The Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. It was named the 24th (at the time) NCAA Division II conference and operates in the Great Lakes and East South Central States regions of the United States.[2] The G-MAC began conference play in the 2012–13 academic year hosting 12 championships and continued to work through the educational assessment program. The conference received approval and became an active Division II conference in 2013–14, hosting 17 championships.
In November 2011, Trevecca Nazarene University was accepted as another charter member of the conference.[5] Trevecca had begun the process of transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division II membership in July, 2011 and entered a provisional NCAA membership year during the conference's initially planned start for the 2013–14 academic year.[5] In late November, the conference announced the hiring of Tom Daeger as Conference Commissioner, with offices in Indianapolis.[1]
On February 21, 2012, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference announced the NCAA had accepted the G-MAC as the 24th NCAA Division ll conference.[6] The conference then added two more members when it was announced on April 23 and May 1, 2012, that the University of Virginia's College at Wise (UVA Wise) and Georgetown College had been granted provisional membership in the conference pending their approval by the NCAA Division II Membership Committee.[7][8] Georgetown College was rejected for Division II membership, but applied to join Division II in 2014. However, they were denied acceptance once again by the Membership Council.[9] As of 2021, Georgetown has made no further attempt to join Division II.
In the fall of 2012, it was announced that Urbana and UVA Wise would spend only one season as active members of the G-MAC. At the same time, the G-MAC announced that three West Virginia schools had accepted invitations to join the conference, starting in July 2013—Alderson Broaddus University, Davis & Elkins College, and Ohio Valley University.[10] All three schools were previously members of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC), which disbanded after most of its football-sponsoring schools announced their departure for a new D-II league that eventually became the Mountain East Conference (MEC).[11] On October 16, 2012, the G-MAC announced that Salem International University, since renamed Salem University, would join the conference on July 1, 2013.[12] Salem would leave the G-MAC in 2016 to become a Division II independent.
On July 12, 2013, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference received official approval from the NCAA Division II Membership Committee, recognizing the Conference as an active NCAA Division II conference. On the same day, it was announced that Ursuline College had been approved as an active NCAA DII member and Trevecca Nazarene University successfully completed its Year Two candidacy and was moved into the Provisional Year of the membership process by the NCAA Division II Membership Committee.
On August 7, 2013, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference partnered with Cumberland University as it embarked on a transition to potential NCAA Division II membership. The G-MAC Presidents Council unanimously admitted Cumberland as a provisional member effective immediately and would have sponsored the institution as it worked through the NCAA Division II membership application process.[13] In July 2014, Cumberland was denied acceptance into the NCAA by the Membership Council.[9] As in the case of Georgetown, Cumberland has made no further attempt to join Division II.
On August 30, 2018, Davis & Elkins announced that it would reunite with most of its former WVIAC rivals in the Mountain East Conference after the 2018–19 school year.[14] The school remains a G-MAC affiliate in men's lacrosse, a sport that the MEC does not sponsor.
On February 1, 2019, Malone announced that it had eliminated football and "remains committed to athletic competition in the NCAA Div. II and as members of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC)."[15]
On June 5, 2020, another former WVIAC member, Alderson Broaddus, announced that it was leaving the G-MAC to join most of its old rivals in the Mountain East Conference for the 2020–21 school year.[17]
On February 11, 2021, Ohio Valley announced that it would return to NAIA and join the River States Conference that July,[18] and on April 29, Northwood University announced that it would also join the G-MAC from the GLIAC for the 2022–23 school year.[19]
The G-MAC would gain a member later in 2021; on August 18, the conference and Thomas More University announced that the school, currently a member of the NAIA Mid-South Conference, would become a provisional G-MAC member in 2022. With G-MAC acceptance in hand, Thomas More applied to rejoin the NCAA and was officially accepted as a provisional D-II member on July 14, 2022.[20] The school accordingly became a provisional G-MAC member, but continued to compete in the NAIA and in the Mid-South until July 2023.[21]
Also for the 2021–22 season, G-MAC announced a partnership with Conference Carolinas to create a men's and women's bowling championship (even though men's bowling is not considered a varsity sport by the NCAA). Each conference will organize its regular season independently but the postseason will be called Conference Carolinas/Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Bowling Championships.[22][23]
The most recently added sport is stunt, a women-only cheerleading discipline that emphasizes the acrobatic and technical aspects of cheerleading. It was added as an officially sanctioned sport for the 2022–23 school year, a year before it was added to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program in August 2023. The first season of conference competition featured four full G-MAC members and one affiliate.[24][25]
2017 – Wheeling Jesuit University (now Wheeling University) joined the G-MAC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse in the 2018 spring season (2017–18 academic year).
2018 – Tiffin University joined the G-MAC in the 2018–19 academic year.
2019 – Davis & Elkins left the G-MAC to join the Mountain East after the 2018–19 academic year; while it remained for men's lacrosse beginning the 2020 spring season (2019–20 academic year).
2020 – Alderson Broaddus left the G-MAC to join the Mountain East after the 2019–20 academic year; while it remained for men's lacrosse beginning the 2021 spring season (2020–21 academic year).
2021 – Ashland University joined the G-MAC in the 2021–22 academic year.
2022
Northwood University and Thomas More University joined the G-MAC with the 2022–23 academic year. Although Thomas More joined the conference as a provisional member, it continued to compete in the NAIA and the Mid-South Conference in 2022–23 before beginning competition as a full G-MAC member in July 2023.
The G-MAC began conference competition in stunt in 2022–23 with four full members joined by new affiliate Hiram College.[25]
2023
Alderson Broaddus left the G-MAC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse after the 2023 spring season (2022–23 academic year) due to the closure of the school.
Mercyhurst, already a G-MAC affiliate in men's lacrosse, added stunt to its conference membership.[25]
2024
Trevecca Nazarene left the G-MAC to join the Gulf South Conference after the 2023–24 academic year.[26]
Davenport University joined the G-MAC as an affiliate member for men's wrestling, men's lacrosse, and stunt, beginning the 2024–25 academic year.
Mercyhurst left the G-MAC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse and stunt after the 2024 spring season (2023–24 academic year).
Member schools
Current members
The G-MAC currently has 13 full members, all are private schools. Reclassifying members listed in yellow.
^Kentucky Wesleyan joined the G-MAC in 2012 as a charter member for most sports, but did not begin competition until the 2013–14 school year because of its commitments to the final year of competition in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).
^ abLake Erie and Walsh competed in the G-MAC as affiliate members for men's lacrosse during the 2017 spring season (2016–17 school year).
^Thomas More joined the G-MAC as a provisional member in July 2022 while still competing in the NAIA's Mid-South Conference (MSC); it began competition as a full G-MAC member in the 2023–24 school year.
^This institution is a women's college, therefore it does not compete in men's sports.
Affiliate members
The G-MAC has five affiliate members, all are private schools:
^UVA Wise dropped "Highland" from its athletic branding in 2017.
^UVA Wise joined the G-MAC in 2012 as a charter member for most sports, but was fulfilling its commitments to the final year of competition in the Mid-South Conference of the NAIA until the 2013–14 school year. However, UVA Wise was never a full member of the conference as it later announced to join the Mountain East Conference, effective that same school year.
Former affiliate members
The G-MAC had two former affiliate members, which were both private schools. School names and nicknames reflect those used during G-MAC membership:
In swimming and diving for both sexes, the G-MAC and Mountain East Conference operate as a single league, conducting a combined conference championship meet.[27]
In bowling, Great Midwest Athletic Conference and Conference Carolinas made a partnership to make a men's and women's bowling championship (even though men's bowling is not considered a varsity sport by the NCAA). Each conference will organize its regular season independently but the postseason will be called Conference Carolinas/Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Bowling Championships.
Thomas More sponsors varsity teams in the following non-NCAA sports: archery, men's bowling, and men's rugby. It also considers its band, cheerleaders (male and female) and dance team (all-female) to be varsity athletes.
