West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
| West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) |
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| Established | 1924 |
| Association | NCAA |
| Division | Division II |
| Members | 15 |
| Sports fielded | 16 (men's: 8; women's: 8) |
| Region | Appalachia |
| Headquarters | Princeton, West Virginia |
| Commissioner | Barry Blizzard (since 1987) |
| Website | wviac.org |
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The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) is a college athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but has now expanded into Pennsylvania. It participates in the NCAA's Division II. The WVIAC is now set to disband on September 1, 2013. Its football-playing members announced in June 2012 that they planned to withdraw to form a new Division II conference effective at the end of the 2012-13 season; this led to a chain of conference moves that has so far seen all but one of the WVIAC's members find new conference homes.
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[edit] History
The conference rates as one of the oldest in intercollegiate athletics dating back to its founding in 1924 by the West Virginia Department of Education. .
The WVIAC offers championships in 16 sports and is headquartered in Princeton, West Virginia. Men's championships are offered in football, basketball, baseball, track, cross country, soccer, tennis, and golf. Women's titles are contested in volleyball, softball, basketball, cross country, soccer, track, tennis, and golf.
The WVIAC moved into the NCAA Division II in 1994 after that long affiliation with the NAIA
Its post-season basketball tournament, which was first conducted in 1936, was at the time of the conference's demise one of the oldest college post-season tournaments in continuous existence—only the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, established in 1922, was older.
[edit] WVIAC breakup
On June 18, 2012, nine football-playing members of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) announced they would withdraw from the league to form a new regional all-sports conference.[1]
The WVIAC will officially cease to exist on September 1, 2013.[2] Eight of the nine football-playing members (Concord, Charleston, Fairmont State, Glenville State, Shepherd, West Liberty, West Virginia State, and West Virginia Wesleyan) and one non-football playing member (Wheeling Jesuit) of the conference are joining a provisional D-II member from Virginia (UVA-Wise) and two associate Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference members from Ohio (Notre Dame and Urbana) to form a new all-sports conference, the Mountain East Conference.[3] Seton Hill and Pitt-Johnstown will be joining the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Three of the remaining non-football members (Alderson–Broaddus, Davis & Elkins, and Ohio Valley) accepted invitations to join the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.[4] As of August 21, 2012, the only WVIAC member without a conference home for 2013–14 is Bluefield State.
[edit] Member schools leaving before 2013
- Notes
- Mountain State's main campus (Beckley) became the University of Charleston–Beckley on January 1, 2013.
- Marshall stopped competition in the conference when it joined the Buckeye Conference in 1932, but was required by state regulations to remain a member on a technical basis until 1949.
[edit] Member schools at breakup
- Notes
- All colleges are listed by their names as of 2012, most have had name changes over the years. See articles on individual schools for details.
- West Virginia Wesleyan left the WVIAC after the 1985-86 season, and later re-joined back in the 1988-89 season.
- * - Denotes a non-football member
[edit] Membership timeline
[edit] References
- ^ "A Break Up For WVIAC - WV Metro News". http://www.wvmetronews.com. 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
- ^ "NCAA ADDS MOUNTAIN EAST CONFERENCE AS NEWEST DIVISION II LEAGUE" (Press release). Mountain East Conference. February 15, 2013.
- ^ "A New Conference Called Mountain East". Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ "G-MAC News: Conference Adds Three New Members" (Press release). Great Midwest Athletic Conference. August 21, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
[edit] External links
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