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List of defunct men's college basketball conferences in the United States

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This is a list of defunct National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's college basketball conferences in the United States. The NCAA is divided into three divisions, based on school size and enrollment. Each division is made up of several conferences for regional league play. Over time, these conferences will disband due to lack of teams, joining of their teams to other conferences, lack of budget, merging to another conference, stopped sponsoring basketball or simply a command from the NCAA.

College basketball was started in 1895 with its first ever game between Hamline and Minnesota.[1] It was later developed in 1896 with its first game in a five player format with Chicago against Iowa.[1] Almost all schools are independent at that time until since the formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (now NCAA) in 1906.[2] But even before the development, conferences began to form, such as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives (now Big Ten Conference) in 1896 which is the oldest active conference in the NCAA,[3] and the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League formed in 1901, which was folded into the Ivy League in 1955.[4]

As of July 2019, there are 30 defunct conferences in total: 20 conferences in Division I, six in Division II and four in Division III. The defunct conference that was active for the shortest period is the Northern California Conference, formed in 1937 and ended in 1939;[5] the longest-lived defunct conference is the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC), which has a span of 89 years (1924 to 2013).[6] The most recent conference to dissolve is the Division II Heartland Conference, which disbanded at the end of the 2018–19 school year, with seven of its nine members joining the Lone Star Conference and the other two moving to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

Division I

[edit]
Conference Founded Dissolved Members Map Ref
American South Conference 1987 1991 7 [7]
American West Conference 1993 1996 4[DIV I 1] [8]
Big Eight Conference 1907[DIV I 2] 1996 8 [9]
Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1931 1962 6 [10]
East Coast Conference 1958[DIV I 3] 1994 6 [11]
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League 1901 1955 8 [4][12]
Eastern Intercollegiate Conference 1932 1939 6 [13]
Great Midwest Conference 1991 1995 7 [14]
Great West Conference 2004[DIV I 4] 2013 5 [15]
Gulf Star Conference 1984 1987 6 [16]
Middle Atlantic States Conference North 1946 1949 6 [17]
Metropolitan Collegiate Conference 1965 1969 10 [18]
Metro Conference 1975 1995 7 [19]
Metropolitan New York Conference 1933[DIV I 5] 1963 11 [20]
Middle Three Conference 1943 1952 3 [21]
New Jersey-New York 7 Conference 1976 1979 7 [22]
Northern California Conference 1937 1939 5 [5]
Pacific Coast Conference 1915 1959 9 [23]
Southwest Conference 1914 1996 8 [24]
Western New York Little Three Conference 1946 1958 3 [25]
Notes
  1. ^ The American West Conference began as a football-only league in 1993 with five teams. Charter member UC Davis left after that season, leaving only four teams when it began sponsoring basketball in 1994.
  2. ^ The Big Eight Conference started basketball in 1928.
  3. ^ The East Coast Conference started basketball in 1974.
  4. ^ The Great West Conference, originally a football-only league, began sponsoring basketball in 2009.
  5. ^ The Metropolitan New York Conference started basketball in 1943.

Division II

[edit]
Conference Founded Dissolved Members Map Ref
Heartland Conference 1999 2019 9 [26][27][28]
Indiana Collegiate Conference 1951 1979 8 [29]
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference 1922 1950 7 [30]
Mason-Dixon Conference 1940 1974 10* [31]
North Central Conference 1922 2008 8 [32]
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 1924 2013 15 [33][6]

Division III

[edit]
Conference Founded Dissolved Members Map Ref
Lake Michigan Conference 1974 2006 8 [34]
Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference 1969 2006 6 [34]
Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1976 1996 9 [35]
Wisconsin State University Conference 1913 1997 8 [36]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b McKenzie, Larry (2011). Basketball: So Much More Than Just A Game. AuthorHouse. p. xx. ISBN 9781463437510.
  2. ^ "About the NCAA". Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  3. ^ Canham, Don (1996). From The Inside: A Half Century of Michigan Athletics. Olympia Sports Press. p. 281. ISBN 0-9654263-0-0. From The Inside: A Half Century of Michigan Athletics.
  4. ^ a b "Men's Basketball Record Book • Coaching Record & Program Facts". Princeton Athletic Communications. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Northern California Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  6. ^ a b "About the WVIAC". West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  7. ^ "American South Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  8. ^ "American West Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  9. ^ "Big Eight Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  10. ^ "Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  11. ^ "East Coast Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  12. ^ "Ivy Group". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  13. ^ "Eastern Intercollegiate Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  14. ^ "Great Midwest Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  15. ^ "Great West Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  16. ^ "Gulf Star Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  17. ^ "Middle Atlantic States Conference North". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  18. ^ "Metropolitan Collegiate Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  19. ^ "Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  20. ^ "Metropolitan New York Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  21. ^ "Middle Three Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  22. ^ "New Jersey-New York 7 Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  23. ^ "When the Pacific Coast Conference was dissolved". Eugene Register-Guard. 2 March 1960. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  24. ^ "Southwest Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  25. ^ "Western New York Little Three Conference". SR/College Basketball. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  26. ^ "Lone Star Conference to Add Eight Schools in 2019" (Press release). Lone Star Conference. 2017-08-30. Archived from the original on 2017-08-31. Retrieved 2017-08-31.
  27. ^ "Newman To Compete In MIAA As Associate Member In 2019-20" (Press release). Newman University Athletics. February 8, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-02-09. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  28. ^ "Hillcats to join MIAA Conference for 2019-2020 season". RSU Hillcats. October 18, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-10-19. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  29. ^ Edmonds, Anthony (2001). Ball State University: An Interpretive History. Indiana University Press. p. 189. ISBN 0-253-34017-9.
  30. ^ "Indiana Forms I.C.C." (PDF). New York Times. 2 July 1922. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  31. ^ "American University Athletic Timeline". American University. Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  32. ^ "Thomas: NCC will fold in summer 2008". Forum Communications Co. 2006. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  33. ^ "NCAA ADDS MOUNTAIN EAST CONFERENCE AS NEWEST DIVISION II LEAGUE". Shepherd University. 15 February 2013. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  34. ^ a b "The History of the Lake Michigan Conference". Lake Michigan Conference. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  35. ^ "Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association". American Southwest Conference. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  36. ^ "History in Wisconsin State University Conference (WSUC)". Wisconsin State University Conference. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
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