  3. "SUNY Canton to Join NAC for 2018-19" SUNY Canton Athletics website. Accessed: May 22, 2018.
  4. "ACAA Welcomes Mount Mary" American Collegiate Athletic Association website. Accessed: July 5, 2018.
  5. "NCAA approves Pratt" Archived 2018-03-05 at the Wayback Machine Pratt athletics website. Accessed: March 4, 2018.
  6. "Alfred State to Join Alleghany Mountain Collegiate Conference" American Collegiate Athletic Association website. Accessed: July 5, 2018.
  7. "Thomas More Joins ACAA Membership" American Collegiate Athletic Association website. Accessed: July 5, 2018.
  8. "SUNY Delhi to Join the NAC in 2019" (Press release). North Atlantic Conference. November 30, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  9. "Valley Forge to Join CSAC in 2020" American Collegiate Athletic Association website. Accessed: June 15, 2019.
  10. "UC Santa Cruz finds Conference, joins ACAA for 2019-20" (Press release). University of California, Santa Cruz. July 11, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  11. "ACAA and Capital Athletic Conference Join Forces" (Press release). American Collegiate Athletic Association. May 26, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  12. "College Navigator". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
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