ECAC 2 was an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's College Division. The league was created as a way to fairly divide the upper- and lower-class programs that had been members of ECAC Hockey. In 1984 the conference was split in two, creating ECAC East and ECAC West as completely independent leagues.
History Foundation In 1950 college ice hockey received its first official conference, the Tri-State League, and while the conference possessed a minimal number of teams it routinely received one of the two eastern bids to the NCAA tournament. Concurrently, once seven western schools formed their own conference they were able to earn both western bids each year because there were no other colleges in competition for tournament berths. This situation left one eastern bid available for at least two dozen eastern schools. The arrangement came to a head in 1961 when both eastern bids were given to Tri-State League teams and very soon thereafter ECAC Hockey was formed. Following the same pattern as the western schools, every available eastern college joined the league, including the three remaining members of the Tri-State League, and the 28-team mega conference was born.
Due to the sheer number of universities in the conference none of the teams could guarantee playing each other so from the outset the conference standings were deemphasized and the eight teams that played in the conference tournament were selected by a committee based upon their perceived strength. This led to some schools like Williams, who finished 4th in the standings in 1962, not being invited to the tournament despite a 16–3–1 record against other ECAC schools because of their assumed weaker competition.
Split The giant league remained in place for three seasons before being split in two. 15 teams that were willing to invest greater amounts of time, effort and money to their ice hockey programs remained in ECAC Hockey while the remaining 14 schools joined in a new league, ECAC 2. ECAC 2 was the first ice hockey conference formed for the NCAA College Division (which would later become Division III and Division II) and was virtually the only collection of schools in the country that played at the lower tier. After only seven years the conference had doubled in size and once again created a lower tier (ECAC 3) though only six schools chose to leave for the lesser division in 1971.
Further Growth and Dissolution ECAC 2 remained the primary conference outside Division I for several years but started getting some competition in the 1970s. In that time, however, the conference continued to grow larger until it possessed over 30 members by 1975 and divided itself internally into two divisions (East and West) which would continue for another decade.
In 1978, five years after dividing the college division into two numerical divisions, the NCAA began the NCAA Division II Men's Ice Hockey Championship and the inaugural title was won by ECAC 2 member, Merrimack. ECAC 2 would win four more championships over the next five years and established itself as the premier league at the Division II level. In 1983, the NCAA announced that it would begin hosting a Division III Championship and require all schools who normally played at that level to submit bids for the new tournament. Even though ECAC 2 technically competed at the D-II level that year, most of its member teams that made tournament appearances did so in the D-III series.
With the vast majority of all programs needing to reclassify for the D-III tournament, ECAC 2 dropped down to the lower level in the summer of 1984. That change, however, was not enough to keep the league as one entity. During the season, it was divided into two conferences with both ECAC East and ECAC West holding separate tournaments at the end of the year.
Legacy Most of the 46 programs that played in the ECAC 2 are still going as of 2018, with many having jumped up to the Division I ranks. While several schools have won Division III national titles in the years since the conference ended, Maine, UMass, and Union have won Division I national titles.
ECAC 2 Tournament The ECAC 2 played a conference tournament from 1967 through its final full season in 1984. The tournament served as the de facto Division II National Championship until the NCAA instituted a national tournament in 1978. That year ECAC 2 effectively split its conference in two by having two division tournaments (East and West) with all games between the two divisions counting for the regular season.
Member schools In its 20-year existence ECAC 2 had 45 individual schools as members. LocationAthletic nicknameEnrollment#ColorsFoundedJoinedLeftSucceeding ConferenceCurrent Conference† Springfield, Massachusetts Yellow Jackets 1,7001885 19641984ECAC EastAtlantic HockeyAmherst, MassachusettsLord Jeffs1,817182119641972ECAC 3NESCACWorcester, MassachusettsGreyhounds2,753190419671971ECAC 3Northeast-10West Point, New YorkCadets4,400 180219731980ECAC HockeyAtlantic HockeyWellesley, MassachusettsBeavers1,800191919681984ECAC EastNEHCBoston, MassachusettsWarriors– 187219661982Merged with UMass BostonBrunswick, MainePolar Bears1,805179419641984ECAC EastNESCACBridgewater, MassachusettsBears9,628184019701981Dropped ProgramBrockport, New YorkGolden Eagles8,275186719761984ECAC WestSUNYACSmithfield, Rhode IslandBulldogs3,751186319751980Dropped ProgramBuffalo, New YorkBulls30,648184619711984ECAC WestDropped ProgramWaterville, MaineMules1,838181319641984ECAC EastNESCACStorrs, ConnecticutHuskies 32,027188119641984ECAC EastHockey EastCortland, New YorkRed Dragons7,234186819761984ECAC WestSUNYACElmira, New YorkSoaring Eagles1,170185519761984ECAC WestUCHCFramingham, MassachusettsRams6,156183919791982ECAC 3MASCACGeneseo, New YorkKnights5,585187119761984ECAC WestSUNYACClinton, New YorkContinentals 1,864179319641984ECAC WestNESCACWorcester, MassachusettsCrusaders 2,897 184319671984ECAC EastAtlantic HockeyIthaca, New YorkBombers 6,969 189219671976Dropped ProgramBethlehem, PennsylvaniaMountain Hawks5,080186519691971ECAC 3Dropped ProgramOrono, MaineBlack Bears11,222186519771979ECAC HockeyHockey EastAmherst, MassachusettsMinutemen27,269186319641979Dropped ProgramHockey EastDorchester, MassachusettsBeacons10,600189419821984ECAC EastNEHCCambridge, MassachusettsEngineers4,512186119641971ECAC 3Dropped ProgramLowell, MassachusettsChiefs18,316189419681983ECAC HockeyHockey EastNorth Andover, MassachusettsWarriors 3,653194719641984ECAC EastHockey EastMiddlebury, VermontPanthers2,507180019641984ECAC EastNESCACHenniker, New HampshirePilgrims1,460194619711984ECAC EastNEHCDurham, New HampshireWildcats14,761186619641966ECAC HockeyHockey EastWest Haven, ConnecticutChargers4,800192019671983Dropped ProgramDudley, MassachusettsBison 1,459181519671971ECAC 3CCCNorth Adams, MassachusettsMowhawks1,891189419751984ECAC EastDropped ProgramNorthfield, VermontCadets2,000181919641984ECAC EastNEHCOswego, New YorkLakers8,909186119671984ECAC WestSUNYACPlattsburgh, New YorkCardinals6,358188919761984ECAC WestSUNYACPotsdam, New YorkBears4,325181619761984ECAC WestSUNYACHenrietta, New YorkTigers16,842182919801984ECAC WestAtlantic HockeyGoffstown, New HampshireHawks1,945188919691984ECAC EastNortheast-10Salem, MassachusettsVikings10,125185419671984ECAC EastMASCACSchenectady, New YorkDutchmen2,200179519751984ECAC WestECAC HockeyBurlington, VermontCatamounts 11,999179119641974ECAC HockeyHockey EastWestfield, MassachusettsOwls5,166187419781984ECAC EastMASCACWilliamstown, MassachusettsEphs2,124179319641984ECAC EastNESCACWorcester, MassachusettsLancers6,221187419671971ECAC 3MASCAC # enrollment in 2018† as of 2018
Membership timeline
See also ECAC Hockey ECAC East ECAC West ECAC 3
References