West_Virginia_Intercollegiate_Athletic_Conference

West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

U.S. collegiate conference

The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a collegiate athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but briefly had one Kentucky member in its early years, and expanded into Pennsylvania in its final years. It participated in the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), originally affiliated in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) until 1995, but held its final athletic competitions in spring 2013, and officially disbanded on September 1 of that year. Its football-playing members announced in June 2012 that they planned to withdraw to form a new Division II conference at the end of the 2012–13 season; this led to a chain of conference moves that saw all but one of the WVIAC's members find new conference homes.

Quick Facts Association, Founded ...

History

The conference was one of the oldest in intercollegiate athletics, dating back to its founding in 1924 by the West Virginia Department of Education.

In its final school year of 2012–13, the WVIAC offered championships in 16 sports and was headquartered in Princeton, West Virginia. Men's championships were offered in football, basketball, baseball, track, cross country, soccer, tennis, and golf. Women's titles were contested in volleyball, softball, basketball, cross country, soccer, track, tennis, and golf.

The WVIAC moved into the NCAA Division II in 1995 after its 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.

Chronological timeline

WVIAC breakup

On June 18, 2012, nine football-playing members of the WVIAC announced they would withdraw from the league to form a new regional all-sports conference.[1]

The WVIAC officially ceased 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 joined 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 joined 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] The final remaining member, Bluefield State, competed as a D-II independent for 9 years before being invited to rejoin its former conference in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 2023.[5]

Member schools at breakup

More information Institution, Location ...
Notes
  1. All colleges are listed by their names as of 2020; most have had name changes over the years. See articles on individual schools for details.
  2. Non-football member at time of breakup.
  3. Currently an NCAA Division II athletic conference.
  4. Currently known as Bluefield State University since 2022.
  5. Currently known as Glenville State University since 2022.
  6. Ohio Valley's final conference affiliation was the River States Conference (RSC) during the 2021–22 school year. However, the school announced that it had close at the end of the fall 2021 semester without completing the rest of the 2021–22 school year.
  7. West Virginia Wesleyan left the WVIAC after the 1985–86 school year; before rejoining in the 1988–89 school year.
  8. Wheeling added football in the 2019 fall season (2019–20 school year).

Member schools leaving before 2013

More information Institution, Location ...
Notes
  1. All colleges are listed by their most recent names—the final names of defunct institutions, and names in use by existing institutions as of 2020. Most have had name changes over the years; see articles on individual schools for details.
  2. Both Alderson College and Broaddus College merged to form the school now known as Alderson Broaddus University.
  3. Currently an NCAA Division I athletic conference.
  4. Mountain State's main campus in Beckley became the University of Charleston–Beckley on January 1, 2013. UC later established a new Beckley campus in 2015, leaving the former Mountain State campus, which was sold to West Virginia University and to where West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU Tech) moved in 2017.
  5. Marshall stopped competition in the conference when it joined the Buckeye Conference from 1932–33 to 1938–39, but was required by state regulations to remain a member on a technical basis until 1949. Marshall was a non-competing member of the WVIAC from 1939–40 to 1947–48, when the Herd joined the Ohio Valley Conference (1948–49 to 1951–52), but Marshall had players picked for All-WVIAC during the decade as a non-competing member.
  6. Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.
  7. Currently an NJCAA athletic conference.
  8. Formerly known as West Virginia Institute of Technology before 1996.
  9. WVU Tech is now located in Beckley, but its campus was in Montgomery throughout the existence of the WVIAC.
  10. Currently an NAIA athletic conference.
  11. Formerly known as Salem International University before September 2017.

Membership timeline

Seton Hill UniversityUniversity of Pittsburgh at JohnstownOhio Valley UniversityWheeling UniversityWest Virginia State UniversityBluefield State CollegeMountain State UniversityAlderson Broaddus UniversityMorehead State UniversityWest Virginia Wesleyan CollegeWest Virginia University Institute of TechnologyWest Virginia UniversityWest Liberty UniversityShepherd UniversitySalem UniversityPotomac State College of West Virginia UniversityMarshall UniversityGlenville State CollegeFairmont State UniversityDavis & Elkins CollegeConcord UniversityUniversity of CharlestonAlderson Broaddus UniversityBethany College (West Virginia)Alderson Broaddus University

References

  1. [1]
    "A Break Up For WVIAC". WV Metro News. June 19, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  2. [2]
    "NCAA ADDS MOUNTAIN EAST CONFERENCE AS NEWEST DIVISION II LEAGUE" (Press release). Mountain East Conference. February 15, 2013. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013.
  3. [3]
    "A New conference Called Mountain East". August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  4. [4]
    "G-MAC News: Conference Adds Three New Members" (Press release). Great Midwest Athletic Conference. August 21, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
  5. [5]
    CIAA expected to add Bluefield State, cut ties with Chowan
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article West_Virginia_Intercollegiate_Athletic_Conference, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.