Eastern Collegiate Football Conference
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The Eastern Collegiate Football Conference is a football-only intercollegiate
athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Confe ...
affiliated with the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
's
Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...
. Founded in 2009, it combines six schools spread across the states of
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
,
Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, plus
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...


History

The Eastern Collegiate Football Conference was formed in the spring of 2009 as an
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...
single-sport football conference. The conference, named after the geographic location of the institutions, began competition in the fall of 2009. Founding members were
Anna Maria College Anna Maria College is a private Roman Catholic college in Paxton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1946 as a women's college, but has been coeducational since 1973. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. History Anna Mari ...
,
Becker College Becker College was a private college in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester and Leicester, Massachusetts. Becker College traced its history from the union of two Massachusetts educational institutions—one founded in 1784 and the other in 1887 ...
,
Castleton State College Castleton University is a public university in Castleton, Vermont. It has an enrollment of 2000 students and offers more than 30 undergraduate programs, as well as master's degrees in education and accounting. It is accredited by the New England ...
(now Castleton University),
Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...
,
Husson University Husson University is a private university in Bangor, Maine. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and as of Fall 2020 had a total enrollment of 3,476 students, including 799 graduate students in master's and doctoral programs. Husson Un ...
, SUNY Maritime,
Mount Ida College Mount Ida College was a private college in Newton, Massachusetts. In 2018, the University of Massachusetts Amherst acquired the campus and renamed it the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst. History The Mount Ida School for Girls, once a high sc ...
, and
Norwich University Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is a private senior military college in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States and offers bachelor's and master's degrees on-campus ...
. Norwich was the league's first champion, posting a perfect 6-0 conference record and defeating Mt. Ida in the season-ending ECFC Championship Game. In 2010, SUNY Maritime earned the ECFC's first bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs after a perfect 10-0 regular season record. SUNY Maritime would go on to lose 60–0 to
Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred (village), New York, Alfred, New York. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The ...
in the First Round of the NCAA Playoffs.


2015 realignment

In April 2015, charter member Norwich announced it would be leaving the ECFC to join the
NEWMAC The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of Connecticut and ...
when that conference began sponsoring football in 2017. In November 2015, Becker announced it would also be leaving the ECFC in 2017 to join what was then known as the New England Football Conference, which by the time of the college's departure would be rebranded as
Commonwealth Coast Football Commonwealth Coast Football (CCC Football) was a single-sport athletic conference that competed in football in the NCAA's Division III. It began play as CCC Football in 2017 after the New England Football Conference (NEFC) was renamed following t ...
. Becker's departure would have left the ECFC without the minimum seven teams necessary to maintain the league's automatic bid to the Division III playoffs. But on January 27, 2016, the ECFC announced that
Alfred State College Alfred State College (ASC, SUNY Alfred, SUNY Alfred State) is a public college in Alfred (village), New York, Alfred, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The college, formerly the Technical College at Alf ...
and
Dean College Dean College is a private college in Franklin, Massachusetts. It offers bachelor's degrees, associate degrees, and continuing and professional education and certificates. History Dean College was founded by Dr. Oliver Dean as a co-educatio ...
would be joining the conference for the 2017 season.


Later developments

The ECFC would later see two schools announce their departure from the conference, placing its automatic bid to the Division III playoffs in doubt once again. First, Husson announced in June 2017 that it would join Commonwealth Coast Football in 2019. Then, in April 2018, the financially struggling Mount Ida announced that it would close at the end of the 2017–18 school year, with the campus to be purchased by the
University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
. The following month, however, saw the announcement of a future member, as
Keystone College Keystone College is a private college in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Although the college's official mailing address is La Plume, Pennsylvania in Lackawanna County, much of the campus is in Factoryville in Wyoming County. It was founded in 1868. E ...
, set to add football as a club sport in 2019 before upgrading to full varsity status in 2020, would join the ECFC upon reaching varsity status. On June 23, 2021, SUNY Maritime's departure from the ECFC at the end of 2022 for the
New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of Connecticut and M ...
was confirmed as it would be that conference's new football affiliate for the 2023 season. On April 1, 2022, Keystone announced its addition to the
Landmark Conference The Landmark Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the eastern United States in the states of Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, plus Washington, D.C. ...
as a football affiliate also for 2023, when Landmark starts its sponsorship of that sport.


Member schools


Current members

;Notes:


Former members

Because NCAA football is a fall sport, the year of departure is the calendar year after each school's final season of competition.


Champions

* 2009 Norwich (6–0) * 2010 SUNY Maritime (7–0) * 2011 Norwich (7–0) * 2012 Mount Ida (6–1) * 2013 Gallaudet (6–1) * 2014 Husson (7–0) * 2015 Norwich (6–1) * 2016 Husson (6–0) * 2017 Husson (7–0) * 2018 Husson (6–0) * 2019 Dean (4-1) * 2020 None * 2021 Anna Maria (5–1) * 2022 Gallaudet (5–1)


NCAA Division III playoff performance

The ECFC is generally regarded as one of the weakest conferences in the country. The ECFC's only Division III playoff win came in 2017. As of the 2019 season, the conference is 1–9 in the playoffs, with its member schools' games decided by an average score of 45–13. The single win was by two points, and one loss was in overtime; every other loss has been by more than two touchdowns.


References


External links

* {{NCAA Division III football conference navbox Sports leagues established in 2009