The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) is a college-level
athletic conference. The UMAC is a conference of
NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...
since the 2008–09 season. Prior to that, it was a non scholarship conference affiliated with
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its st ...
NAIA and NCAA Division III. 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 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 to ...
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 ...
.
The UMAC sponsors intercollegiate competition in men's
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
, 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
, men's and women's
cross country, men's
football, men's and women's
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
, men's and women's
soccer, women's
softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
, men's and women's
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
, men's and women's indoor and outdoor
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
, 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 Sum ...
.
Greenville College and
Westminster College became associate members of the UMAC in football in 2009 and
Finlandia University
Finlandia University is a private Lutheran university in Hancock, Michigan. It is the only private university in the Upper Peninsula. Founded in 1896 as The Suomi College and Theological Seminary, it is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Ch ...
in 2021.
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 colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its st ...
(NAIA). Charter members included
Concordia College, Saint Paul (now Concordia University, Saint Paul),
Dr. Martin Luther College,
Loras College
Loras College is a private Catholic college in Dubuque, Iowa. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,600 students and is the oldest post-secondary institution in the state of Iowa. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degree ...
,
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 Ladysmith f ...
,
Northwestern College of Minnesota (now the University of Northwestern – St. Paul),
Northwestern College of Wisconsin and
Pillsbury Baptist Bible College
Pillsbury Baptist Bible College was an independent Baptist college in Owatonna, Minnesota, United States (1957–2008). Pillsbury described itself as a " biblical arts college." It offered a four-year program leading to the degrees of Bachelor of ...
, 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 Vitberbo 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 in New Ulm, Minnesota, operated by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). Martin Luther College was established in 1995, when Northwestern College (NWC) of Watertown, Wisconsin, combined ...
. 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 the
Division II ranks of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
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 ...
(NCAA) and the
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), effective after the 1998-99 academic year.
* 2002 - Mount Scenario 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 Christian liberal arts college in Mankato, Minnesota. Founded in 1927, BLC is operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The campus overlooks the Minnesota River valley in a community of 53,000.
...
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 had become affiliated with the
Division III
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
ranks of the NCAA, effective in the 2008-09 academic year.
* 2008 -
North Central University
North Central University (NCU) is a private Christian university associated with the Assemblies of God and located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is owned and operated by 11 Assemblies of God districts of the upper Midwest. NCU was founded in 1 ...
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
MacMurray College was a private college in Jacksonville, Illinois. Its enrollment in fall 2015 was 570. Founded in 1846, the college closed in May 2020.
History
Although founded in 1846 by a group of Methodist clergymen as the Illinois Confer ...
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 (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 is a private university in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It is Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The institution is affiliated with the United Met ...
(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 liberal arts university in Superior, Wisconsin. UW–Superior grants associate, bachelor's, master's and specialist's degrees. The university enrolls 2,559 undergraduates ...
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 a college athletic conference which competes in NCAA Division III. All 13 of the member schools are located in Minnesota and are private institutions, with only two being non-sectarian.
...
(MIAC), effective after the 2020-21 academic year.
* 2021 -
Finlandia University
Finlandia University is a private Lutheran university in Hancock, Michigan. It is the only private university in the Upper Peninsula. Founded in 1896 as The Suomi College and Theological Seminary, it is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Ch ...
joined the UMAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 2021 fall season (2021-22 academic year).
Member schools
Current members
Full members
The UMAC currently has eight full members, all but two are
private schools:
;Notes:
Associate members
The UMAC currently has three associate members, all are
private schools:
;Notes:
Former members
Full members
The UMAC had nine 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:2025
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
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id:line value:black
id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # all sports
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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 (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo.
It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history ...
(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, partic ...
(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, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
(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:end text: Northland (Wisc.) (1998–present)
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 Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
(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
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 ...
(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:end 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 Russian ...
(2021–present)
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)
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Conference sports
Conference facilities
Football champions
*- 2011 was the first year the UMAC Champion received an automatic bid to the
NCAA Division III Playoffs.
Ice hockey affiliations
The UMAC does not sponsor
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
. Two UMAC member schools sponsor men's and women's ice hockey as a varsity sport. Northland College and UW-Superior are members of the
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) is a college athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. In women's gymnastics, it competes alongside Division I and II members, as the NCAA sponsors a single champions ...
.
References
External links
*
{{NCAA Division III football conference navbox
College sports in Minnesota
College sports in Wisconsin