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 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Participating schools are located principally in the Northeastern United States, from which the conference derives its name.

History

The conference was named the ECAC Metro Conference when it was established in 1981. The original eleven member schools were Fairleigh Dickinson University, the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University (whose athletic program has now merged with that of LIU's Post campus into a single athletic program), Loyola College in Maryland (left in 1989), Marist College (left in 1997), Robert Morris University (left in 2020), St. Francis College (NY) (left in 2023), Saint Francis College (PA), Siena College (left in 1984), Towson State University (left in 1982), the University of Baltimore (left in 1983) and Wagner College.

The conference's name was changed to its present form on August 1, 1988. Other names considered were Big North, Great North, North Shore, Northern, Northeastern, Eastern and Eastern Private Intercollegiate.

The Northeast Conference has admitted new members ten times since 1981. The expansions and additions from the original charter members were: in 1985 ( Monmouth University, which left in 2013), in 1989 (Mount St. Mary's University, which left in 2022), in 1992 ( Rider University, which left in 1997), in 1997 ( Central Connecticut State University), in 1998 ( Quinnipiac University which left in 2013, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County which left in 2003), in 1999 ( Sacred Heart University, which is left in 2024), in 2008 (Bryant University, which also left in 2022), in 2019 ( Merrimack College, which also left in 2024), in 2022 (Stonehill College), in 2023 ( Le Moyne College), and in 2024 ( Chicago State University and Mercyhurst University). The Northeast Conference's full membership was its largest at 12 in 2008 with the addition of Bryant University. It then dropped to 10 in 2013 with the departure of Monmouth and Quinnipiac for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), returned to 11 with the 2019 addition of Merrimack, and again dropped to 10 in 2020 with the departure of Robert Morris for the Horizon League. The conference dropped to 9 members in 2022 with the departure of Bryant and Mount St. Mary's, respectively for the America East Conference and the MAAC, plus the addition of Stonehill. On March 20, 2023, St. Francis Brooklyn announced that all intercollegiate sports would be dropped effective at the end of the 2022-23 season, dropping the NEC down to 8 full members. This was followed on May 10, 2023 by the announcement that Le Moyne College would begin a transition from Division II and join the NEC on July 1.

Additional changes were announced in 2018 and took effect with the 2019–20 school year. First, on September 10, the NEC announced it would add Merrimack. Then, on October 3, Long Island University announced that it would combine its two existing athletic programs—NEC member LIU Brooklyn and the Division II program at LIU Post—into a single Division I program under the LIU name. The new LIU program, nicknamed Sharks, maintains LIU Brooklyn's previous memberships in Division I and the NEC. Another recent change took place on July 1, 2020, when charter member Robert Morris left to join the Horizon League. The next changes in membership were on July 1, 2022, with Bryant leaving for the America East Conference, Mount St. Mary's leaving for the MAAC, and Stonehill arriving from NCAA Division II.

The Northeast Conference has a total of 9 full members in 24 championship sports: baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's bowling, men's and women's cross country, women's field hockey, football, men's and women's golf, men's and women's indoor track & field, women's lacrosse, men's and women's outdoor track & field, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's volleyball.

Men's lacrosse became the league's 23rd sport for the 2011 season. The number of sports dropped to 22 after the 2012–13 school year, when the conference dropped field hockey. The departure of Monmouth and Quinnipiac to become all-sports members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in July 2013 gave the MAAC four full members that sponsored the sport; the other two were NEC single-sport affiliates Rider and Siena. The MAAC then decided to add field hockey as a sponsored sport for the 2013 season, and all of the NEC's remaining field hockey programs eventually joined the MAAC except for Saint Francis (PA), which joined the Atlantic 10 Conference. The NEC reinstated field hockey as a sponsored sport for the 2019 season with seven members—full members Bryant, LIU, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, and Wagner, plus associate members Fairfield and Rider. Saint Francis (PA) rejoined the NEC in field hockey during the 2021-22 season. A more recent addition to the NEC's sports roster was men's swimming & diving, added for 2020–21 with full members Bryant, LIU, Mount St. Mary's, St. Francis Brooklyn, and Wagner plus incoming associate member Howard.

In 2022–23, the NEC added one sport and dropped another. On September 30, 2021, the NEC announced that it would begin sponsoring men's volleyball in 2022–23 with six members. Before the end of the 2021–22 school year, the NEC announced that two Division II schools from the Buffalo, New York area, Daemen and D'Youville, would also become part of the new men's volleyball league. In a May 9, 2022 Twitter post, NEC commissioner Noreen Morris indicated that the NEC would shut down its men's lacrosse league after the then-ongoing 2022 season. The NEC had already lost two full members that sponsored the sport, and would eventually lose its two affiliate members in that sport when the Atlantic 10 Conference announced it would launch a men's lacrosse league in the 2023 season. Three of the remaining four NEC men's lacrosse programs became affiliate members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The other program, Merrimack, was in talks with several lacrosse-sponsoring conferences for affiliate membership, and eventually joined the America East in time for the 2023 season.

In July 2022, the Northeast Conference announced a partnership with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in which MEAC schools sponsoring baseball and men's and women's golf would become affiliate members in their respective sports beginning in the 2022-23 season. That September, the NEC announced that MEAC member Delaware State, which had just joined NEC baseball and women's golf, would add women's lacrosse and women's soccer to its NEC membership in 2023–24.

In March 2023, St. Francis College (Brooklyn) announced that it would discontinue its athletic programs at the end of the spring 2023 schedule. Le Moyne was announced as SFC's replacement that May.

The NEC added two affiliate members in 2023–24—Binghamton University in men's golf plus men's and women's tennis, and Niagara University in bowling. Niagara added that sport for 2023–24 by effectively absorbing the bowling program of Medaille University, a nearby Division III school that closed at the end of the 2022–23 school year.

In October 2023, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference announced that Merrimack and Sacred Heart were going to join the conference for the 2024-25 season. This announcement came on the heels of the announcement that the NEC was going to support men's lacrosse as a conference sponsored sport for the 2024–25 academic year, after having to discontinue it two years earlier due to the lack of sponsoring members. The original plan was for full members Le Moyne, LIU, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, and Wagner to be joined by two new associate members, the University of Detroit Mercy and the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). The departure of Merrimack and Sacred Heart left the number of men's lacrosse programs in the conference with less than the 6 member minimum required for an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament. The NEC announced in November 2023 that Cleveland State University and former full member Robert Morris were going to join the league as men's lacrosse associates. In November 2023, Robert Morris also announced that it was going to return to the NEC in football. Shortly after this, Maryland Eastern Shore announced that it was going to add men's volleyball in the 2026 season (2025–26 school year) as an NEC associate member, increasing the number of its NEC teams to four. It became the first historically African-American Division I member to announce the addition of that sport. In April 2024, Sacred Heart announced that it was going to leave NEC men's volleyballd, and that it was going to return to the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, where it had played that sport before the NEC established its own league. Also in 2024–25, former full member Monmouth returned to the NEC as an associate member in bowling. Soon after the start of the 2024–25 academic year, Manhattan University announced that it was going to add men's volleyball and become an NEC affiliate in 2025–26.

In response to the departure of Merrimack and Sacred Heart, the NEC announced first in December 2023 that D-I independent Chicago State University was going to join the NEC. A few months later, in April 2024, Mercyhurst University announced that it was going to transition from Division II and join the NEC, bringing the league to 9 members again, for the 2024-25 season.

Currently, a total of 18 affiliate members compete in football, women's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's swimming, women's bowling, and men's volleyball.

Member schools

Full members

Current full members

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Former full members

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Affiliate members

Current affiliate members

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Future affiliate members

Former affiliate members

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Membership timeline

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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
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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
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PlotData=

width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:FullxF from:1981 till:1982 text: Towson (1981–1982)
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1982 shift:(100,-4) till:1992 text:East Coast
bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:1992 till:1995 text: Big South
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1995 till:2001 text:America East
bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:2001 till:end text:CAA

bar:2 color:FullxF from:1981 till:1983 text:Baltimore (1981–1983, then dropped athletics)

bar:3 color:FullxF from:1981 till:1984 text: Siena (1981–1984)
bar:3 shift:(35) color:OtherC2 from:1984 till:1989 text: ECAC North
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:end text: MAAC

bar:4 color:FullxF from:1981 till:1989 text: Loyola (MD) (1981–1989)
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:2013 text: MAAC
bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:Patriot League

bar:5 color:FullxF from:1981 till:1997 text: Marist (1981–1997)
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1997 till:end text: MAAC

bar:6 color:FullxF from:1981 till:end text: Fairleigh Dickinson (1981–present)

bar:7 color:FullxF from:1981 till:2019 text:Long Island (1981–present)
bar:7 color:Full from:2019 till:end

bar:8 color:FullxF from:1981 till:1996 text: Robert Morris (1981–2020)
bar:8 color:Full from:1996 till:2020
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2024 text:Horizon
bar:8 color:AssocF from:2024 till:end text:(football & men's lacrosse; 2024–present)

bar:9 color:FullxF from:1981 till:2023 text: St. Francis Brooklyn (1981–2023, then dropped athletics)

bar:10 color:FullxF from:1981 till:1996 text: Saint Francis (PA) (1981–present)
bar:10 color:Full from:1996 till:end

bar:11 color:FullxF from:1981 till:1996 text: Wagner (1981–present)
bar:11 color:Full from:1996 till:end

bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1985 text:Independent
bar:12 color:FullxF from:1985 till:2013 text:Monmouth (1985–2013)
bar:12 color:Full from:1996 till:2013
bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2022 text: MAAC
bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:2022 till:2024 text:CAA
bar:12 color:AssocOS from:2024 till:end text:(bowling; 2024–present)

bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1989 text:Independent
bar:13 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2022 text: Mount Saint Mary's (1989–2022)
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text: MAAC

bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1992 text: ECC
bar:14 color:FullxF from:1992 till:1997 text: Rider (1992–1997)
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:1997 till:1998 text: MAAC
bar:14 shift:20 color:AssocOS from:1998 till:2013 text:(field hockey; 1998–2013, 2019–present)
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2019 text: MAAC
bar:14 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end

bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1990 text:Independent
bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:1992 text: ECC
bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:1992 till:1993 text:Ind.
bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:1993 till:1994 text: ECC
bar:15 shift:(10) color:OtherC1 from:1994 till:1996 text: Mid-Con
bar:15 color:AssocF from:1996 till:1997
bar:15 color:Full from:1997 till:end text: Central Connecticut (1997–present)

bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1987 text: NECC
bar:16 color:OtherC2 from:1987 till:1998 text: NE-10
bar:16 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2013 text: Quinnipiac (1998–2013)
bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text: MAAC

bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1990 text:Independent
bar:17 color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:1992 text: ECC
bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:1992 till:1998 text: Big South
bar:17 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2003 text: UMBC (1998–2003)
bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:2003 till:end text:America East

bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1998 text: NECC
bar:18 color:AssocF from:1998 till:1999
bar:18 color:Full from:1999 till:2024 text:Sacred Heart (1999–2024)
bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2024 till:end text: MAAC (field hockey; 2024–present)

bar:19 color:AssocF from:1999 till:2013 text: Albany (1999–2013)
bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:CAA Football

bar:20 color:AssocF from:1999 till:2008 text: Stony Brook (1999–2008)
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2013 text: Big South
bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:CAA Football

bar:21 color:AssocF from:2000 till:2002 text: St. John's (2000–2002)

bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:2008 text: NE-10
bar:24 color:FullxF from:2008 till:2009 text:Bryant (2008–2022)
bar:24 color:Full from:2009 till:2022
bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text: AmEast

bar:25 color:AssocF from:2008 till:end text: Duquesne (football 2008–present; bowling 2016–present)

bar:26 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1984 text:Independent
bar:26 color:OtherC2 from:1984 till:2019 text: NE-10
bar:26 color:Full from:2019 till:2024 text: Merrimack (2019–2024)
bar:26 shift:25 color:AssocOS from:2024 till:end text: MAAC (field hockey; 2024–present)

bar:29 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:2022 text: NE-10
bar:29 color:Full from:2022 till:end text: Stonehill (2022–present)

bar:30 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1983 text: D-II Ind.
bar:30 color:OtherC2 from:1983 till:1991 text:Mideast Collegiate Conference
bar:30 color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:1992 text: Ind.
bar:30 color:OtherC2 from:1992 till:1996 text: NECC
bar:30 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:2023 text: NE-10
bar:30 color:FullxF from:2023 till:end text: Le Moyne (2023–present)

bar:31 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1984 text: NAIA Ind.
bar:31 color:OtherC2 from:1984 till:1993 text: D-I Ind.
bar:31 shift:(-5) color:OtherC1 from:1993 till:1994 text: ECC
bar:31 color:OtherC2 from:1994 till:2006 text:Mid-Continent
bar:31 color:OtherC1 from:2006 till:2009 text: D-I Ind.
bar:31 color:OtherC2 from:2009 till:2013 text: Great West
bar:31 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2022 text: WAC
bar:31 color:OtherC2 from:2022 till:2024 text: D-I Ind.
bar:31 color:FullxF from:2024 till:end text: Chicago State (2024–present)

bar:32 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1993 text: D-III Ind.
bar:32 color:OtherC2 from:1993 till:1995 text: D-II Ind.
bar:32 color:OtherC1 from:1995 till:2008 text: GLIAC
bar:32 color:OtherC2 from:2008 till:2024 text: PSAC
bar:32 color:Full from:2024 till:end text: Mercyhurst (2024–present)

bar:N color:powderblue from:1981 till:1988 text:ECAC Metro
bar:N color:blue from:1988 till:end text:Northeast (NEC)

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Sports

The Northeast Conference currently sponsors championship competition in 11 men's and 13 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Twelve schools are associate members in 14 of those sports.

The most recent change to the NEC sports lineup is the reinstatement of men's lacrosse in 2024–25 after it had been eliminated in 2022. At the same time men's lacrosse was dropped, the NEC added men's volleyball.

;Notes:

Men's sponsored sports by school

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Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Northeast Conference which are played by NEC schools:

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Women's sponsored sports by school

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Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Northeast Conference which are played by NEC schools:

In addition to the above, Fairleigh Dickinson and Sacred Heart count their female cheerleaders (but not male cheerleaders) as varsity athletes.

;Notes:

Basketball champions

Men's basketball champions

: No. 1 seed in NEC tournament

Women's basketball champions

Football champions

Football champions

* 1996 – Robert Morris/Monmouth
* 1997 – Robert Morris
* 1998 – Monmouth/Robert Morris
* 1999 – Robert Morris
* 2000 – Robert Morris
* 2001 – Sacred Heart
* 2002 – Albany
* 2003 – Monmouth/Albany
* 2004 – Monmouth/Central Connecticut
* 2005 – Stony Brook/Central Connecticut
* 2006 – Monmouth
* 2007 – Albany
* 2008 – Albany
* 2009 – Central Connecticut
* 2010 – Robert Morris/Central Connecticut
* 2011 – Albany/Duquesne
* 2012 – Wagner/Albany
* 2013 – Sacred Heart/Duquesne
* 2014 – Sacred Heart/Wagner
* 2015 – Duquesne
* 2016 – Saint Francis (PA)/Duquesne
* 2017 – Central Connecticut
* 2018 – Duquesne/Sacred Heart
* 2019 - Central Connecticut
* 2020 - Sacred Heart
* 2021 - Sacred Heart
* 2022 - Saint Francis (PA)
* 2023 - Duquesne

Most conference championships

* 6 – Albany (3 shared)
* 6 – Robert Morris (3 shared)
* 6 – Central Connecticut (3 shared)
* 6 – Duquesne (4 shared)
* 6 – Sacred Heart (3 shared)
* 5 – Monmouth (4 shared)
* 2 – Saint Francis (PA) (1 shared)
* 2 – Wagner (2 shared)
* 1 – Stony Brook (1 shared)

NEC rivalries

Before the 2013 departure of Monmouth and Quinnipiac, the NEC had 6 rivalry matchups in the conference; which is most prevalent during NEC's men's and women's basketball "Rivalry Week." The concept of playing back-to-back games against a local rival the same week is the only one of its kind among the nation's 31 NCAA Division I conferences. The pre-2013 NEC rivalries are as follows (with the current NEC team listed first in the matchups that are now non-conference):

;Non-conference
*Constitution State Rivalry: Central Connecticut vs. Sacred Heart (non-conference starting in 2024–25)
*Garden State Rivalry: Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Monmouth (non-conference since 2013–14)
*Governor's Cup: Sacred Heart vs. Quinnipiac (non-conference since 2013–14, MAAC rivalry in 2024–25)
*Keystone Clash: Saint Francis (PA) vs. Robert Morris (non-conference since 2020–21)
*NY–MD Showdown: Wagner vs. Mount St. Mary's (non-conference since 2022–23)

;Discontinued
*Battle of Brooklyn: LIU vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (St. Francis Brooklyn dropped athletics after the 2022–23 academic year.)

Brenda Weare Commissioner's Cup

The NEC Commissioner's Cup was instituted during the 1986–87 season with Long Island winning the inaugural award. Cup points are awarded in each NEC sponsored sport. For men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, football, women's bowling, softball, men's and women's lacrosse, and baseball, the final regular season standings are used to determine Cup points. Starting with the 2012–13 season, the Conference began awarding three bonus points to the NEC Tournament champion in those sports. In all other sports, points are awarded based on the finish at NEC Championship events.

Facilities

;Notes

References

External links

*

{{NCAA Division I FCS conference navbox

Northeastern United States
Sports in the Eastern United States
Sports organizations established in 1981