The Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) was a college

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 ...

that existed from 1908 to 1970 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. At one time the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, or IIAC, was a robust league that claimed most of the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

institutions of higher education. It was nicknamed the "Little Nineteen," but in 1928 had a membership of 23 schools. Former

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

track coach Joseph Cogdal, associated with the IIAC for 43 years of its 62-year history, noted that the league had roots in the 1870s when a number of schools banded together for oratorical contests. Their first intercollegiate

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

game was played in 1881 between Illinois State University and Knox College, and by 1894 a football association was established.

History

The IIAC was formed in April 1908 with eight charter members: Illinois State Normal University (now

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockford ...

, Bradley Polytechnic Institute (now

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. The ...

Millikin University Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Media Decaturian The ''Decaturian'', also known as ...

Monmouth College Monmouth College is a private Presbyterian liberal arts college in Monmouth, Illinois. Monmouth enrolls approximately 900 students from 21 countries who choose courses from 40 major programs, 43 minors, and 17 pre-professional programs in a ...

, Knox College,

Lombard College Lombard College was a Universalist college located in Galesburg, Illinois. History Lombard College was founded in 1853 by the Universalist Church as the Illinois Liberal Institute. In 1855, however, a major fire damaged much of the college, p ...

and

Illinois College Illinois College is a private liberal arts college in Jacksonville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was the second college founded in Illinois, but the first to grant a degree ( ...

. The first track meet was held on May 22, 1908. The group quickly expanded. Eastern Illinois State Teachers College (now

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

) and

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. History Western Illin ...

joined in 1912 and 1914 respectively. In 1920, the name "Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference" was adopted, providing the initials IIAC. Conference membership reached a peak of 23 member schools in 1928, when virtually all of the small colleges in Illinois were included. Private schools withdrew during much of the 1930s, until in 1942 only the five state schools remained:

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 s ...

and

. In 1950, the league name became the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, when

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

and

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

brought the membership to seven. In 1961-62,

and

withdrew;

followed in 1965-66. The conference disbanded at the end of the 1969–1970 academic year.

Member schools

Final members

Former members

;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1908 till:1970 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:Full from:1908 till:end text:

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

(1908–1970) bar:2 color:Full from:1908 till:1937 text: Illinois Wesleyan (1908–1937) bar:3 color:Full from:1908 till:1937 text:

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

(1908–1937) bar:4 color:Full from:1908 till:1937 text: Millikin (1908–1937) bar:5 color:Full from:1908 till:1937 text:

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

(1908–1937) bar:6 color:Full from:1908 till:1937 text: Knox (1908–1937) bar:7 color:Full from:1908 till:1937 text:

(1908–1937) bar:8 color:Full from:1908 till:1929 text: Lombard (1908–1929) bar:9 color:Full from:1910 till:1942 text:

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

(1910–1942) bar:10 color:Full from:1910 till:1937 text: Shurtleff (1910–1937) bar:11 color:Full from:1910 till:1928 text:

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

(1910–1928) bar:12 color:Full from:1910 till:1926 text: Hedding (1910–1926) bar:13 color:Full from:1910 till:1917 text: William & Vashti (1910–1917) bar:14 color:Full from:1912 till:1970 text:

Eastern Illinois Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

(1912–1970) bar:15 color:Full from:1912 till:1941 text:

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

(1912–1941) bar:16 color:Full from:1912 till:1938 text: McKendree (1912–1938) bar:17 color:Full from:1912 till:1937 text: Augustana (1912–1937) bar:18 color:Full from:1913 till:1962 text:

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of the Upland South than the Mi ...

(1913–1962) bar:19 color:Full from:1914 till:1970 text:

Western Illinois Forgottonia (), also spelled Forgotonia, is the name given to a 16-County (United States), county region in Western Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This geographic region forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois (area west of ...

(1914–1970) bar:20 color:Full from:1914 till:1923 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 Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

(1914–1923) bar:21 color:Full from:1916 till:1938 text: St. Viator (1916–1938) bar:22 color:Full from:1919 till:1937 text: Wheaton (1919–1937) bar:23 color:Full from:1919 till:1937 text: Lake Forest (1919–1937) bar:24 color:Full from:1920 till:1966 text:

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by t ...

(1920–1966) bar:25 color:Full from:1922 till:1931 text: Mount Morris (1922–1931) bar:26 color:Full from:1927 till:1937 text: North Central (1927–1937) bar:27 color:Full from:1929 till:1941 text: Elmhurst (1929–1941) bar:28 color:Full from:1950 till:1970 text:

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

(1950–1970) bar:29 color:Full from:1950 till:1962 text:

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

(1950–1962) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:4 start:1910

Football champions

Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

*1910 – Illinois Wesleyan *1911 – *1912 – Eastern Illinois, Carthage, and William & Vashti *1913 – Eastern Illinois and William & Vashti *1914 – Eastern Illinois *1915 – Illinois College *1916 – *1917 – Lombard (IL) *1918 – ''No champion'' *1919 – *1920 – , North Central, and Wheaton *1921 – *1922 – *1923 – Lombard *1924 – and Lombard *1925 –

and *1926 –

and *1927 –

*1928 –

and *1929 – and *1930 – , , and

*1931 – *1932 – and *1933 – *1934 – and *1935 – and *1936 – and *1937 – , , and Illinois State Normal *1938 – Northern Illinois State *1939 –

*1940 – Illinois State Normal *1941 – Illinois State Normal and Northern Illinois State *1942 –

*1943 – ''No champion'' *1944 – Northern Illinois State *1945 – Illinois State Normal *1946 – Northern Illinois State *1947 –

*1948 – *1949 –

Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

*1950 – Illinois State Normal *1951 – Northern Illinois State *1952 –

*1953 –

*1954 –

and Michigan State Normal *1955 –

and Michigan State Normal *1956 –

*1957 –

*1958 –

*1959 –

*1960 –

*1961 –

*1962 –

*1963 –

*1964 –

and

*1965 –

*1966 –

*1967 –

and

*1968 –

and

*1969 –

References

{{Reflist

External links

Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
College sports in Illinois College sports in Michigan Sports leagues established in 1908 Sports leagues disestablished in 1970