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East Coast Conference
Association	NCAA
Founded	1958
Ceased	1994
Division	Division I
Locations

The East Coast Conference was a college athletic conference at the Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It was founded as the university division of the Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) in 1958. The MAC consisted of over 30 teams at that time, making it impossible to organize full league schedules in sports like football, basketball, and baseball. In 1958, the larger schools created their own mini conference, consisting of 11 members (7 for football).

In 1974, the larger schools in the MAC officially formed the East Coast Conference. During the 1974-75 through 1981-82 seasons, the ECC enjoyed a consistent membership of 12 teams. That stability was rocked when St. Joseph's, Temple, and West Chester departed in the summer of 1982, while Towson was added, trimming the league to 10 programs. Over the next two years, La Salle and American also said goodbye, cutting the roster to eight.

In 1987, a make-over for the ECC was pitched that included adding 12 members and sponsoring football again, The schools that were to be added included the return of Rutgers and Temple as well as adding Boston College, Syracuse, Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, East Carolina, South Carolina, Miami and Florida State. The NCAA approved it and was scheduled to start in 1990 and struck a television rights deal with NBC, The conference’s basketball tournament was going to move to the Meadowlands Arena, after they couldn’t get Madison Square Garden to host because they were in contract with the Big East. The Conference was abandoned on March 18, 1990, after Penn State announced that it would be joining the Big Ten Conference. After that Florida State joined the ACC, South Carolina left for the SEC and Boston College, Syracuse, Pitt, Temple, Rutgers, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Miami all formed Big East Football and NBC was awarded the Notre Dame football rights.^{[citation needed]}

The winds of realignment would sweep across intercollegiate athletics in full force as the next decade dawned. Bucknell, Lafayette, and Lehigh left to help form the Patriot League in 1990, while Delaware and Drexel headed to the North Atlantic Conference (now known as the America East Conference) in 1991. Attempting to stem the tide, the ECC added UMBC and Central Connecticut in 1990, followed by Division I newcomers Buffalo and Brooklyn in 1991.

More erosion ensued as Rider, Towson, and UMBC moved to other leagues after the 1991–92 campaign, while Brooklyn suspended its entire athletic department. This reduced the ECC to just three members -Hofstra, Central Connecticut, and Buffalo - not enough to maintain official conference status under NCAA bylaws during the 1992–93 season. Unable to move elsewhere themselves, that trio made one last salvage effort.

Spreading far and wide, Chicago State, Northeastern Illinois, and Troy State were enlisted, doubling participation to six teams for the 1993–94 academic year. Finally, the ECC was absorbed by the Mid-Continent Conference (now The Summit League) in the summer of 1994, although Hofstra instead decided to join the North Atlantic Conference. None of the five ECC institutions which entered the Mid-Con at that time remain in the league today.

According to the MAC's website,^[1] the East Coast Conference was not a successor to the MAC. Instead, 11 of the 12 University Division members left to form the original ECC in 1974, but the primary organization continued as an NCAA Division III conference when the NCAA adopted a division structure.

June 4–6, 1974 - The first major schism to be focused on this study occurs when the MAC University Division, with 12 members, loses 11 members, who leave to form their own conference (East Coast Conference). American, Bucknell, Delaware, Drexel, Lafayette, La Salle, Lehigh, Rider, St. Joseph's, Temple and West Chester all leave. Gettysburg, which opts to join the College Division, is the only University Division institution to remain.

Member schools

In all tables in this section, school names and nicknames reflect those in use in the last school year each institution was an ECC member. Conference names in the "Next Conference" columns reflect those in use during the first school year of membership in the new league.

Founding members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Subsequent conference	Current conference
Bucknell University	Lewisburg, Pennsylvania	1846	Private	3,655	Bison	1958	1990	Patriot (1990–present)
University of Delaware	Newark, Delaware	1743	Public	21,856	Fightin' Blue Hens	1958	1991	North Atlantic (NAC)^[a] (1991–2001)	Coastal (CAA) (2001–present)
Drexel University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1891	Private	25,500	Dragons	1958	1991	North Atlantic (NAC)^[a] (1991–2001)	Coastal (CAA) (2001–present)
Gettysburg College	Gettysburg, Pennsylvania	1832	Private	2,600	Bullets	1958	1974	Middle Atlantic (MAC)^[b]^[c] (1974–92)	Centennial^[b] (1992–present)
La Salle University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1863	Private	7,554	Explorers	1958	1983	Metro Atlantic (MAAC) (1983–92) Midwestern (MCC)^[d] (1992–95)	Atlantic 10 (A-10) (1995–present)
Lafayette College	Easton, Pennsylvania	1826	Private	2,488	Leopards	1958	1990	Patriot (1990–present)
Lehigh University	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania	1865	Private	7,070	Engineers^[e]	1958	1990	Patriot (1990–present)
Muhlenberg College	Allentown, Pennsylvania	1848	Private	2,225	Mules	1958	1964	Middle Atlantic (MAC)^[b]^[c] (1964–92)	Centennial^[b] (1992–present)
Rutgers University	New Brunswick, New Jersey	1766	Public	65,000	Scarlet Knights	1958	1962	various^[g]	Big Ten (2014–present)
Saint Joseph's University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1851	Private	9,025	Hawks	1958	1982	Atlantic 10 (A-10) (1982–present)
Temple University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1884	Public	37,788	Owls	1958	1982	Atlantic 10 (A-10) (1982–2013)	The American (2013–present)

Notes

^ ^a ^b Currently known as the America East Conference since 1996.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.
^ ^a ^b The Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) remains in operation, but since 1999 has been an umbrella organization of three conferences. All full MAC members have membership in either the MAC Commonwealth or the MAC Freedom, both of which organize competition in the same set of 14 sports. The third league, the Middle Atlantic Conference (singular), sponsors MAC-wide competition in 13 additional sports.
^ Currently known as the Horizon League since 2001.
^ Lehigh adopted its current nickname of Mountain Hawks in 1995.
^ Currently known as the Atlantic 10 Conference since 1982.
^ Rutgers had joined the following subsequent conferences: as NCAA D-I Independent from 1962–63 to 1975–76; in the Eastern Athletic Association^[f] (EAA) from 1976–77 to 1994–95; original Big East Conference from 1995–96 to 2012–13; and the American Athletic Conference during the 2013–14 school year.

Subsequent members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Subsequent conference	Current conference
American University	Washington, D.C.	1846	Private	6,776	Eagles	1965	1984	Coastal (CAA) (1984–2001)	Patriot (2001–present)
Brooklyn College	Brooklyn, New York	1930	Public	16,463	Bulldogs	1991	1992	N/A^[a]	C.U. of New York (CUNYAC)^[b] (1996–present)
University at Buffalo	Buffalo, New York	1846	Public	29,850	Bulls	1991	1994	Mid-Continent^[c] (1994–98)	Mid-American (MAC) (1998–present)
Central Connecticut State University	New Britain, Connecticut	1848	Public	11,865	Blue Devils	1990	1994	Mid-Continent^[c] (1994–97)	Northeast (NEC) (1997–present)
Chicago State University	Chicago, Illinois	1867	Public	7,131	Cougars	1993	1994	various^[d]	D-I Independent Joining Northeast (NEC) in 2024
Hofstra University	Hempstead, New York	1935	Private	12,400	Flying Dutchmen^[e]	1965	1994	North Atlantic (NAC)^[f] (1994–2001)	Coastal (CAA) (2001–present)
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)	Catonsville, Maryland	1966	Public	13,979	Retrievers	1990	1992	Big South (1992–98) Northeast (NEC) (1998–2003)	America East (2003–present)
Northeastern Illinois University	Chicago, Illinois	1867	Public	11,149	Golden Eagles	1993	1994	Mid-Continent^[c] (1994–98)	N/A^[g]
Rider University	Lawrenceville, New Jersey	1865	Private	5,400	Broncs	1966	1992	Northeast (NEC) (1992–97)	Metro Atlantic (MAAC) (1997–present)
Towson State University^[h]	Towson, Maryland	1866	Public	22,285	Tigers	1982	1992	Big South (1992–95) America East^[f] (1995–2001)	Coastal (CAA) (2001–present)
Troy State University^[i]	Troy, Alabama	1887	Public	19,579	Trojans	1993	1994	Mid-Continent^[c] (1994–97) Trans Atlantic (TAAC)^[j] (1997–2005)	Sun Belt (2005–present)
West Chester University	West Chester, Pennsylvania	1880	Public	14,211	Golden Rams	1969	1982	Pennsylvania (PSAC)^[k] (1982–present)

Notes

^ Brooklyn suspended its athletics program after the 1991–92 school year, before re-instating it back at the NCAA Division III ranks, effective since the 1996–97 school year.
^ Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Currently known as the Summit League since 2007.
^ Chicago State had joined the following subsequent conferences: the Mid-Continent Conference^[c] from 1994–95 to 2005–06; as an NCAA D-I Independent from 2006–07 to 2008–09; the Great West Conference from 2009–10 to 2012–13; and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) from 2013–14 to 2021–22.
^ Hofstra adopted its current nickname of Pride in 2000.
^ ^a ^b Currently known as the America East Conference since 1996.
^ Northeastern Illinois dropped its athletics program after the 1997–98 school year.
^ Towson dropped "State" from its name in 1997.
^ Troy dropped "State" from its name in 2005.
^ The conference's name was changed to the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2001. The conference was branded as the ASUN Conference between 2016 and 2023, before reverting to its 2001 name while still using ASUN as an official abbreviation.
^ Currently an NCAA Division II athletic conference.