The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The KCAC is the oldest conference in the NAIA and the second-oldest in the United States, tracing its history to 1890.
History On February 15, 1890, the Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association was formed; it was the first successful attempt to organize Kansas colleges for the purposes of promoting and regulating amateur intercollegiate athletics. In addition to the private universities and colleges, the conference also included Kansas State Agriculture College (now Kansas State University), the University of Kansas, and Washburn University. In November of that year, the first college football game in Kansas was played between the Kansas Jayhawks and Baker University.
About 1902 the association allied with the Kansas College Athletic Conference, the first group to adopt a definite set of rules and regulations. By the 1920s the conference had changed its name to Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference and had grown to include 17 regular members and 2 allied members (no longer including the University of Kansas or Kansas State). In 1927, seven colleges withdrew to form the Central Intercollegiate Conference.
On December 1, 1928, the Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was formally disbanded and replaced by a new Kansas College Athletic Conference which included six members and formed the present legal entity. It was commonly referred to as the "Little Six", in contrast to the Big Six Conference that eventually became the current Big 12. By 1968 the conference grew to include 12 members. It was organized into Northern and Southern divisions until 1970 when three colleges withdrew to join Missouri-based conferences. In the mid-1970s the name was changed to its current form.National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics "Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference"
1905 night game See 1905 Cooper vs. Fairmount football game
In the 1905 season, the Coleman Company set up temporary gas-powered lighting for a night game at Association Park in Wichita, Kansas between the of Cooper College (now Sterling College) and the of Fairmount College (now Wichita State University). It was the first night football game played west of the Mississippi River. Fairmount won the game, 24–0.
1905 "experimental" game See 1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game
On December 25, 1905, Fairmount played a game against the Washburn Ichabods using a set of experimental rules. The game was officiated by then Washburn head coach John H. Outland.
The experiment was considered a failure. Outland commented, "It seems to me that the distance required in three downs would almost eliminate touchdowns, except through fakes or flukes." The Los Angeles Times reported that there was much kicking and that the game was considered much safer than regular play, but that the new rule was not "conducive to the sport."
In his history of the sport of football, David M. Nelson concluded that "the first forward passes were thrown at the end of the 1905 season in a game between Fairmount and Washburn colleges in Kansas.", p. 128 According to Nelson, Washburn completed three passes, and Fairmount completed two.
Chronological timeline
1902 – The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) was founded as the Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC). Charter members included Baker University, Bethany College, Bethel College, the College of Emporia (CoE), Cooper Memorial College (now Sterling College), Fairmount College (now Wichita State University), Friends University, Kansas Wesleyan University, Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia (now Emporia State University), Kansas State Teachers College of Hays (now Fort Hays State University), Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University), Kansas State Agricultural College (now Kansas State University), McPherson College, Ottawa University, St. Benedict's College (now Benedictine College), St. Mary's College (now Saint Mary's Academy and College), Southwest Kansas Conference College (now Southwestern College), Washburn College (now Washburn University) as full members (with St. John's College and Kansas City University as allied members), beginning the 1902–03 academic year. 1913 – Kansas State left the KIAC to join the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) after the 1912–13 academic year. 1923 – Nine institutions left the KIAC to join their respective new home primary conferences: The College of Emporia, Emporia State, Fort Hays State, Pittsburg State, Southwestern (Ks.), Washburn and Wichita State to form the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIC), and Kansas City U. and St. John's (Ks.) as Independents, all effective after the 1922–23 academic year. 1928: Bethel (Ks.), Friends, Sterling and St. Benedict's (Ks.) left the KIAC to become Independents, effective in December 1928 (during the 1928–29 academic year). The KIAC was rebranded as the Kansas College Athletic Conference (KCAC), effective in December 1928 (during the 1928–29 academic year). 1931 – St. Mary's (Ks.) left the KCAC as the school ceased operations after the 1930–31 academic year. 1933 – The College of Emporia (CoE) rejoined the KCAC in the 1933–34 academic year. 1939 – Bethel (Ks.) rejoined the KCAC in the 1939–40 academic year. 1953 – Friends rejoined the KCAC in the 1953–54 academic year. 1958 – Southwestern (Ks.) and Sterling rejoined the KCAC, in the 1958–59 academic year. 1968 – St. Mary of the Plains College and Tabor College joined the KCAC in the 1968–69 academic year. 1970 – The KCAC has been rebranded as the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC), beginning the 1970–71 academic year. 1971 – Baker, the College of Emporia (CoE) and Ottawa left the KCAC to form part of the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) after the 1970–71 academic year. 1982 – Ottawa rejoined the KCAC in the 1982–83 academic year. 1992 – St. Mary's of the Plains left the KCAC as the school ceased operations after the 1991–92 academic year. 1999 – The Saint Mary College of Leavenworth (now the University of Saint Mary) joined the KCAC in the 1999–2000 academic year. 2015: Oklahoma Wesleyan University joined the KCAC in the 2015–16 academic year. Six institutions joined the KCAC as associate members, all effective in the 2016 spring season (2015–16 academic year): St. Gregory's University for men's lacrosse Midland University and Johnson & Wales University–Colorado for women's lacrosse and Benedictine [formerly St. Benedict's (Ks.)], Clarke University and Missouri Valley College (now Missouri Valley University) for men's and women's lacrosse 2016: St. Gregory's (Okla.) left the KCAC as an associate member for men's lacrosse after the school suspended it during the 2016 spring season (2015–16 academic year). York College (now York University) joined the KCAC (coming from the defunct Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC)) in the 2016–18 academic year. St. Ambrose University joined the KCAC as an associate member for men's lacrosse in the 2017 spring season (2016–17 academic year). 2017 – Five institutions joined the KCAC as associate members (and/or added other single sports into their associate memberships), all effective in the 2017–18 academic year: Columbia College of Missouri for men's lacrosse St. Ambrose for women's lacrosse and the University of Jamestown, Midland and Missouri Valley for women's wrestling 2018: Johnson & Wales–Colorado left the KCAC as an associate member for women's lacrosse after the 2018 spring season (2017–18 academic year). Avila University joined the KCAC in the 2018–19 academic year. 2019 – Seven institutions joined the KCAC as associate members (and/or added other single sports into their associate memberships), all effective in the 2019–20 academic year: Culver–Stockton College for women's lacrosse Lincoln College and Olivet Nazarene University for men's and women's swimming Midland for men's lacrosse and men's and women's swimming and Missouri Baptist University, Morningside College (now Morningside University) and William Penn University for men's and women's lacrosse 2020: Missouri Valley left the KCAC as an associate member for women's wrestling after the 2019–20 academic year. Five institutions joined the KCAC as associate members (and/or added other single sports into their associate memberships), all effective in the 2020–21 academic year: Bethel University of Indiana and Morningside for men's and women's swimming Cottey College and Midland for women's flag football Hastings College for women's wrestling 2021: Lincoln (Ill.) left the KCAC as an associate member for men's and women's swimming after the 2020–21 academic year. Two institutions joined the KCAC as associate members (and/or added other single sports into their associate memberships), both effective in the 2021–22 academic year: Columbia (Mo.) for eSports and Jamestown for women's swimming 2022: Seven institutions left the KCAC as associate members (and/or removed some single sports into their associate memberships), all effective after the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year): Culver–Stockton for women's lacrosse and Benedictine, Clarke, Missouri Valley, Morningside, St. Ambrose and William Penn for men's and women's lacrosse Four institutions joined the KCAC as associate members (and/or added other single sports into their associate memberships), all effective in the 2022–23 academic year: the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis (UHSP) for women's lacrosse the College of Saint Mary for women's swimming Aquinas College for men's and women's swimming and Doane University for women's wrestling 2023: Columbia (Mo.) left the KCAC as an associate member for eSports after the 2022–23 academic year. Evangel University joined the KCAC in the 2023–24 academic year. Four institutions joined the KCAC as associate members (and/or added other single sports into their associate memberships), all effective in the 2023–24 academic year: Dakota Wesleyan University and Morningside for women's wrestling and Baker University and Graceland University for women's flag football 2024 – Eight institutions left the KCAC as associate members (and/or removed some single sports into their associate memberships), all effective after the 2023–24 academic year: Columbia (Mo.) for men's lacrosse Missouri Baptist for men's and women's lacrosse the UHSP for women's lacrosse Midland for men's and women's lacrosse and women's wrestling and Dakota Wesleyan, Doane, Hastings and Morningside for women's wrestling, and for men's and women's lacrosse
Member schools Current members The KCAC currently has fourteen full members, all are private schools: