The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAADivisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from Maine to South Carolina and west to Missouri.[1] Most or all members belong to at least one other athletic conference.
The ECAC was founded as the Central Office for Eastern Intercollegiate Athletics in 1938, largely through the efforts of James Lynah of Cornell University. In 1983, the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW) was consolidated into the ECAC. Most member schools are in other conferences as well, but through the ECAC they are able to participate in sports that their main conferences do not offer. Its headquarters are located in Danbury, Connecticut. The ECAC also now offers esports competitions to its member schools.
Membership
Division I
As of fall 2023, there are 78 Division I members.[2]
Division II
As of fall 2023, there are 7 Division II members.[3]
Division III
As of spring 2018, there are 79 Division III members.[4]
Affiliates
The ECAC has several affiliated single-sport leagues:[5]
At various times, the ECAC has organized regional college basketball championship tournaments at the end of the regular season for teams playing at the NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III levels. It held the Division I tournaments from 1975 to 1982 to provide independent colleges and universities in the northeastern United States with a means of participating in end-of-season tournaments that resulted in the winning team receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, similar to the end-of-season tournaments held by conventional athletic conferences. The Division I ECAC tournaments were discontinued after all participating schools joined conferences of their own during the late 1970s and early 1980s.[6][7]
The ECAC also held combined Division II/III regional end-of- season tournaments from 1973 to 1980 and a single Division II-only tournament after the regular season from 1988 to 2006 and in 2007, 2008, and 2014. Since 1981, it has organized regional Division III-only men's basketball tournaments annually at the end of each regular season.[6]
