Great Midwest Athletic Conference

Association	NCAA
Founded	2011 (began play in 2012)
Commissioner	Tom Daeger[1] (since 2011)
Sports fielded	25 men's: 12 (1 emerging) women's: 13
Division	Division II
No. of teams	14 (13 in 2024)
Headquarters	Indianapolis
Region	Great Lakes and East South Central
Official website	g-macsports.com
Locations

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.

History

Great Midwest Athletic Conference mark-coord1 = 39°44′51″N 83°48′40″W / 39.7475°N 83.811111°W / 39.7475; -83.811111

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Location of G-MAC members: full, affiliate

The initial announcement of a potential new conference surfaced in June 2011 when the presidents and athletic directors of Cedarville University, Notre Dame College, Urbana University, and Ursuline College met to discuss plans for a new Division II conference.^[3]

Soon after the initial meeting, Central State University joined and became a fifth member. In October 2011, Kentucky Wesleyan College announced that the school will join the G-MAC, withdrawing from its current conference, the Great Lakes Valley Conference.^[4]

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 20, 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 May 19, 2020, Ashland University announced they would join the Great Midwest Athletic Conference from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the 2021–22 school year.^[16]

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]

Member schools

Membership timeline

 Full member (all sports)   Full member (non-football)   Associate member (football-only)   Associate member (sport) 

Sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Bowling		Y
Cross country	Y	Y
Football	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Lacrosse	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Stunt		Y
Swimming & diving	Y	Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track & field indoor	Y	Y
Track & field outdoor	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y
Wrestling	Y

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.^[28]

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.

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross country	Football	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Swimming & diving	Tennis	Track & field indoor	Track & field outdoor	Wrestling	Total GMAC sports
Ashland	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Cedarville	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y		Y	Y	Y		8
Findlay	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Hillsdale	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y				Y	Y	Y		8
Kentucky Wesleyan	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y			Y	Y	Y	9
Lake Erie	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	9
Malone	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y		8
Northwood	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	Y	Y		9
Ohio Dominican	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y			Y	Y		8
Thomas More	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y		9
Tiffin	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Trevecca Nazarene	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y			Y	Y		7
Walsh	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		10
Totals	13	13	13	10	12	5+4[lower-alpha 1]	12	3	8	12	13	5	117+4

1. ↑ Affiliate members Davis & Elkins, Mercyhurst, Seton Hall, and Wheeling.

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Bowling[lower-alpha 1]	Cross country	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Stunt[lower-alpha 2]	Swimming & diving	Tennis	Track & field indoor	Track & field outdoor	Volleyball	Total GMAC sports
Ashland	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Cedarville	Y		Y			Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Findlay	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Hillsdale	Y		Y				Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Kentucky Wesleyan	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Lake Erie	Y		Y		Y	Y	Y				Y	Y	Y	8
Malone	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	10
Northwood	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Ohio Dominican	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y				Y	Y	Y	8
Thomas More	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y			Y		Y	Y	10
Tiffin	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Trevecca Nazarene	Y		Y	Y		Y	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	9
Ursuline	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	13
Walsh	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Totals	14	4	14	11	7	13	14	6+2[lower-alpha 3]	4	10	13	14	14	139

1. ↑ De facto Division I sport. The NCAA conducts a national championship tournament open to schools in all three divisions.
2. ↑ De facto Division I sport as part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program. National championships are currently operated by USA Cheer.
3. ↑ Affiliate members Hiram and Mercyhurst. Davenport becomes an affiliate in 2024–25.

Championships

References

External links

• Official website