The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a
college athletic conference
In college athletics in the United States, institutions typically join in conferences for regular play under different governing bodies.
Varsity sports
There are several national and regional associations governing the varsity teams of colleges ...
which operates in
Illinois
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 Rock ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...
, and
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
in the midwestern
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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. It participates in the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
's
Division III as a
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
-only conference.
The conference was founded in 1980 as a loose association of six schools in
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...
and northwestern
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
. The league was formalized the next year.
In the summer of 2012, the five schools in the
University of Wisconsin System announced that they would leave the conference to begin playing hockey in their all-sports conference, the
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The move would have left only two men's teams in the NCHA, leading St. Norbert and St. Scholastica to join the
Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association (MCHA). In April 2013, the NCHA and MCHA announced a merger, where the NCHA would absorb the MCHA's teams (of the MCHA's 10 schools, all 7 who also sponsored women's hockey played in the NCHA). The men's and women's sides will retain separate administrative structures, as well as their automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Members
Current
Former
Membership timeline
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:01/01/1980 till:07/31/2025
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5
Colors =
id:men value:rgb(0.6,0.6,1) legend:men
id:women value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) legend:women
id:both value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.8) legend:both
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:men from:07/01/1980 till:07/01/1987 text: St. Cloud State (1980-1987)
bar:2 color:men from:07/01/1980 till:07/01/1992 text: Mankato State (1980-1992)
bar:3 color:men from:07/01/1980 till:07/01/1999 text: Bemidji State (1980-1999)
bar:4 color:men from:07/01/1980 till:07/01/2000 text: UW–Eau Claire (1980-2013)
bar:4 color:both from:07/01/2000 till:07/01/2013
bar:5 color:men from:07/01/1980 till:07/01/2013 text: UW–River Falls (1980-2013)
bar:5 color:both from:07/01/2000 till:07/01/2013
bar:6 color:men from:07/01/1980 till:07/01/2013 text: UW–Superior (1980-2013)
bar:6 color:both from:07/01/2000 till:07/01/2013
bar:7 color:men from:07/01/1983 till:07/01/1991 text:St. Scholastica
Scholastica (c. 480 – 10 February 543) is a saint of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Anglican Communion. She was born in Italy. According to a ninth century tradition, she was the twin sister of Benedict of Nursia. ...
(1983-1991, 1994-2021)
bar:7 color:men from:07/01/1994 till:07/01/2010
bar:7 color:both from:07/01/2010 till:07/01/2021
bar:8 color:men from:07/01/1986 till:07/01/2013 text: UW–Stevens Point (1986-2013)
bar:8 color:both from:07/01/2000 till:07/01/2013
bar:9 color:men from:07/01/1992 till:07/01/2000 text: Lake Forest (1992-present)
bar:9 color:both from:07/01/2000 till:07/01/2009
bar:9 color:women from:07/01/2009 till:07/01/2013
bar:9 color:both from:07/01/2013 till:end
bar:10 color:men from:07/01/1994 till:07/01/2010 text: St. Norbert (1994-present)
bar:10 color:both from:07/01/2010 till:end
bar:11 color:men from:07/01/1996 till:07/01/2013 text: UW–Stout (1996-2013)
bar:12 color:women from:07/01/2003 till:07/01/2013 text: Finlandia (2003-present)
bar:12 color:both from:07/01/2013 till:end
bar:13 color:women from:07/01/2007 till:07/01/2013 text: Concordia Wisconsin (2007-present)
bar:13 color:both from:07/01/2013 till:end
bar:14 color:women from:07/01/2009 till:07/01/2013 text:Adrian
Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water".
The Adria was until the 8th century BC the mai ...
(2009-present)
bar:14 color:both from:07/01/2013 till:end
bar:15 color:women from:07/01/2009 till:07/01/2013 text: Marian (2009-present)
bar:15 color:both from:07/01/2013 till:end
bar:16 color:men from:07/01/2013 till:end shift:(-80,-3) text: Lawrence (2013-present)
bar:17 color:men from:07/01/2013 till:end shift:(-90,-3) text: Milwaukee Engineering (2013-present)
bar:18 color:men from:07/01/2013 till:07/01/2019 shift:(-30,-3) text: Northland (2013-2019)
bar:18 color:both from:07/01/2016 till:07/01/2019
bar:19 color:men from:07/01/2015 till:end shift:(-55,-3) text:Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
(2015-present)
bar:19 color:both from:07/01/2017 till:end
bar:20 color:both from:07/01/2017 till:end shift:(-90,-3) text: Trine (2017-present)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:4 start:01/01/1981
Legend = orientation:vertical left:55 top:150
Champions
Men
Women
^ Won National Championship
Arenas
See also
*
Harris Cup
References
External links
Official web site
{{NCAA Division III hockey conferences