The Hoosier College Conference (HCC) was a men's
intercollegiate athletics
College sports or college athletics encompasses amateur sports played by non-professional, collegiate and university-level student athletes in competitive sports and games. College sports have led to many college rivalries.
College sports trac ...
conference founded in 1947 by eight members of the
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference
The Indiana Intercollegiate Conference (IIC) was an American college athletic conference formed in 1922 to govern intercollegiate competition in male sports in the state of Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern Unit ...
. After consisting solely of colleges in Indiana for 24 years, the conference changed its name in 1971 to the Hoosier-Buckeye Collegiate Conference (HBCC) to reflect the admission of schools in Ohio. It existed for another 15 years in its rebranded form.
Throughout its history, the conference always consisted exclusively of
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
schools. With the exception of founding member Rose Polytechnic (today
Rose-Hulman) in the years 1947-50, all members were affiliated with various
Protestant Christian
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...
denominations.
HCC and HBCC members competed in the
National Association for 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 their ...
(NAIA).
HCC history
In March 1947, Anderson (Indiana) sports writer "Red" Haven broke the news that the Hoosier College Conference was being formed, noting "the project has the blessings of most of the church-supported colleges in Indiana." In late April, a press release confirmed that Anderson College (today
Anderson University),
Canterbury College,
Earlham College
Earlham College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quake ...
,
Franklin College, Indiana Central (today the
University of Indianapolis
The University of Indianapolis (UIndy) is a private United Methodist Church-affiliated university in Indianapolis, Indiana. It offers Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees. It was founded in 1902 as Indiana Central University an ...
), and Manchester College (today
Manchester University
The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
) had formed the league, pending the approval of their trustees. Rose Polytechnic (today
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) joined the conference three months later, giving it eight members when competition began in fall 1947. All eight had previously competed in the
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference
The Indiana Intercollegiate Conference (IIC) was an American college athletic conference formed in 1922 to govern intercollegiate competition in male sports in the state of Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern Unit ...
.
The HCC constitution prohibited members from offering athletic scholarships. All were required to sponsor teams in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Championship events were also held in cross country, tennis, and golf, but those sports were not mandatory. Initially, HCC members were required to schedule conference opponents for at least four football games, ten basketball games, seven baseball games, and three track meets to be eligible for the annual championships in those sports. The need for a more centralized, balanced approach to scheduling became apparent right away, when Indiana Central won what would have been a three-way tie for the 1947 HCC football title by playing one more game than its rivals: Indiana Central beat Hanover, which beat Franklin, which beat Indiana Central, in each case their only conference loss, but Indiana Central (6-1) scheduled everyone in the HCC, while Franklin (5-1) and Hanover (5-1) did not.
The HCC experienced several changes in its first years of operation. After
Taylor University
Taylor University is a Private university, private, Interdenominationalism, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the United Stat ...
became the league's ninth member in 1949, Rose Poly left the conference in 1950, Canterbury closed its doors in 1951, and Earlham withdrew from the league in 1957, reducing the lineup to just six schools. It remained the same for nearly a decade. Earlham was readmitted to the league in 1965, but because of existing scheduling commitments, the Quakers did not return to conference play until 1966-67, and did not have a full HCC schedule in football until 1968.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, HCC teams shared NAIA District 21 with two of Indiana's larger public universities--
Ball State
Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. T ...
and
Indiana State--both of which held dual membership in the NCAA and NAIA while competing in the
Indiana Collegiate Conference
The Indiana Collegiate Conference (ICC) was a men's college athletic conference in the United States, in existence from 1950 to 1978. It consisted solely of schools in Indiana.
The charter members of the conference were Indiana State University ...
. As a result, the best HCC teams usually did not get past the district level in postseason play. In basketball, the conference's signature sport, its teams beat the odds to win the district tournament 11 times in 24 years, and earn a spot in the
NAIA's national tournament (held annually in Kansas City). Indiana Central led the way, advancing in 1948-49, 1955-56, 1963-64, 1965-66, 1966-67, and 1968-69, all under head coach
Angus Nicoson, who was named NAIA national coach of the year in 1966-67. Hanover advanced to the national tournament in 1967-68 and 1969-70, led by guard
Steve Wilson, who went on to play professionally for the ABA's
Denver Rockets
Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of ...
. Other HCC champions making it to the national tourney included Anderson in 1957-58 and 1960-61, and Earlham in 1970-71.
In football, Indiana Central dominated the conference in the 1950s. Halfback
Dick Nyers, the only HCC athlete ever to play in the NFL, led the Greyhounds to an undefeated (8-0) season in 1953 and three consecutive conference titles (1953, 1954, 1955) before going on to a brief career with the
Baltimore Colts
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...
. Taylor and Anderson dominated the gridiron in the 1960s, each winning four HCC titles, including three in a row by the Trojans (1962, 1963, 1964) and three in a row by the Ravens (1968, 1969, 1970). In 1970 Anderson became the only HCC member ever to qualify for the NAIA football playoffs, after the association split into two divisions for the sport and the HCC became a member of the
NAIA Division II.
In baseball, Anderson dominated the HCC in the 1960s under the leadership of former
Brooklyn Dodgers
The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...
pitcher
Carl Erskine
Carl Daniel Erskine (December 13, 1926 – April 16, 2024), nicknamed "Oisk", was an American baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1948 through 1959. He was a pitching m ...
, who coached the Ravens to four conference titles in twelve years. Anderson qualified for the
1965 NAIA World Series and went 0-2 in the double-elimination tournament. Taylor made the
1969 NAIA World Series and finished 1-2. HCC baseball players who went on to play professional baseball included
Don Miles, a four-sport athlete at Indiana Central as a freshman in 1954-55, who dropped out midway through his sophomore year to sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He saw action briefly as an outfielder with the Dodgers (in Los Angeles) in 1958.
The HCC eventually added wrestling as an 8th conference sport, with league competition starting in the 1964-65 season. Indiana Central won five of the first six HCC wrestling titles.
HBCC history
The transformation of the HCC into the HBCC came after Franklin and Indiana Central quit the league at the end of the 1969-70 academic year. For the five remaining members, expansion efforts turned to Ohio. By autumn 1970 they identified
Defiance College, Bluffton College (today
Bluffton University
Bluffton University is a private Mennonite university in Bluffton, Ohio. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, with three programs that have earned programmatic accreditation: education, nursing and social work. The university ha ...
), Findlay College (today the
University of Findlay
The University of Findlay (UF) is a private Christian university in Findlay, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1882 through a joint partnership between the Churches of God General Conference and the city of Findlay. UF has nearly 80 ...
), and Wilmington College (today
Wilmington University
Wilmington University (WilmU) is a private university with its main campus in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, United States. - It was established in 1968 by educator Donald E. Ross as Wilmington College and was renamed Wilmington ...
) as likely additions in the next 2-4 years. Their incorporation occurred much faster than anticipated, and all four were in the conference in time for the 1971-72 academic year.
In basketball, the HBCC sent 12 teams to the NAIA national tournament in 15 years, including three seasons in which two HBCC teams made the Kansas City bracket. Hanover led the way with five national qualifiers, in 1972-73, 1973-74, 1979-80, 1980-81, and 1981-82. Others included Findlay in 1971-72 and 1985-86, Defiance in 1972-73 and 1979-80, and Franklin in 1975-76, 1977-78, and 1979-80.
In football, Findlay emerged as the dominant program, winning or sharing 9 of 15 conference championships. Hanover also fielded strong teams, winning or sharing six HBCC titles, followed by Anderson, with three. Like the HCC in its final seasons, the HBCC competed in the NAIA Division II for football, which eventually expanded its postseason bracket from four teams to eight. Findlay made the playoffs five times (1978, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1985), Hanover four times (1974, 1975, 1980 and 1984), Wilmington three times (1980, 1982, and 1983), and Anderson once (1981). Under the leadership of head coach
Dick Strahm, Findlay made it to the NAIA Division II championship game in 1978 and 1979, and won the
1979 national championship.
Anderson qualified for the
1984 NAIA World Series
The 1984 NAIA World Series was the 28th annual NAIA World Series, tournament hosted by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to determine the national champion of college baseball, baseball among its member colleges and universiti ...
, the only baseball program to do so in the 15 seasons of HBCC play. The Ravens went 1-2 in the double-elimination tournament.
The HBCC remained a stable 9-team league for a dozen seasons, then began to break up against the wishes of its Ohio members, after the Indiana members one by one quit the conference. Taylor left in 1983, then Earlham in 1984. During 1985 Manchester announced it would leave the league at the end of the 1985-86 academic year. The last straw came early in December 1985, when Anderson announced it, too, would quit the HBCC.
At that point the five remaining members--Hanover and the four Ohio schools--accepted the reality that the conference would cease to exist the following summer.
Aftermath
The common athletic history and rivalries forged in the conference lived on. Ten of the 13 former HCC/HBCC members--all except
Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
(formerly Indiana Central) and
Findlay, both of which moved to
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 ...
, and the defunct
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
--were eventually reunited after 1987 as members of
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- ...
in the
Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC), later rebranded as the
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Founded as the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Con ...
(HCAC). Like the HCC/HBCC, the conference was founded as an Indiana-only league and changed its name after expanding to include schools from Ohio. Seven of the ten remain members of the HCAC today. As of 2024-25, only
Taylor
Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to:
People
* Taylor (surname)
** List of people with surname Taylor
* Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah
* Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron
* Justice Taylor (disambiguation)
...
and
Defiance compete as members of the NAIA.
Members
Final members
The HBCC had seven members in its final season. All were private schools:
Former members
Six former members of the HCC were not in the HBCC at the time it disbanded. All were private schools:
+ renamed University of Indianapolis in 1986
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1947 till:1987
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only
id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used
PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1947 till:1986 text: Anderson (Ind.) (1947–1986)
bar:2 color:Full from:1947 till:1951 text: Canterbury (Ind.) (1947–1951)
bar:3 color:Full from:1947 till:1957 text: Earlham (1947–1957)
bar:3 color:Full from:1966 till:1984 text:(1966–1984)
bar:4 color:Full from:1947 till:1970 text: Franklin (Ind.) (1947–1970)
bar:5 color:Full from:1947 till:1986 text:Hanover
Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
(1947–1986)
bar:6 color:Full from:1947 till:1970 text: Indiana Central (1947–1970)
bar:7 color:Full from:1947 till:1986 text: Manchester (Ind.) (1947–1986)
bar:8 color:Full from:1947 till:1950 text: Rose–Hulman (1947–1950)
bar:9 color:Full from:1949 till:1983 text:Taylor
Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to:
People
* Taylor (surname)
** List of people with surname Taylor
* Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah
* Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron
* Justice Taylor (disambiguation)
...
(1949–1983)
bar:10 color:Full from:1971 till:1986 text: Bluffton (1971–1986)
bar:11 color:Full from:1971 till:1986 text: Defiance (1971–1986)
bar:12 color:Full from:1971 till:1986 text: Findlay (1971–1986)
bar:13 color:Full from:1971 till:1986 text: Wilmington (Oh.) (1971–1986)
bar:14
bar:N color:yellow from:1947 till:1971 text:Hoosier College Conference
bar:N color:orange from:1971 till:1986 text:Hoosier–Buckeye Conference
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1947
TextData =
fontsize:L
textcolor:black
pos:(05.75) tabs:(400-center)
text:
#> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space.
<#
Football champions
Hoosier College Conference
* 1947 –
* 1948 –
Anderson (IN) and
Hanover
Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
* 1949 – Hanover
* 1950 –
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
* 1951 – Hanover
* 1952 – Hanover
* 1953 –
Indiana Central
* 1954 – Indiana Central
* 1955 – Indiana Central
* 1956 – Hanover
* 1957 – Anderson (IN) and Hanover
* 1958 – Hanover
* 1959 – Anderson (IN)
* 1960 – Indiana Central
* 1961 – Anderson (IN)
* 1962 –
Taylor
Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to:
People
* Taylor (surname)
** List of people with surname Taylor
* Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah
* Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron
* Justice Taylor (disambiguation)
...
* 1963 – Taylor
* 1964 – Taylor
* 1965 – Anderson (IN)
* 1966 –
Franklin (IN) and
Manchester (IN)
* 1967 – Taylor
* 1968 – Anderson (IN) and Manchester (IN)
* 1969 – Anderson (IN)
* 1970 – Anderson (IN) and
Earlham
Hoosier–Buckeye Conference
* 1971 – Anderson (IN) and
Findlay
* 1972 –
Bluffton
* 1973 – Hanover
* 1974 – Hanover
* 1975 – Hanover
* 1976 –
Defiance, Findlay, and Hanover
* 1977 – Defiance and Findlay
* 1978 – Findlay
* 1979 – Findlay and Hanover
* 1980 – Anderson (IN), Hanover, and
Wilmington (OH)
* 1981 – Anderson (IN)
* 1982 – Findlay and Wilmington (OH)
* 1983 – Findlay and Wilmington (OH)
* 1984 – Findlay
* 1985 – Findlay
Football standings
See also
*
List of defunct college football conferences
This is a list of defunct college football conferences in the United States and a defunct university football conference in Canada. Not all of the conferences listed here are truly defunct. Some simply stopped sponsoring football and continue under ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoosier-Buckeye Conference