The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes 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 III since the 2008–09 season. Corey Borchardt is the current commissioner of the UMAC, and was appointed to the position in 2008. The UMAC was started in 1972 as the Twin Rivers Conference, and assumed its current name in 1983. Member institutions are located in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The UMAC sponsors intercollegiate competition in 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 and 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 and 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 and 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 and 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

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 and 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 ...

, men's and women's indoor and outdoor

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 ...

, and 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 ...

. Greenville College and Westminster College became associate members of the UMAC in football in 2009, followed by Finlandia University in 2021. In March 2023, Finlandia announced it was closing.

History

Chronological timeline

* 1972 – The UMAC was founded as the Twin Rivers Conference (TRC), originally an athletic conference affiliated with 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). Charter members included Concordia College, Saint Paul (now Concordia University, Saint Paul), Dr. Martin Luther College, Loras College,

Mount Senario College Mount Senario College (MSC or Mt. Senario) was a private non-profit college located in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, in the Diocese of Superior. History Early history The College began in 1930, when summer extension courses were conducted in Ladysmi ...

, Northwestern College of Minnesota (now the University of Northwestern – St. Paul), Northwestern College of Wisconsin and Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, effective beginning the 1972–73 academic year. * 1974 – Maranatha Baptist Bible College (now Maranatha Baptist University) joined the TWC as an associate member for football, effective in the 1974 fall season (1974–75 academic year). * 1976 – Viterbo College (now Viterbo University) joined the TWC, effective in the 1976–77 academic year. * 1983 – The TRC has been rebranded as the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, effective in the 1983–84 academic year. * 1986 – Loras left the UMAC, effective after the 1985–86 academic year. * 1988 – Pillsbury Baptist Bible and Viterbo left the UMAC, effective after the 1987–88 academic year. * 1994 – Crown College joined the UMAC, effective in the 1994–95 academic year. * 1995 – Dr. Martin Luther and Northwestern (Wisc.) merged to become

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 ...

. Both institutions therefore left the UMAC as a result of the merger, effective after the 1994–95 academic year. And immediately Martin Luther joined the UMAC, effective beginning the 1995–96 academic year. * 1995 – The College of St. Scholastica joined the UMAC, effective in the 1995–96 academic year. * 1997 – Trinity Bible College joined the UMAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 1997 fall season (1997–98 academic year). * 1998 – Northland College of Wisconsin joined the UMAC, effective in the 1998–99 academic year. * 1999 – Concordia Saint Paul left the UMAC to join

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 ...

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Upper Midwest of the United States. Nine of ...

(NSIC), effective after the 1998–99 academic year. * 2002 – Mount Senario disbanded its athletics program in December 2001 without completing the rest of the 2001–02 academic year. Later on, the school closed on 31 August 2002. * 2002 – Presentation College of South Dakota joined the UMAC, effective in the 2002–03 academic year. * 2002 – Blackburn College, Principia College, Rockford College (now Rockford University) and Westminster College joined the UMAC as associate members for football, effective in the 2002 fall season (2002–03 academic year). * 2003 – The University of Minnesota at Morris joined the UMAC, effective in the 2003–04 academic year. * 2004 –

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. ...

joined the UMAC, effective in the 2004–05 academic year. * 2008 – Blackburn, Principia, Maranatha Baptist, Rockford, Trinity Bible and Westminster (Mo.) left the UMAC as associate members for football, effective after the 2007 fall season (2007–08 academic year). * 2008 – The UMAC became affiliated with the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

ranks, effective in the 2008–09 academic year. * 2008 –

North Central University North Central University (NCU) is a Private university, private Christian university in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is owned and operated by 11 Assemblies of God USA, Assemblies of God districts of the upper Midwest. NCU was found ...

joined the UMAC as an associate member for certain sports, effective in the 2008–09 academic year. * 2009 – Eureka College, Greenville College (now Greenville University) and MacMurray College joined the UMAC as associate members for football (with Westminster (Mo.) re-joining back), effective in the 2009 fall season (2009–10 academic year). * 2012 – Presentation left the UMAC to join the NAIA and the

North Star Athletic Association The North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) was a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) that began play in the 2013–14 school year. The conference disbanded with six full member ...

(NSAA), effective after the 2011–12 academic year. * 2013 – North Central (Minn.) became a full member of the UMAC for all sports, effective in the 2013–14 academic year. * 2013 –

Iowa Wesleyan College Iowa Wesleyan University was a private university in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, United States. It was Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The institution was affiliated ...

(now Iowa Wesleyan University) joined the UMAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 2013 fall season (2013–14 academic year). * 2015 – The

University of Wisconsin–Superior The University of Wisconsin–Superior (UW–Superior or UWS) is a Public university, public liberal arts university in Superior, Wisconsin, United States. UW–Superior grants associate, bachelor's, master's and specialist's degrees. The univ ...

joined the UMAC, effective in the 2015–16 academic year. * 2018 – Eureka left the UMAC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year). * 2020 – MacMurray left the UMAC as an associate member for football as the school would later drop its athletics program and be closed, effective after the 2019–20 academic year. * 2021 – Iowa Wesleyan left the UMAC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2020 fall season (2020–21 academic year). * 2021 – St. Scholastica left the UMAC to join the

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC ) is an List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division III, Division III. All 13 of the mem ...

(MIAC), effective after the 2020–21 academic year. * 2021 – Finlandia University joined the UMAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 2021 fall season (2021–22 academic year). * 2023 – Finlandia left the UMAC as an associate member for football as the school would later drop its athletics program and be closed, effective after the 2022–23 academic year. * 2025 – Northland left the UMAC upon the college's closure effective after the 2024–25 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

Full members

The UMAC currently has seven full members, all but two are private schools: ;Notes:

Associate members

The UMAC currently has two associate members, all are private schools: ;Notes:

Former members

Full members

The UMAC had ten former full members, which all were private schools: ;Notes:

Associate members

The UMAC had eight former associate members, all were private schools. School names and nicknames reflect those in use during the final school year in which each competed in the UMAC. ;Notes

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1972 till:2027 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:line value:black id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # non-football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # football only id:Assoc value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # associate id:Bar1 value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.7) id:Bar2 value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.6) PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:1972 till:1999 text: Concordia–Saint Paul (1972–1999) bar:2 color:Full from:1972 till:1995 text: Dr. Martin Luther (1972–1995) bar:3 color:Full from:1972 till:1986 text: Loras (1972–1986) bar:4 color:Full from:1972 till:2002 text: Mount Senario (1972–2002) bar:5 color:Full from:1972 till:end text: Northwestern (Minn.) (1972–present) bar:6 color:Full from:1972 till:1995 text: Northwestern (Wisc.) (1972–1995) bar:7 color:Full from:1972 till:1988 text: Pillsbury Baptist Bible (1972–1988) bar:8 color:AssocF from:1974 till:2008 text: Maranatha Baptist (1974–2008) bar:9 color:FullxF from:1976 till:1988 text:

Viterbo Viterbo (; Central Italian, Viterbese: ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Lazio region of Italy, the Capital city, capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in ...

(1976–1988) bar:10 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

(1994–present) bar:11 color:Full from:1995 till:end text:

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

(1995–present) bar:12 color:Full from:1995 till:2021 text: St. Scholastica (1995–2021) bar:13 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2008 text: Trinity Bible (1997–2008) bar:14 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2025 text: Northland (Wisc.) (1998–2025) bar:15 color:Full from:2002 till:2012 text:

Presentation A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product. Presenta ...

(2002–2012) bar:16 color:AssocF from:2002 till:2008 text:

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

(2002–2008) bar:17 color:AssocF from:2002 till:2008 text: Principia (2002–2008) bar:18 color:AssocF from:2002 till:2008 text: Rockford (2002–2008) bar:19 color:AssocF from:2002 till:2008 text: Westminster (Mo.) (2002–2008; 2009–present) bar:19 color:AssocF from:2009 till:end text: bar:20 color:Full from:2003 till:end text: Minnesota–Morris (2003–present) bar:21 color:FullxF from:2004 till:end text: Bethany Lutheran (2004–present) bar:22 color:Assoc from:2008 till:2013 text: North Central (Minn.) (2013–present) bar:22 color:FullxF from:2013 till:end text: bar:23 color:AssocF from:2009 till:2018 text: Eureka (2009–2018) bar:24 color:AssocF from:2009 till:end text: Greenville (2009–present) bar:25 color:AssocF from:2009 till:2020 text: MacMurray (2009–2020) bar:26 color:AssocF from:2013 till:2021 text: Iowa Wesleyan (2013–2021) bar:27 shift:(-10) color:FullxF from:2015 till:end text: Wisconsin–Superior (2015–present) bar:28 shift:(-50) color:AssocF from:2021 till:2023 text:

Finlandia ''Finlandia'', Op. 26, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It was written in 1899 and revised in 1900. The piece was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the R ...

(2021–2023) bar:N color:Bar1 from:1972 till:1983 text:Twin Rivers Conference (TRC) bar:N color:Bar2 from:1983 till:end text:Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1975 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,25) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Upper Midwest Athletic Conference membership history"

Conference sports

Conference facilities

Football champions

*- 2011 was the first year the UMAC Champion received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs.

Yearly football standings

Ice hockey affiliations

The UMAC does not sponsor

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

. One UMAC member school sponsor men's and women's ice hockey as a varsity sport. UW-Superior is a member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

References

External links

* {{NCAA Division III football conference navbox College sports in Minnesota College sports in Wisconsin