The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 12 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from Maine to South Carolina and west to Missouri.Membership . Eastern College Athletic Conference official website. Retrieved 2018-04-19. Most or all members belong to at least one other athletic conference.
The ECAC was founded as the Central Office for Eastern Intercollegiate Athletics in 1938, largely through the efforts of James Lynah of Cornell University. In 1983, the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW) was consolidated into the ECAC. Most member schools are in other conferences as well, but through the ECAC they are able to participate in sports that their main conferences do not offer. Its headquarters are located in Danbury, Connecticut. The ECAC also now offers esports competitions to its member schools.
Membership
Division I As of fall 2023, there are 78 Division I members.Division I - ECAC. ECAC official website. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
Division II As of fall 2023, there are 7 Division II members.Division II - ECAC. ECAC official website. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
Division III As of spring 2018, there are 79 Division III members.Division III - ECAC. ECAC official website. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
Affiliates The ECAC has several affiliated single-sport leagues:Affiliates . ECAC official website. Retrieved 2013-10-25. Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges ECAC Equestrian Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League Intercollegiate Rowing Association Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes in America
Two other formerly affiliated conferences are defunct: ECAC Lacrosse League ECAC Division II Lacrosse League
Two existing conferences were affiliated in the past, but have since become independent. ECAC Hockey (men and women) – independent since 2004 Gymnastics East Conference (women only) – independent since 2021
Sports ECAC SPORTS Sport DI-M DI-W DII-M DII-W DIII-M DIII-W Baseball Basketball Cross Country Equestrian Field hockey Football Golf Gymnastics Ice Hockey Lacrosse Soccer Softball Swimming & Diving Tennis Track & Field (Indoor) Track & Field (Outdoor) Volleyball
ECAC men's basketball tournaments
At various times, the ECAC has organized regional college basketball championship tournaments at the end of the regular season for teams playing at the NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III levels. It held the Division I tournaments from 1975 to 1982 to provide independent colleges and universities in the northeastern United States with a means of participating in end-of-season tournaments that resulted in the winning team receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, similar to the end-of-season tournaments held by conventional athletic conferences. The Division I ECAC tournaments were discontinued after all participating schools joined conferences of their own during the late 1970s and early 1980s.Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
The ECAC also held combined Division II/III regional end-of- season tournaments from 1973 to 1980 and a single Division II-only tournament after the regular season from 1988 to 2006 and in 2007, 2008, and 2014. Since 1981, it has organized regional Division III-only men's basketball tournaments annually at the end of each regular season.
ECAC Division III football bowls
In football, the ECAC organizes four NCAA Division III bowl games each year. The bowl games are as follow: ECAC Asa S. Bushnell Bowl ECAC Clayton Chapman Bowl ECAC James Lynah Bowl ECAC Scotty Whitelaw Bowl
Awards See footnotesMembership: Awards . ECAC official website. Retrieved 2010-03-03.ECAC Awards and Honors . ECAC official website. Retrieved 2010-03-03. Div. I FBS Football Major Awards Div. I FCS Football Major Awards Div II Football Major Awards Div. III Football Major Awards Robbins Scholar-AthletesECAC Awards and Honors: Robbins Scholar-Athletes . ECAC official website. Retrieved 2010-03-03. Award of Merit (for student-athletes)ECAC Awards and Honors: Appreciation and Merit Awards . ECAC official website. Retrieved 2010-03-03. Award of Valor (for student-athletes)ECAC Awards and Honors: Award of Valor . ECAC official website. Retrieved 2010-03-03. ECAC Rowing TrophyECAC Awards and Honors: ECAC Rowing Trophy . ECAC official website. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
See also ECAC Hockey, a Division I ice hockey conference previously affiliated with the ECAC Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, a similar Division I conference in the western U.S.
References
External links