Patriot League football officials and referee

The Patriot League is a collegiate

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller Division (sport), divisions, with the best teams competing at successively ...

comprising primarily leading private institutions of

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

and two United States service academies based in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

. Except for the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

, it is the most selective group of

institutions in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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. ...

(NCAA) Division I and has a very high

student-athlete Student athlete (or student–athlete) is a term used principally in universities in the United States and Canada to describe students enrolled at postsecondary educational institutions, principally colleges and universities, but also at sec ...

graduation rate for both the NCAA graduation success rate and the federal graduation rate. The Patriot League has 10 core members:

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

, the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

(Army),

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal-arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts a ...

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

Loyola University Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early (educator), John Early and eight other members of the Society of Je ...

, and the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

(Navy). All 10 core members participate in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

for all Patriot League sports that they offer. Since not all schools sponsor every available NCAA sport, most schools are affiliated with other collegiate conferences for sports such as ice hockey and wrestling. Only half of the conference's core members compete in the Patriot League for

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 ...

, as part of the

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate ...

(FCS): Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, and Lehigh. Of the five other conference members, American, Boston University, and Loyola Maryland do not sponsor football, while Army and Navy play in the

NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

as football-only members of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

(The American). Five other institutions are Patriot League members only for specific sports, and are referred to as associate members.

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

are associate members in football, while

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT) is an associate member in women's rowing. Three schools will join as associate members for football in the near future—the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

in 2025, and

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

and the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

in 2026.

About

Patriot League members are schools with very strong academic reputations that adhere strongly to the ideal of the "scholar-athlete", with the emphasis on "scholar". An academic index ensures that athletes are truly representative of and integrated with the rest of the student body. Out-of-league play for Patriot League schools is often with members of the

, which follow similar philosophies regarding academics and athletics. Patriot League members have some of the oldest collegiate athletic programs in the country. In particular, " The Rivalry" between

and

is both the nation's most-played and longest-uninterrupted college football series. The winner of the Patriot League basketball tournament receives an automatic invitation to the NCAA Division I basketball tournament every March. In recent years, Bucknell (twice) and Lehigh have both won NCAA tournament games. The Patriot League champions in a number of other sports also receive an automatic invitation to their respective NCAA tournaments.

History

The origins of the Patriot League began after the eight Ivy League schools expanded their football schedules to ten games starting in 1980. Needing opponents with a similar competitive level on a regular basis for each team's three nonconference games, the league contacted two university presidents, the

Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

John E. Brooks, S.J., of Holy Cross, and Peter Likins of Lehigh, about forming a new conference that also prohibited

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

s. The result was the Colonial League, a football-only circuit that began competition in 1986. Its six charter members were Holy Cross, Lehigh, Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette, and Davidson. Davidson dropped out after the 1988 season for reasons related to geography, lack of competitiveness, and a reluctance to relinquish its basketball scholarships in case the conference expanded into other sports. CFU USNA 1971

In 1990, the league changed its name to the Patriot League at the suggestion of Carl F. Ullrich, who would go on to become the conference's first full-time administrator. At the start of the 1990-91 academic year, the league became an all-sport conference, with 22 sports (11 for men and 11 for women), and now had seven full members, including Fordham and the United States Military Academy (Army) as new members. In 1991, the league gained an eighth full member, the United States Naval Academy (Navy). In 1993, the league hired Constance (Connie) H. Hurlbut as executive director. She was the first woman and youngest person to be the leader of an NCAA Division I conference. In 1995, Fordham resigned its full membership (leaving the league with seven full members) but continued as an associate member in football. In 1996, Fairfield and Ursinus joined as associate members in

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

. (Fairfield left after the 2003 fall season and is now an associate member of the

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

. Ursinus left after the 2001 fall season and is now a full member of the Division III

Centennial Conference The Centennial Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Chartered member teams are located in Maryland and Pennsylvania; associate members are also located in New York and Virginia. Ele ...

.) In 1997, Towson joined as an associate member in football. (Towson left after the 2003 fall season to join the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

, whose

football conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

would be absorbed by the Colonial Athletic Association, now the

Coastal Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

, in 2007.) In 1999,

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

joined as an associate member in men's lacrosse and Villanova joined as an associate member in women's lacrosse. (Hobart left after the 2004 spring season, to join the ECAC Lacrosse League, while Villanova left after the 2006 spring season.) In 2001,

joined as the eighth full member and

joined as an associate member in football. Two schools announced in summer 2012 that they would join the league for the 2013–14 academic year, with

making its announcement on June 15, and

doing so on August 29. In May 2024, the

, who at the time was already an associate member of the league for women's golf, announced that they would also move their football program to the Patriot League for the 2025 season, becoming the Patriot League's first new football-playing member in over 20 years. On April 25, 2025, the

announced that it would be joining the Patriot League as a football-only associate member, starting in the 2026 Season. The move similarly follows that of fellow in-state football rival University of Richmond, and brings the historic " Capital Cup" rivalry series between both schools into the Patriot league conference schedule. About six weeks later on June 5,

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

member

announced it would also join Patriot League football in 2026.

Athletic scholarships

While Patriot League colleges have always offered need-based financial aid, league members have only been allowed to give athletic scholarships in recent years. Basketball scholarships were first allowed beginning with freshmen entering the league in the fall of 1998. In 2001, when the league admitted American, which gave scholarships in all its sports (AU does not play football), the league began allowing all schools to do so in sports other than football. Lafayette, the last holdout with no athletic scholarships, began granting full rides in basketball and other sports with freshmen entering the school in the fall of 2006. Most Patriot League schools do not give athletic scholarships in a number of sports, and Bucknell only granted them in basketball prior to the addition of football scholarships in 2013. In the spring of 2009, Fordham University announced that it would start offering football scholarships in the fall of 2010. This action made Fordham ineligible for the league championship in that sport, but it also prompted a league-wide discussion on football scholarships. On February 13, 2012, the Patriot League announced its members could begin offering football scholarships starting with the 2013–14 academic year. Since then, each school has been allowed no more than the equivalent of 15 scholarships to incoming football players. Presidents from six of the seven football schools indicated they would award scholarships in the fall of 2012.

did not commit to offering scholarships. Since the transition to scholarship football was completed for the 2016–17 academic year, each football member has been allowed up to 60 scholarship equivalents per season, a total only slightly lower than the NCAA limit of 63 scholarship equivalents for FCS programs. Currently, Patriot League schools are permitted to offer up to the NCAA maximum of 63 scholarships for its football programs.

Executive directors

Member schools

Full members

There are ten "full" member schools: ;Notes:

Associate members

There are three associate-member schools: ;Notes:

Future associate members

Former full members

;Notes:

Former associate members

;Notes:

Membership timeline

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"<# ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1986 till:2035 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal 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:AssocF from:1986 till:1989 text: Davidson (1986–1989) bar:2 color:AssocF from:1986 till:1990 text: Bucknell (1986–present) bar:2 color:Full from:1990 till:end bar:3 color:AssocF from:1986 till:1990 text: Colgate (1986–present) bar:3 color:Full from:1990 till:end bar:4 color:AssocF from:1986 till:1990 text: Holy Cross (1986–present) bar:4 color:Full from:1990 till:end bar:5 color:AssocF from:1986 till:1990 text: Lafayette (1986–present) bar:5 color:Full from:1990 till:end bar:6 color:AssocF from:1986 till:1990 text: Lehigh (1986–present) bar:6 color:Full from:1990 till:end bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:1986 till:1989 text: MAAC bar:7 color:AssocF from:1989 till:1990 bar:7 color:Full from:1990 till:1995 text: Fordham (1990–1995, all sports; A-10 1995–present, PL football-only) bar:7 color:AssocF from:1995 till:end bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1986 till:1990 text: MAAC bar:8 color:FullXF from:1990 till:end text:

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

(1990–present) bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1986 till:1991 text: CAA bar:9 color:FullXF from:1991 till:end text:

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

(1991–present) bar:11 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2004 text: Towson (1997–2004) bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:1986 till:2001 text: CAA bar:12 color:FullXF from:2001 till:end text: American (2001–present) bar:13 color:AssocF from:2001 till:end text: Georgetown (2001–present) bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:1986 till:1988 text: ECAC-N bar:14 shift:(10) color:OtherC1 from:1988 till:1996 text: NAC bar:14 shift:(20) color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2013 text: America East bar:14 color:FullXF from:2013 till:end text:

(2013–present) bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:1986 till:1988 text: ECAC-M bar:15 shift:(10) color:OtherC1 from:1988 till:1989 text:

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

bar:15 shift:(20) color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:2013 text: MAAC bar:15 color:FullXF from:2013 till:end text: Loyola (Md.) (2013–present) bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2014 till:2024 text:

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

(women's golf, 2014–2024; football, 2025–present) bar:16 color:AssocF from:2025 till:end bar:17 color:AssocF from:2026 till:end text: Villanova (2026–future) bar:18 color:AssocF from:2026 till:end text: William & Mary (2026–future) bar:N color:red from:1986 till:1990 text:Colonial League bar:N color:blue from:1990 till:end text:Patriot League ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1986 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,20) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Patriot League membership history" # > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

Sports

The Patriot League sponsors championship competition in 12 men's and 13 women's NCAA-sanctioned sports. Georgetown and Fordham are Associate members for football, and Georgetown and

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

are Associate members for rowing.

Men's sponsored sports by school

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Patriot League which are played by Patriot League schools

Women's sponsored sports by school

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Patriot League which are played by Patriot League schools

President's Cup

The Patriot League Presidents' Cup is awarded to the member institution with the highest cumulative sports point total for their Patriot League standings in sponsored men's and women's sports. Points are awarded based upon a combination of an institution's regular-season and tournament finishes in each sport. President's Cup Winners (combined men and women): * 1991 - Bucknell * 1992 - Bucknell * 1993 - Bucknell * 1994 - Army * 1995 - Army * 1996 - Bucknell * 1997 - Army * 1998 - Bucknell * 1999 - Bucknell * 2000 - Bucknell * 2001 - Bucknell * 2002 - Bucknell * 2003 - Bucknell * 2004 - Bucknell * 2005 - Army * 2006 - Bucknell * 2007 - Bucknell * 2008 - Bucknell * 2009 - Bucknell * 2010 - Bucknell * 2011 - Bucknell * 2012 - Navy * 2013 - Bucknell * 2014 - Navy * 2015 - Navy * 2016 - Navy * 2017 - Navy * 2018 - Navy * 2019 - Navy * 2020 - (

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

) * 2021 - Navy * 2022 - Navy * 2023 - Navy * 2024 - Navy

Baseball

;Tournament champion and MVP :''See: Patriot League baseball tournament''

Basketball

;Men's tournament champion, runner-up, and MVP :''See: Patriot League men's basketball tournament'' ;Women's tournament champion :''See: Patriot League women's basketball tournament'' ;NCAA In NCAA basketball,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Bucknell,

, Lehigh, and Holy Cross are the only teams in the conference ever to have recorded NCAA Tournament victories. Bucknell won tournament games in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

over

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

over

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. Lehigh won over Duke in the first round in the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

tournament. The Bison, Mountain Hawks, and Crusaders are the only teams to win in the NCAA tournament while actually representing the Patriot League. A Navy team—then representing the Colonial Athletic Association—led by future Hall of Famer David Robinson won three tournament games while advancing to the regional finals in 1986, while BU won two games in the

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

tournament before falling in the regional finals. Holy Cross was among the best teams in the country in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and won the 1947 national championship with a team that included future Hall of Famer

Bob Cousy Robert Joseph Cousy ( , born August 9, 1928) is an American former professional basketball player. He played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time NBA ...

. Its combined record in the NCAA tournament is 8–12. After a 63-year drought, Holy Cross defeated Southern University in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Bryan Cohen of Bucknell was named Patriot League Defensive Player of Year in 2010, 2011, and 2012; he was the only player in league history to win the award three times.

Field hockey

;Tournament champion * 1994 – Lehigh * 1995 – Lafayette * 1996 – Colgate * 1997 – Holy Cross * 1998 – Holy Cross * 1999 – Lafayette * 2000 – Holy Cross * 2001 – Fairfield * 2002 – Lafayette * 2003 – American * 2004 – American * 2005 – American * 2006 – American * 2007 – American * 2008 – American * 2009 – American * 2010 – American * 2011 – Lafayette * 2012 – Lafayette * 2013 – American * 2014 – Boston * 2015 – Boston * 2016 – American * 2017 – Boston * 2018 – Boston * 2019 – American * 2020–21 – Bucknell * 2021 – American * 2022 – Lehigh"Lehigh's Epic Overtime Victory Captures the Patriot League Title and Secures First NCAA Tournament Berth in Program History," Lehigh University Athletics, Saturday, November 5, 2022.
Retrieved November 15, 2022. * 2023 – American * 2024 – Lafayette

Football

;League champions: * 1986 – Holy Cross * 1987 – Holy Cross * 1988 – Lafayette * 1989 – Holy Cross * 1990 – Holy Cross * 1991 – Holy Cross * 1992 – Lafayette * 1993 – Lehigh * 1994 – Lafayette * 1995 – Lehigh * 1996 – Bucknell * 1997 – Colgate * 1998 – Lehigh * 1999 – Colgate and Lehigh * 2000 – Lehigh * 2001 – Lehigh * 2002 – Colgate and Fordham * 2003 – Colgate * 2004 – Lafayette and Lehigh * 2005 – Colgate and Lafayette * 2006 – Lafayette and Lehigh * 2007 – Fordham * 2008 – Colgate * 2009 – Holy Cross * 2010 – Lehigh * 2011 – Lehigh * 2012 – Colgate * 2013 – Lafayette * 2014 – Fordham * 2015 – Colgate * 2016 – Lehigh * 2017 – Colgate and Lehigh * 2018 – Colgate * 2019 – Holy Cross * 2020 – Holy Cross * 2021 – Holy Cross * 2022 – Holy Cross * 2023 – Lafayette and Holy Cross * 2024 – Lehigh and Holy Cross FU-USNA2016

The Patriot League prohibited athletic scholarships for football from its founding (as the Colonial League) until the league presidents voted to approve football scholarships starting with the 2013 recruiting class. Since then, each school has been allowed no more than the equivalent of 15 scholarships to incoming football players in any given season. With the transition to scholarship football having been completed in 2016, each school is now allowed a maximum of 60 scholarship equivalents per season, three short of the NCAA FCS maximum. However, Georgetown does not offer scholarships. Until 1997, Patriot League teams did not participate in the

NCAA Division I Football Championship The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was ca ...

playoffs. This practice was in step with the

's policy of not participating in the playoffs, since the Patriot League was founded with the Ivy League's athletics philosophy. Since 1997, the league champion receives an automatic playoff berth. If there are co-champions, a tie-breaker determines the playoff participant, though the other co-champion is eligible to be selected with an at-large invitation. Colgate was the first team to receive the league's automatic berth, in 1997. The following year, Lehigh won the league's first playoff game. This was also the first year in which a Patriot League team, Colgate, received a playoff invitation without being a league co-champion. Fordham has since repeated that feat in 2013, 2015 and 2022. Because the Georgetown Hoyas opted out of the 2020-21 NCAA Division I FCS football season due to the

, the Patriot League split into a north and south division for the first time. This led to the first ever Patriot League Football Championship Game

Lacrosse

;Men's league champions: * 1991 –

* 1992 – Army * 1993 – Army * 1994 – Army * 1995 – Army * 1996 – Bucknell * 1997 – Army * 1998 – Army * 1999 – Army and Lehigh * 2000 –

and Lehigh * 2001 – Bucknell * 2002 – Army, Bucknell and Hobart * 2003 – Army and Bucknell * 2004 –

* 2005 – Navy * 2006 – Navy * 2007 – Navy * 2008 – Colgate * 2009 – Navy * 2010 – Army * 2011 – Bucknell * 2012 – Lehigh * 2013 – Lehigh * 2014 – Loyola * 2015 – Colgate * 2016 – Loyola * 2017 – Loyola * 2018 – Loyola * 2019 – Army * 2020 - (

) * 2021 - Lehigh * 2022 - Boston * 2023 - Army * 2024 - Lehigh *2025 – Colgate , the Army Black Knights men's lacrosse team has thirteen conference championships, the most of any school in the conference. Prior to the 2004 season, no conference tournament was held to determine a single winner. ;Women's league champions: * 1991 – Lafayette * 1992 – Lafayette * 1993 – Lafayette * 1994 – Lehigh * 1995 – Lafayette * 1996 – Lafayette * 1997 – Lafayette * 1998 – Lafayette * 1999 – Colgate * 2000 – Lafayette * 2001 – Lafayette * 2002 – Lafayette * 2003 – American * 2004 – Colgate * 2005 – Colgate * 2006 – Holy Cross * 2007 – Holy Cross * 2008 – Colgate * 2009 – Colgate * 2010 – Navy * 2011 – Navy * 2012 – Navy * 2013 – Navy * 2014 – Loyola * 2015 – Loyola * 2016 – Loyola * 2017 – Navy * 2018 – Navy * 2019 – Loyola * 2020 – (

) * 2021 – Loyola * 2022 – Loyola * 2023 – Loyola * 2024 – Loyola * 2025 – Navy

Soccer

;Men's tournament champion, runner-up, and MVP :''See: Patriot League Men's Soccer Tournament'' ;Women's league champions: * 1990 - Colgate * 1991 – Colgate * 1992 – Colgate * 1993 – Army * 1994 – Colgate * 1995 – Colgate * 1996 – Colgate * 1997 – Colgate * 1998 – Colgate * 1999 – Colgate * 2000 – Holy Cross * 2001 – Bucknell * 2002 – American * 2003 – Navy * 2004 – Colgate * 2005 – Bucknell * 2006 – Navy * 2007 – Navy * 2008 – Army * 2009 – Colgate * 2010 – Lehigh * 2011 – Army * 2012 – Colgate * 2013 – Boston * 2014 – Boston * 2015 – Boston * 2016 – Bucknell * 2017 – Bucknell * 2018 – Boston * 2019 – Navy * 2020–21 – Navy * 2021 – Bucknell * 2022 – Bucknell * 2023 – Bucknell *2024 – Boston

Facilities

Future members in gray.

Literature

The Patriot League was profiled in the John Feinstein book '' The Last Amateurs'' (2000). The title is derived from the belief that the Patriot League was the last Division I basketball league that plays a conference tournament (the Ivy League, which operates under the same model, albeit with no scholarships, did not hold a conference tournament until the 2016–17 season) and functions as a place for student-athletes rather than a ''de facto'' minor professional circuit with players not representative of their student bodies. The book is Feinstein's chronicle of all seven of the league's men's basketball teams at the time during the 1999–2000 season.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Northeastern United States Sports in the Eastern United States Sports organizations established in 1986 1986 establishments in the United States Articles which contain graphical timelines