The Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC ) was an intercollegiate athletic conference that competed in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics . Members of the conference were located in the Midwest United States and were located in Kansas , Missouri , Nebraska , Iowa , Arkansas , and Oklahoma .
Since 1994 when MCAC was established, to the time it dissolved in 2015, the conference only had two commissioners.[ 1]
Carl R. Clapp (1994–1995)
Al Waller (1996–2015)
Conference presidents [ edit ]
The conference has board made up of representatives from the member institutions, and one person from a school is selected as the board's president for two years.[ 1]
Larry Kramer, Avila College (1994–96)
Paul Mills, Wesleyan College (1996–98)
Sr. Tarcisia Roths, Newman University (1998–2000)
Wayne Baker, York College (2000–02)
Aidan Dunleavy, Newman University (2002–04)
Ben Johnson, Peru State College (2004–06)
Wayne Baker, York College (2006–08)
Maryanne Stevens, College of Saint Mary (2008–10)
Steve Eckman, York College (2010–12)
Hal Hoxie Central Christian College (2012–15)
Chronological timeline [ edit ]
1994 – The Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC) was founded. Charter members included Avila College (now Avila University), Bellevue College (now Bellevue University), Bartlesville Wesleyan College (now Oklahoma Wesleyan University), the School of the Ozarks (now the College of the Ozarks), Park College (now Park University), the Saint Mary College of Kansas (now the University of Saint Mary of Kansas), the College of Saint Mary of Nebraska and York College (now York University), beginning the 1994–95 academic year.
1999 – Saint Mary (Ks.) left the MCAC to join the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) after the 1998–99 academic year.
1999 – Newman University of Kansas joined the MCAC in the 1999–2000 academic year.
2000 – Avila left the MCAC to join the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) after the 1999–2000 academic year.
2000 – Peru State College joined the MCAC in the 2000–01 academic year.
2001 – Haskell Indian Nations University joined the MCAC in the 2001–02 academic year.
2002 – Central Christian College of Kansas joined the MCAC in the 2002–03 academic year.
2006 – Newman left the MCAC to join the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (primarily to compete in the Heartland Conference ) after the 2005–06 academic year.
2009 – Park U. left the MCAC to join the American Midwest Conference after the 2008–09 academic year.
2010 – Southwestern Christian University joined the MCAC in the 2010–11 academic year.
2011 – Peru State left the MCAC to join the HAAC after the 2010–11 academic year.
2011 – Central Baptist College joined the MCAC in the 2011–12 academic year.
2012 – Waldorf College (later Waldorf University) joined the MCAC in the 2012–13 academic year.
2013 – Southwestern Christian left the MCAC to join the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) after the 2012–13 academic year.
2015 – The MCAC ceased operations as an athletic conference after the 2014–15 academic year; as many schools left to find new conference homes, beginning the 2015–16 academic year: Central Baptist to the American Midwest, Saint Mary (Neb.) to the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), Central Christian (who would later join the SAC in the 2017–18 school year) and the College of the Ozarks to the Association of Independent Institutions (AII), and Oklahoma Wesleyan and York (Neb.) to the KCAC (York joined later in the 2016–17 school year after spending a season as an independent school), and Bellevue and Waldorf to the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA).
The MCAC had nine full members in the conference's final season, most were private schools:
Institution
Location
Founded
Affiliation
Enrollment
Nickname
Joined
Left
Subsequent conference
Current conference
Bellevue University
Bellevue, Nebraska
1966
Nonsectarian
10,407
Bruins
1994
2015
North Star (NSAA) (2015–present)
Central Baptist College
Conway, Arkansas
1952
Baptist Missionary
739
Mustangs
2011
2015
American Midwest (2015–present)
Central Christian College of Kansas
McPherson, Kansas
1884
Free Methodist
1,013
Tigers
2002
2015
NAIA Independent/AII (2015–17)
Sooner (SAC) (2017–present)
Haskell Indian Nations University
Lawrence, Kansas
1884
Public
958
Fighting Indians
2001
2015
NAIA Independent/AII (2015–present)
Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
1959
Wesleyan Church
1,103
Eagles
1994
2015
Kansas (KCAC) (2015–present)
College of the Ozarks
Point Lookout, Missouri
1906
Presbyterian (PCUSA)
1,508
Bobcats
1994
2015
NAIA Independent/AII (2015–21)
NCCAA Independent (2021–present)
College of Saint Mary
Omaha, Nebraska
1923
Catholic (R.S.M. )
1,070
Flames
1994
2015
Great Plains (GPAC) (2015–present)
Waldorf College [ a]
Forest City, Iowa
1903
For-profit [ b]
580
Warriors
2012
2015
North Star (NSAA) (2015–present)
York College [ c]
York, Nebraska
1890
Churches of Christ
459
Panthers
1994
2015
NAIA Independent/AII (2015–16)
Kansas (KCAC) (2016–present)
Notes
The MCAC had six other full members during the conference's tenure, most were private schools:
Institution
Location
Founded
Affiliation
Enrollment
Nickname
Joined
Left
Subsequent conference
Current conference
Avila University
Kansas City, Missouri
1916
Catholic (C.S.J. )
1,676
Eagles
1994
2000
Heart of America (HAAC) (2000–18)
Kansas (KCAC) (2018–present)
Newman University
Wichita, Kansas
1933
Catholic(A.S.C. )
3,170
Jets
1999
2006
Heartland [ a] (2006–19)
Mid-America (MIAA) [ a] (2019–present)
Park University [ b]
Parkville, Missouri
1875
Nonsectarian
2,340
Pirates
1994
2009
American Midwest (2009–20)
Heart of America (HAAC) (2020–present)
Peru State College
Peru, Nebraska
1865
Public
2,422
Bobcats
2000
2011
Heart of America (HAAC) (2011–present)
University of Saint Mary
Leavenworth, Kansas
1859
Catholic(S.C.L. )
750
Spires
1994
1999
Kansas (KCAC) (1999–present)
Southwestern Christian University
Bethany, Oklahoma
1946
Pentecostal
764
Eagles
2010
2013
Sooner (SAC) (2013–present)
Notes
^ a b Currently an NCAA Division II athletic conference.
^ Park was a non-basketball member school on the men's and women's sides in their tenure in the MCAC.
Membership timeline [ edit ]
Full member (non-football)
The Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference fielded 11 sports (5 men's and 6 women's), which includes: