Liberty League
(Redirected from Upstate Collegiate Athletic Conference)
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| Formerly | Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association |
|---|---|
| Association | NCAA |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Commissioner | Tracy King |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division III |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Headquarters | Troy, New York |
| Region | Upstate New York |
| Official website | libertyleagueathletics.com |
| Locations | |
| Location of teams in {{{title}}} | |
The Liberty League is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are all located in the state of New York.
History
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It was founded in 1995 as the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association. The conference was renamed during the summer of 2004 to the current name.
The league includes founding members Clarkson University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of Rochester, St. Lawrence University, Skidmore College, and Union College. Vassar College became a full member of the league during the 2000–01 academic year, Bard College and Rochester Institute of Technology joined for the 2011–12 academic year, and Ithaca College officially joined for the 2017–18 academic year. Founding member Hamilton College departed following the 2010–11 academic year in order to fully integrate its athletic programs within the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).
Buffalo State University and Hilbert College are associate members in football only.
Accomplishments
[edit | edit source]Offensive linesman Ali Marpet of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, drafted in the 2nd round, 61st overall, of the 2015 NFL draft, is the highest-drafted pick in the history of Division III football.[1] He was three-time All-Liberty League first team (2012, 2013, 2014), and 2014 Liberty League Co-Offensive Player of the Year—the first offensive lineman in league history to be so honored.[2][3][4]
Chronological timeline
[edit | edit source]- 1995 – In 1995, the Liberty League was founded as the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA). Charter members included Clarkson University, Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the University of Rochester, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), St. Lawrence University, Skidmore College and Union College, beginning the 1995–96 academic year.
- 2001 – Vassar College joined the UCAA in the 2000–01 academic year.
- 2004:
- On July 1, 2004, the UCAA was rebranded as the Liberty League; beginning the 2004–05 academic year.
- The United States Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard), the United States Merchant Marine Academy (Merchant Marine) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) joined the Liberty League as associate members for football in the 2004 fall season (2004–05 academic year).
- 2006 – U.S. Coast Guard left the Liberty League as an associate member for football after the 2005 fall season (2005–06 academic year).
- 2007 – Susquehanna University joined the Liberty League as an associate member for football in the 2007 fall season (2007–08 academic year).
- 2009 – U.S. Merchant Marine added men's golf to its Liberty League associate membership in the 2010 spring season (2009–10 academic year).
- 2010 – Susquehanna left the Liberty League as an associate member for football after the 2009 fall season (2009–10 academic year).
- 2011:
- Charter member Hamilton left the Liberty League in order to fully integrate its athletic programs within the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) after the 2010–11 academic year.
- Bard College and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) joined the Liberty League in the 2011–12 academic year.
- 2012:
- U.S. Merchant Marine left the Liberty League as an associate member for men's golf after dropping the sport after the 2012 spring season (2011–12 academic year).
- Four institutions joined the Liberty League as associate members, all effective in the 2012–13 academic year:
- Springfield College for football
- New York University for both men's and women's golf
- and Mount Holyoke College and Wellesley College for women's golf
- 2013 – St. John Fisher College joined the Liberty League as an associate member for men's and women's rowing in the 2013–14 academic year.
- 2017:
- Springfield, U.S. Merchant Marine and Worcester Poly (WPI) left the Liberty League as associate members for football after the 2016 fall season (2016–17 academic year).
- Ithaca College joined the Liberty League in the 2017–18 academic year.
- 2019 – Buffalo State College (now Buffalo State University) joined the Liberty League as an associate member for football in the 2019 fall season (2019–20 academic year).
- 2020 – Mount Holyoke left the Liberty League as an associate member for women's golf after dropping the sport after the 2020 spring season (2019–20 academic year).
- 2022:
- St. John Fisher left the Liberty League as an associate member for men's rowing after the 2021–22 academic year.
- Denison University joined the Liberty League as an associate member for men's and women's squash in the 2022–23 academic year.
- 2023 – Two institutions joined the Liberty League as associate members, both effective in the 2023–24 academic year:
- Haverford College for men's and women's squash
- and Mount Holyoke for women's squash
- 2024 – Mount Holyoke left the Liberty League as an associate member for women's squash after the 2023–24 academic year.
- 2025 – The Liberty League announced that it entered into a scheduling agreement for non-conference football games with the Empire 8 for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. As part of this agreement, Hilbert College joined the Liberty League from the Empire 8 as an associate member for football, beginning the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year), giving both leagues 8 football-playing members.
Member schools
[edit | edit source]Current members
[edit | edit source]The Liberty League currently has 12 full members, all are private schools:
| Institution | Location[a] | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined[b] | Football? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bard College | Annandale-on-Hudson | 1860 | Episcopal | 1,958 | Raptors | 2011 | No |
| Clarkson University | Potsdam | 1896 | Nonsectarian | 2,848 | Golden Knights | 1995 | No |
| Hobart College[c] | Geneva | 1822 | Episcopal | 905 | Statesmen | 1995 | Yes |
| Ithaca College | Ithaca | 1892 | Nonsectarian | 6,769 | Bombers | 2017 | Yes |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) |
Troy | 1824 | Nonsectarian | 5,431 | Engineers | 1995 | Yes |
| University of Rochester[d] | Rochester | 1850 | Nonsectarian | 12,233 | Yellowjackets | 1995 | Yes |
| Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) |
Henrietta | 1829 | Nonsectarian | 18,000 | Tigers | 2011 | No |
| St. Lawrence University | Canton | 1856 | Nonsectarian | 2,327 | Saints | 1995 | Yes |
| Skidmore College | Saratoga Springs | 1903 | Nonsectarian | 2,734 | Thoroughbreds | 1995 | No |
| Union College | Schenectady | 1795 | Nonsectarian | 2,197 | Garnet Chargers | 1995 | Yes |
| Vassar College | Poughkeepsie | 1861 | Nonsectarian | 2,446 | Brewers | 2001 | No |
| William Smith College[c] | Geneva | 1908 | Episcopal | 1,045 | Herons | 1995 | No |
- Notes
- ^ All cities were located in the State of New York.
- ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
- ^ a b Hobart (men) and William Smith (women) are together the Colleges of the Seneca and usually grouped together, but they participate separately in athletics.
- ^ Rochester holds dual conference membership with both the Liberty and the University Athletic Association (UAA).
Associate members
[edit | edit source]The Liberty League currently has seven associate members, all but one are private schools:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined[a] | Liberty sport |
Primary conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo State University | Buffalo, New York | 1871 | Public[b] | 8,339 | Bengals | 2019 | Football | S.U. New York (SUNYAC) |
| Denison University | Granville, Ohio | 1831 | Nonsectarian | 2,100 | Big Red | 2022m.sq. | Men's squash | North Coast (NCAC) |
| 2022w.sq. | Women's squash | |||||||
| Haverford College | Haverford, Pennsylvania | 1833 | Nonsectarian | 1,268 | Fords | 2023m.sq. | Men's squash | Centennial |
| 2023w.sq. | Women's squash | |||||||
| Hilbert College | Hamburg, New York | 1957 | Catholic (Franciscan) |
800 | Hawks | 2025 | Football | Allegheny Mountain (AMCC) |
| New York University | New York City | 1832 | Nonsectarian | 22,280 | Violets | 2012m.gf. | Men's golf | University Athletic (UAA) |
| 2012w.gf. | Women's golf | |||||||
| St. John Fisher University | Rochester, New York | 1948 | Catholic (Basilians) |
4,000 | Cardinals | 2013 | Women's rowing | Empire 8 (E8) |
| Wellesley College | Wellesley, Massachusetts | 1870 | Nonsectarian | 2,300 | Blue | 2012 | Women's golf | New England (NEWMAC) |
- Notes
- ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
- ^ Part of the State University of New York System.
Former full members
[edit | edit source]The Liberty League had one former full member, which was also a private school:
| Institution | Location[a] | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined[b] | Left[c] | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton College[d] | Clinton | 1793 | Nonsectarian | 1,864 | Continentals | 1995 | 2011 | New England (NESCAC) |
- Notes
- ^ All cities were located in the State of New York.
- ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
- ^ Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
- ^ Hamilton left the Liberty League after the 2010–11 school year in order to fully align with the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), of which it has been a charter member since 1971. The school previously held dual membership with both the Liberty and NESCAC conferences.
Former associate members
[edit | edit source]The Liberty League had seven former associate members, all but two were private schools:
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- Notes
- ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
- ^ Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
- ^ Coast Guard competed in the Liberty League as a football-only associate member in the 2004 and 2005 fall seasons after its previous conference, the Freedom Football Conference, disbanded (it competed in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) in most other sports, where it remains). After two seasons it moved to the New England Football Conference (since rebranded as Commonwealth Coast Football [CCF], now being part of the Conference of New England [CNE]), where it remained through the 2016 fall season. Coast Guard's football program soon joined its other sports in the NEWMAC in fall 2017, when that league began sponsoring football.
- ^ After competing in the Liberty League as an associate member, Merchant Marine's football team joined the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) as of the 2017 fall season (2017–18 school year).
- ^ Merchant Marine discontinued men's golf after the 2012 spring season (2011–12 school year).
- ^ Mount Holyoke discontinued women's golf after the 2020 spring season (2019–20 school year).[6]
- ^ Susquehanna competed in the Liberty League as a football-only associate member for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 fall seasons after leaving its previous football conference, the Middle Atlantic Conferences (it then competed in the Landmark Conference in most other sports, where it remains to this day). After three seasons it moved to the Centennial Conference.
Membership timeline
[edit | edit source]<timeline> DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1995 till:2028 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = 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:1995 till:end text:Clarkson (1995–present)
bar:2 color:AssocOS from:1995 till:2011 text:Hamilton (N.Y.) (1995–2011)
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2003 text:Hobart (1995–present) bar:3 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2003 text:RPI (1995–present) bar:4 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2003 text:Rochester (1995–present) bar:5 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1995 till:end text:Skidmore (1995–present)
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2003 text:St. Lawrence (1995–present) bar:7 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2003 text:Union (1995–present) bar:8 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1995 till:end text:William Smith (1995–present)
bar:10 color:FullxF from:2000 till:end text:Vassar (2001–present)
bar:11 color:AssocF from:2004 till:2006 text:Coast Guard (2004–2006)
bar:12 color:AssocF from:2004 till:2017 text:Merchant Marine (2004–2017) bar:12 color:AssocOS from:2009 till:2012 text:
bar:13 color:AssocF from:2004 till:2017 text:WPI (2004–2017)
bar:14 color:AssocF from:2007 till:2010 text:Susquehanna (2007–2010)
bar:15 color:FullxF from:2011 till:end text:Bard (2011–present)
bar:16 color:FullxF from:2011 till:end text:RIT (2011–present)
bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2020 text:Mount Holyoke (2012–2020, w.gf.) bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2023 till:2024 text:(2023–2024, sq.)
bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:end text:NYU (2012–present)
bar:19 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:end text:Wellesley (2012–present)
bar:20 color:AssocF from:2012 till:2017 text:Springfield (2012–2017)
bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2013 till:end text:St. John Fisher (2013–present)
bar:22 color:FullxF from:2017 till:end text:Ithaca (2017–present)
bar:23 color:AssocF from:2019 till:end text:Buffalo State (2019–present)
bar:24 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text:Denison (2022–present)
bar:25 color:AssocOS from:2023 till:end text:Haverford (2023–present)
bar:26 shift:(-30) color:AssocF from:2025 till:end text:Hilbert (2025–present)
bar:N color:red from:1995 till:2004 text:Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association bar:N color:blue from:2004 till:end text:Liberty League
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1996
TextData =
fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,20) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Liberty League membership history"
- > 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.
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football-only) <# </timeline>
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football) Associate member (sport)
Sports
[edit | edit source]The Liberty League sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's crew, men's and women's cross country, women's field hockey, men's football, men's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, women's softball, men's and women's squash, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field, and women's volleyball.
| Sport | Men's | Women's |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Cross Country | ||
| Field Hockey | ||
| Football | ||
| Golf | ||
| Lacrosse | ||
| Rowing | ||
| Soccer | ||
| Softball | ||
| Squash | ||
| Swimming & Diving | ||
| Tennis | ||
| Track & Field (Indoor) | ||
| Track & Field (Outdoor) | ||
| Volleyball |
Men's sponsored sports by school
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Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Liberty League
[edit | edit source]| School | Alpine Skiing |
Crew | Fencing | Ice Hockey | Nordic Skiing |
Riding | Rugby | Sailing | Volleyball | Wrestling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bard | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | NECC | No |
| Clarkson | Independent | No | No | ECAC Hockey | Independent | No | No | No | No | No |
| Hobart | Independent | No | No | SUNYAC | No | No | No | Independent | UVC | No |
| Ithaca | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | SUNYAC |
| RIT | No | No | No | AHA | No | No | No | No | No | SUNYAC |
| RPI | No | No | No | ECAC Hockey | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Skidmore | No | No | No | SUNYAC | No | IHSA[a] | No | No | No | No |
| St. Lawrence | Independent | No | No | ECAC Hockey | Independent | IHSA[a] | No | No | No | No |
| Union | No | Independent | No | ECAC Hockey | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Vassar | No | No | NFC | No | No | No | Independent | No | UVC | No |
Women's sponsored sports by school
[edit | edit source]Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Liberty League
[edit | edit source]| School | Alpine Skiing |
Bowling | Crew | Fencing | Gymnastics | Ice Hockey | Nordic Skiing |
Riding | Rugby | Sailing | Sculling | Wrestling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarkson | Independent | No | No | No | No | ECAC Hockey | Independent | No | No | No | No | No |
| Ithaca | No | No | No | No | NCGA | No | No | No | No | No | Independent | Independent |
| RIT | No | No | No | No | No | AHA | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| RPI | No | No | No | No | No | ECAC Hockey | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Skidmore | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | IHSA[a] | No | No | No | No |
| St. Lawrence | Independent | No | No | No | No | ECAC Hockey | Independent | IHSA[a] | No | No | No | No |
| Union | No | No | Independent | No | No | ECAC Hockey | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Vassar | No | No | No | NFC | No | No | No | No | Independent | No | No | No |
| William Smith | Independent | Independent | No | No | No | SUNYAC | No | No | No | Independent | No | No |
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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- ^ Liberty League Archived 2006-09-03 at the Wayback Machine
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External links
[edit | edit source]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]].
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