The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), formerly the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference. It participates in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's Division III and began its first season in the fall of 2006. The NACC sponsors 21 sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, and volleyball. Women's squads are fielded in basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field and volleyball. The newest NACC sports are men's volleyball, added in the 2017–18 school year, and men's and women's lacrosse, added in the 2020-21 school year. The NACC became eligible for automatic NCAA postseason berths in 2008–09.

History

The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference began its first season of competition in the fall of 2006 as the Northern Athletics Conference. The name change took place at the beginning of the 2013–14 academic year. The NACC consists of 13 colleges and universities from the shared-border states of Illinois and Wisconsin. Many have shared traditional rivalries dating back to the NACC's predecessor conferences: the Lake Michigan Conference and the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference. Charter members include: Alverno College, Aurora University, Benedictine University, Concordia University Chicago, Concordia University Wisconsin, Dominican University, Edgewood College,

Lakeland University Lakeland University is a private university affiliated with the United Church of Christ, with its main campus in Herman, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, Herman, Wisconsin, United States, and seven evening, weekend, and online centers located through ...

, Maranatha Baptist University, Marian University, Rockford College and Wisconsin Lutheran College. Just three changes to the league's core membership have occurred, as the

Milwaukee School of Engineering The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) is a private university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, the university has a primary focus on undergraduate engineering education with additional programs in business, mathem ...

joined the NAC in the fall of 2007, and Maranatha withdrew from the league in the summer of 2013. In 2017, the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

announced that they would be joining the NACC for the 2018 athletic season, coinciding with their acceptance as a full NCAA Division III member. Also in 2017, Benedictine, which had been contemplating a move to

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

, was formally invited to join the D-II Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), pending NCAA approval of its entry into the D-II transition process. Benedictine formally applied to begin this transition in advance of a February 1, 2018 deadline, and was officially approved to enter the transition process in July of that year. In October 2018, Benedictine reversed course and rescinded its request to withdraw from the NACC. The most recent membership change was announced on April 3, 2019, when St. Norbert College, already slated to become an associate member in men's volleyball (and, subsequently, men's and women's golf) in 2019–20, was upgraded to full NACC membership effective in 2021–22.

Chronological timeline

* 2006 - The NACC was founded as the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC). Charter members include: Alverno College, Concordia University Wisconsin, Dominican University, Edgewood College, Lakeland College (now Lakeland University), Maranatha Baptist Bible College (now Maranatha Baptist University), Marian University and Wisconsin Lutheran College (from the Lake Michigan Conference (LMC)), and Aurora University, Benedictine University, Concordia University Chicago and Rockford College (from the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference (NIIC)), effective beginning the 2006-07 academic year. * 2007 - The

(MSoE) (also a former member from the defunct Lake Michigan Conference) joined the NAC after spending a season as an NCAA D-III Independent school, effective in the 2007-08 academic year. * 2011 -

Bethany Lutheran College Bethany Lutheran College (BLC) is a Private college, private Christian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1927, BLC is operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. ...

Martin Luther College Martin Luther College (MLC) is a Private college, private Confessional Lutheranism, Lutheran college in New Ulm, Minnesota. It is operated by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). Martin Luther College was established in 1995, when Nor ...

, the

University of Minnesota Morris The University of Minnesota Morris (UMN–Morris) is a public liberal arts college in Morris, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and was founded in 1960 as a public, co-educational, residential liberal a ...

University of Northwestern – St. Paul The University of Northwestern – St. Paul (UNWSP) is a Private university, private Evangelical Christianity, evangelical Christian university in Roseville, Minnesota, United States. History The predecessor to the current university was fir ...

and Presentation College joined the NAC as affiliate members for women's golf, effective in the 2012 spring season (2011-12 academic year). * 2012 - Presentation left the NAC as an affiliate member for women's golf to return to the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA), effective after the 2012 spring season (2011-12 school year). * 2013 - Maranatha Baptist left the NAC to become an NCAA D-III Independent school, effective after the 2012-13 school year. * 2013 - The NAC has been rebranded as the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), effective in the 2013-14 school year. * 2013 - Northland College joined the NACC as an affiliate member for women's golf, effective in the 2014 spring season (2013-14 academic year). * 2015 - Bethany Lutheran, Minnesota–Morris, Northwestern (Minn.) and Northland left the NACC as affiliate members for women's golf, effective after the 2015 spring season (2014-15 academic year). * 2015 - Mount Mary University joined the NACC as an affiliate member for women's cross country, effective in the 2015 fall season (2015-16 academic year). * 2017 - The

(Illinois Tech) joined the NACC, effective in the 2018-19 academic year. * 2018 - Eureka College joined the NACC as an affiliate member for football, effective in the 2018 fall season (2018-19 academic year). * 2019 - St. Norbert College joined the NACC as an affiliate member for men's volleyball, men's golf and women's golf, effective in the 2019-20 academic year. * 2021 - St. Norbert had upgraded to join the NACC for all sports, effective in the 2021-22 academic year. * 2021 - Beloit College joined the NACC as an associate member for men's and women's lacrosse, effective in the 2022 spring season (2021-22 academic year).

Member schools

Current members

The NACC currently has 14 full members, all are private schools: ;Notes:

Associate members

The NACC currently has three associate members, all are private schools:

Former member

The NACC had one full member that competed in the conference, which was also a private school:

Former associate members

The NACC had six former associate members in the conference, which most were private schools, except Minnesota–Morris, which was a public school:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:2006 till:2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:FullxF from:2006 till:end text: Alverno (2006–present) bar:2 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2008 text:

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

(2006–present) bar:2 color:Full from:2008 till:end text: bar:3 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2008 text:

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

(2006–present) bar:3 color:Full from:2008 till:end text: bar:4 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2008 text: Concordia (Ill.) (2006–present) bar:4 color:Full from:2008 till:end text: bar:5 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2008 text: Concordia (Wisc.) (2006–present) bar:5 color:Full from:2008 till:end text: bar:6 color:FullxF from:2006 till:end text: Dominican (Ill.) (2006–present) bar:7 color:FullxF from:2006 till:end text: Edgewood (2006–present) bar:8 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2008 text: Lakeland (Wisc.) (2006–present) bar:8 color:Full from:2008 till:end text: bar:9 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2008 text: Maranatha Baptist University (2006–2013) bar:9 color:Full from:2008 till:2013 text: bar:10 color:FullxF from:2006 till:end text: Marian (Wisc.) (2006–present) bar:11 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2008 text: Rockford (2006–present) bar:11 color:Full from:2008 till:end text: bar:12 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2008 text: Wisconsin Lutheran (2006–present) bar:12 color:Full from:2008 till:end text: bar:13 color:FullxF from:2007 till:end text: MSOE (2007–present) bar:14 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text: Illinois Tech (2018–present) bar:15 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2021 text: St. Norbert (2019–present) bar:15 color:Full from:2021 till:end text: bar:N color:powderblue from:2006 till:2013 text:Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) bar:N color:blue from:2013 till:end text:Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2006

Sports

Fall

* men's & women's cross country * men's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

* men's & women's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

* men's & women's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

* women's

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

* women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Winter

* men's & women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

* men's & women's indoor

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

Spring

* men's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

* men's & women's

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

* men's & women's outdoor

* women's

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

* men's

References

External links

* {{NCAA Division III football conference navbox