Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Founded as the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC) in 1987, it reincorporated under its current name in 1998 with the addition of several schools from Ohio.

Original members of the HCAC included Anderson, Bluffton, Franklin, Hanover, Manchester, Mount St. Joseph, Wabash, and Wilmington. Of the ten current members, six were founding members of the former ICAC.

Former members include DePauw (1987–1998), Taylor (1988–1991), Wabash (1987–1999), Wilmington (1998–2000), and Defiance (2000–2024). Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology (1988–1998) re-joined as of July 1, 2006.

History

The Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC) was formed in June 1987, with 1990–91 being the first full season of competition (all eight teams competing in eight varsity sports).

Charter members in 1987 included Anderson University, DePauw University, Franklin College, Hanover College, Manchester College, and Wabash College. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Taylor University later joined in 1988. Taylor left the conference after the 1990–91 season.

The addition of three Ohio schools (Bluffton College, the College of Mount St. Joseph, and Wilmington College) and the departure of two Indiana schools (DePauw and Rose-Hulman) during the 1998–99 season prompted a change in name to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Wabash and Wilmington later departed in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 seasons respectively. Defiance College and Transylvania University joined in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Rose-Hulman re-joined the HCAC, effective for the 2006–07 season.

In October 2009, Earlham College of Richmond, Indiana was accepted as the 10th member of the conference and began competition in the fall of 2010.

In the summer of 2024, Defiance College departed the HCAC to join the NAIA and the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference. Berea College joined the HCAC at the start of the 2024–25 academic year.

Chronological timeline

• 1987 – In June 1987, the HCAC was founded as the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC). Charter members included Anderson College (now Anderson University), DePauw University, Franklin College, Hanover College, Manchester College, and Wabash College, beginning the 1987–88 academic year.
• 1988 – Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology and Taylor University joined the ICAC in the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1990 – The ICAC began their first full season on competition, competing in eight varsity sports, beginning the 1990–91 academic year.
• 1991 – Taylor left the ICAC to join the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) after the 1990–91 academic year.
• 1998: DePauw and Rose–Hulman (or Rose–Hulman Tech or RHIT) left the ICAC to join the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) after the 1997–98 academic year. Bluffton College (now Bluffton University), the College of Mount St. Joseph (now Mount St. Joseph University) and Wilmington College joined the ICAC in the 1998–99 academic year. The ICAC rebranded as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC), beginning the 1998–99 academic year.
• 1999 – Wabash left the HCAC to join the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) after the 1998–99 academic year. Its football program later left after the 1999 fall season (1999–2000 school year).
• 2000: Wilmington left the HCAC to join the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) after the 1999–2000 academic year. Defiance College joined the HCAC in the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2001 – Transylvania University joined the HCAC in the 2001–02 academic year.
• 2006 – Rose–Hulman rejoined the HCAC in the 2006–07 academic year.
• 2010 – Earlham College joined the HCAC in the 2010–11 academic year.
• 2021 – Centenary College of Louisiana, Colorado College, the University of Dallas, Southwestern University of Texas and Spalding University joined the HCAC as affiliate members for men's lacrosse in the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year), although Spalding would also add women's lacrosse into its HCAC affiliate membership that same year; however, lacrosse has not been fully incorporated into the HCAC multi-sport conference, thus corresponding into a separate single-sport league known as the Heartland Collegiate Lacrosse Conference (HCLC), which came to existence since the 2017–18 school year.
• 2022 – Dallas left the HCAC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse (within the HCLC) after the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year).
• 2023 – Centenary (La.), Colorado College and Southwestern (Tex.) left the HCAC as affiliate members for men's lacrosse (within the HCLC) after the 2023 spring season (2022–23 academic year).
• 2024: Defiance left the HCAC to join the NAIA and the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) after the 2023–24 academic year. Berea College joined the HCAC at the start of the 2024–25 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The HCAC currently has ten full members, all private schools:

Notes

Affiliate members

The HCAC currently has one affiliate member, which is also a private school:

Notes

Former members

The HCAC has five former full members, all were private schools:

Notes

Former affiliate members

The HCAC had four former affiliate members, all were private schools:

Notes

Membership timeline

Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football) Associate member (sport)

Sports

Conference sports

Men's sponsored sports by school

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the HCAC that are played by HCAC schools

Women's sponsored sports by school

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the HCAC that are played by HCAC schools

External links