Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Explained

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 Conference (ICAC) in 1987, it reincorporated under its current name in 1998 with the addition of several schools from Ohio.

Original members of the HCAC included Anderson, Bluffton, Franklin, Hanover, Manchester, Mount St. Joseph, Wabash, and Wilmington. Of the ten current members, six were founding members of the former ICAC.

Former members include DePauw (1987–1998), Taylor (1988–1991), Wabash (1987–1999), Wilmington (1998–2000), and Defiance (2000–2024). Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology (1988–1998) re-joined as of July 1, 2006.

History

The Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC) was formed in June 1987, with 1990–91 being the first full season of competition (all eight teams competing in eight varsity sports).

Charter members in 1987 included Anderson University, DePauw University, Franklin College, Hanover College, Manchester College, and Wabash College. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Taylor University later joined in 1988. Taylor left the conference after the 1990–91 season.

The addition of three Ohio schools (Bluffton College, the College of Mount St. Joseph, and Wilmington College) and the departure of two Indiana schools (DePauw and Rose-Hulman) during the 1998–99 season prompted a change in name to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Wabash and Wilmington later departed in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 seasons respectively. Defiance College and Transylvania University joined in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Rose-Hulman re-joined the HCAC, effective for the 2006–07 season.

In October 2009, Earlham College of Richmond, Indiana was accepted as the 10th member of the conference and began competition in the fall of 2010.

In the summer of 2024, Defiance College departed the HCAC to join the NAIA and the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference. Berea College joined the HCAC at the start of the 2024–25 academic year.

Chronological timeline

• 1987 – In June 1987, the HCAC was founded as the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference (ICAC). Charter members included Anderson College (now Anderson University), DePauw University, Franklin College, Hanover College, Manchester College, and Wabash College, beginning the 1987–88 academic year.
• 1988 – Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology and Taylor University joined the ICAC in the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1990 – The ICAC began their first full season on competition, competing in eight varsity sports, beginning the 1990–91 academic year.
• 1991 – Taylor left the ICAC to join the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) after the 1990–91 academic year.
• 1998:
  • DePauw and Rose–Hulman (or Rose–Hulman Tech or RHIT) left the ICAC to join the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) after the 1997–98 academic year.
  • Bluffton College (now Bluffton University), the College of Mount St. Joseph (now Mount St. Joseph University) and Wilmington College joined the ICAC in the 1998–99 academic year.
  • The ICAC rebranded as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC), beginning the 1998–99 academic year.
• 1999 – Wabash left the HCAC to join the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) after the 1998–99 academic year. Its football program later left after the 1999 fall season (1999–2000 school year).
• 2000:
  • Wilmington left the HCAC to join the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) after the 1999–2000 academic year.
  • Defiance College joined the HCAC in the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2001 – Transylvania University joined the HCAC in the 2001–02 academic year.
• 2006 – Rose–Hulman rejoined the HCAC in the 2006–07 academic year.
• 2010 – Earlham College joined the HCAC in the 2010–11 academic year.
• 2021 – Centenary College of Louisiana, Colorado College, the University of Dallas, Southwestern University of Texas and Spalding University joined the HCAC as affiliate members for men's lacrosse in the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year), although Spalding would also add women's lacrosse into its HCAC affiliate membership that same year; however, lacrosse has not been fully incorporated into the HCAC multi-sport conference, thus corresponding into a separate single-sport league known as the Heartland Collegiate Lacrosse Conference (HCLC), which came to existence since the 2017–18 school year.
• 2022 – Dallas left the HCAC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse (within the HCLC) after the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year).
• 2023 – Centenary (La.), Colorado College and Southwestern (Tex.) left the HCAC as affiliate members for men's lacrosse (within the HCLC) after the 2023 spring season (2022–23 academic year).
• 2024:
  • Defiance left the HCAC to join the NAIA and the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) after the 2023–24 academic year.
  • Berea College joined the HCAC at the start of the 2024–25 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The HCAC currently has ten full members, all private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Colors	Football
Anderson University	Anderson, Indiana	1917	Church of God	1,311	Ravens	1987	Orange and Black	Yes
Berea College	Berea, Kentucky	1855	Christian	1,613	Mountaineers	2024	Berea Blue and White	No
Bluffton University	Bluffton, Ohio	1899	Mennonite	1,094	Beavers	1998	Purple and White	Yes
Earlham College	Richmond, Indiana	1847	Quaker	612	Quakers	2010	Maroon and White	No
Franklin College	Franklin, Indiana	1834	Baptist	1,047	Grizzlies	1987	Navy Blue and Old Gold	Yes
Hanover College	Hanover, Indiana	1827	Presbyterian	1,068	Panthers	1987	Red and Blue	Yes
Manchester University	North Manchester, Indiana	1860	Church of the Brethren	1,770	Spartans	1987	Black and Gold	Yes
Mount St. Joseph University	Delhi Township, Ohio	1920	Catholic	1,889	Lions	1998	Blue and Gold	Yes
Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology	Terre Haute, Indiana	1874	Nonsectarian	2,081	Fightin' Engineers	1988; 2006	Old Rose and White	Yes
Transylvania University	Lexington, Kentucky	1780	Disciples of Christ	963	Pioneers	2001	Crimson and White	No

Notes:

Affiliate members

The HCAC currently has one affiliate member, which is also a private school:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	HCAC sport(s)	Primary conference
Spalding University	Louisville, Kentucky	1814	Catholic	1,692	Golden Eagles	2021	Men's lacrosse	St. Louis (SLIAC)
						2021	Women's lacrosse

Notes:

Former members

The HCAC has five former full members, all were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current conference
Defiance College	Defiance, Ohio	1850	United Church of Christ	505	Yellow Jackets	2000	2024	Wolverine–Hoosier (WHAC)
DePauw University	Greencastle, Indiana	1837	United Methodist	2,350	Tigers	1987	1998	North Coast (NCAC)
Taylor University	Upland, Indiana	1846	Interdenominational	1,887	Trojans	1988	1991	Crossroads
Wabash College	Crawfordsville, Indiana	1832	Nonsectarian	910	Little Giants	1987	1999	North Coast (NCAC)
Wilmington College	Wilmington, Ohio	1870	Quakers	990	Quakers	1998	2000	Ohio (OAC)

Notes:

Former affiliate members

The HCAC had four former affiliate members, all were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	HCAC sport(s)	Primary conference
Centenary College of Louisiana	Shreveport, Louisiana	1825	United Methodist	563	Gentlemen &<br />Ladies	2021	2023	Men's lacrosse	Southern (SCAC)
Colorado College	Colorado Springs, Colorado	1874	Nonsectarian	2,266	Tigers	2021	2023	Men's lacrosse	Southern (SCAC)
	Irving, Texas	1956	Catholic	2,538	Crusaders	2021	2022	Men's lacrosse	Southern (SCAC)
Southwestern University	Georgetown, Texas	1840	United Methodist	1,536	Pirates	2021	2023	Men's lacrosse	Southern (SCAC)

Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyyImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20Period = from:1987 till:2029TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalPlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5

Colors = 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:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:Anderson (Ind.) (1987–present) bar:1 color:Full from:1989 till:end

bar:2 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:DePauw (1987–1998) bar:2 color:Full from:1989 till:1998

bar:3 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:Franklin (Ind.) (1987–present) bar:3 color:Full from:1989 till:end

bar:4 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:Hanover (1987–present) bar:4 color:Full from:1989 till:end

bar:5 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:Manchester (Ind.) (1987–present) bar:5 color:Full from:1989 till:end

bar:6 color:FullxF from:1987 till:1989 text:Wabash (1987–1999) bar:6 color:Full from:1989 till:1999 bar:6 color:AssocF from:1999 till:2000

bar:7 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1989 text:Rose–Hulman (RHIT) (1988–1998) bar:7 color:Full from:1989 till:1998 bar:7 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:(2006–present)

bar:8 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1989 text:Taylor (1988–1991) bar:8 color:Full from:1989 till:1991

bar:9 color:Full from:1998 till:end text:Bluffton (1998–present)

bar:10 color:Full from:1998 till:end text:Mount St. Joseph (1998–present)

bar:11 color:Full from:1998 till:2000 text:Wilmington (Oh.) (1998–2000)

bar:12 color:Full from:2000 till:2024 text:Defiance (2000–2024)

bar:13 color:FullxF from:2001 till:end text:Transylvania (2001–present)

bar:14 color:Full from:2010 till:2018 text:Earlham (2010–present) bar:14 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end

bar:15 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:2023 text:Centenary (La.) (2021–2023)

bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:2023 text:Colorado College (2021–2023)

bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:2022 text:Dallas (2021–2022)

bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:2023 text:Southwestern (Tex.) (2021–2022)

bar:19 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:Spalding (2021–present)

bar:20 color:FullxF from:2024 till:end text:Berea (2024–present)

bar:N color:green from:1987 till:1998 text:Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference bar:N color:blue from:1998 till:end text:Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1987

TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,20) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference membership history"

1. > 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.

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Sports

See also: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament. Conference sports

!Sport!Men's!Women's

Baseball
Basketball
Cross Country
Football
Golf
Soccer
Softball
Swimming & Diving
Tennis
Track & Field
Volleyball

Men's sponsored sports by school

!School!Baseball!Basketball!Cross Country!Football!Golf!Soccer!Swimming & Diving!Tennis!Track & Field!Total HCAC sports

Anderson										9
Berea										7
Bluffton										8
Earlham										7
Franklin										9
Hanover										9
Manchester										8
Mount St. Joseph										7
Rose–Hulman										9
Transylvania										8
Totals	10	10	10	7	9	10	7	8	10	81

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the HCAC that are played by HCAC schools

!School!Lacrosse!Volleyball!Wrestling

Earlham	HCLC
Franklin		IND
Hanover	HCLC
Manchester			IND
Mount St. Joseph		MCVL	IND
Transylvania	HCLC

Women's sponsored sports by school

!School!Basketball!Cross Country!Golf!Soccer!Softball!Swimming & Diving!Tennis!Track & Field!Volleyball!Total HCAC sports

Anderson										9
Berea										7
Bluffton										8
Earlham										8
Franklin										9
Hanover										9
Manchester										9
Mount St. Joseph										7
Rose–Hulman										9
Transylvania										9
Totals	10	10	9	10	10	7	8	10	10	84

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the HCAC that are played by HCAC schools

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!School!Field Hockey!Lacrosse!Wrestling

Earlham	NCAC
Franklin		HCLC
Hanover		HCLC
Manchester
Transylvania	NCAC	HCLC