America East Conference

Not to be confused with American Athletic Conference.

America East Conference (America East)
Established	1979
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I non-football
Members	11 (full: 9; associate: 2)
Sports fielded	18 (men's: 7 sports; women's: 11 sports)
Region	Northeastern United States
Former names	ECAC North (1979–1988) North Atlantic Conference (1988–1996)
Headquarters	Cambridge, Massachusetts
Commissioner	Amy Huchthausen
Website	americaeast.com
Locations

The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA Division I, whose members are located mainly in the Northeastern United States. The conference was known as the ECAC North from 1979 to 1988 and the North Atlantic Conference from 1988 to 1996.

History

The America East Conference was founded as the ECAC North, a men's basketball-only athletic conference in 1979. The charter members were the following: The University of Rhode Island, the College of the Holy Cross, Canisius College, Niagara University, Colgate University, Northeastern University, Boston University, the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Vermont. Many other events have occurred since its formation:

• Rhode Island left in 1980.
• Holy Cross left in 1983.
• Siena College joined in 1984.
• The University of Hartford joined in 1985.
• Later, the conference became an all-sports conference, named as the North Atlantic Conference in the 1988-89 season, only for Canisius, Niagara and Siena to leave after the spring of 1989 to join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
• Colgate left in 1990 to join the Patriot League.
• The University of Delaware and Drexel University joined in 1991.
• Hofstra University joined in 1994.
• Towson University joined in 1995.
• On July 1, 1996, the conference's name changed to its present name, the America East Conference.
• During 2001, Delaware, Drexel, Hofstra and Towson left to join the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) while the University at Albany, Binghamton University and Stony Brook University replaced them.
• The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) soon joined in 2003.
• Northeastern left in 2005 to join the CAA.
• Most recently, Boston University left to join the Patriot League on July 1, 2013, while the University of Massachusetts Lowell joined from Division II.

Member schools

Full members

There are nine schools with full membership:

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	U.S. News National University Rank
University at Albany, SUNY	Albany, New York	Great Danes	1844	Public	17,312	2001	#126
Binghamton University, SUNY	Vestal, New York	Bearcats	1946	Public	16,077	2001	#88
University of Hartford	Hartford, Connecticut	Hawks	1877	Private	6,935	1985	#83 (Regional University - North)
University of Maine	Orono, Maine	Black Bears	1865	Public	11,247	1979	#173
University of Maryland, Baltimore County	Catonsville, Maryland	Retrievers	1966	Public	13,908	2003	#149
University of Massachusetts Lowell	Lowell, Massachusetts	River Hawks	1894	Public	17,500	2013	#156
University of New Hampshire	Durham, New Hampshire	Wildcats	1866	Public	14,761	1979	#99
Stony Brook University, SUNY	Stony Brook, New York	Seawolves	1957	Public	24,594	2001	#88
University of Vermont	Burlington, Vermont	Catamounts	1791	Public	11,287	1979	#85

Associate members

There are currently four schools with associate membership, all of which moved their field hockey teams into the America East in July 2015.

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Primary Conference	AmEast Sport	Joined
Stanford University	Stanford, California	Cardinal	1891	Private	15,877	Pac-12	Field hockey	2015
University of the Pacific	Stockton, California	Tigers	1851	Private	6,196	WCC	Field hockey	2015
University of California, Berkeley (California)	Berkeley, California	Golden Bears	1868	Public	36,204	Pac-12	Field hockey	2015
University of California, Davis (UC Davis)	Davis, California	Aggies	1905	Public	34,175	Big West	Field hockey	2015

Former members

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Current Conference
Boston University	Boston, Massachusetts	Terriers	1939	Private	29,978	1979	2013	Patriot
Canisius College	Buffalo, New York	Golden Griffins	1870	Private	5,152	1979	1989	MAAC
Colgate University	Hamilton, New York	Raiders	1819	Private	2,939	1979	1990	Patriot
College of the Holy Cross	Worcester, Massachusetts	Crusaders	1843	Private	2,872	1979	1983	Patriot
Niagara University	Lewiston, New York	Purple Eagles	1856	Private	4,200	1979	1989	MAAC
Northeastern University	Boston, Massachusetts	Huskies	1898	Private	12,913	1979	2005	CAA
University of Rhode Island	Kingston, Rhode Island	Rams	1888	Public	19,095	1979	1980	Atlantic 10 (A-10)
Siena College	Loudonville, New York	Saints	1937	Private	3,423	1984	1989	MAAC
University of Delaware	Newark, Delaware	Fightin' Blue Hens	1743	Private/Public	19,391	1991	2001	CAA
Drexel University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Dragons	1891	Private	25,500	1991	2001	CAA
Hofstra University	Hempstead, New York	Pride	1935	Private	12,400	1994	2001	CAA
Towson University	Towson, Maryland	Tigers	1866	Public	21,950	1995	2001	CAA

Former associate members

Three schools have had single-sport membership in the past. Two of these, Fairfield and Providence, moved their America East sports into their all-sports conferences. The third, NJIT, left when it joined a conference that sponsored its America East sport.

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Primary Conference	AmEast Sport	Joined	Left
Fairfield University	Fairfield, Connecticut	Stags	1942	Private	3,800	MAAC	Field hockey	2007	2015
New Jersey Institute of Technology	Newark, New Jersey	Highlanders	1881	Public	10,646	Atlantic Sun	Women's tennis	2013	2015
Providence College	Providence, Rhode Island	Friars	1917	Private	3,850	Big East	Women's volleyball	2010	2014

Membership timeline

Full members (non-football) Other Conference Other Conference

Sports Sponsored

The America East Conference sponsors championship competition in seven men's and eleven women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The most recent change to the roster of America East sports came in 2014–15 with the dropping of men's tennis.

Teams in America East Conference competition

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	7	-
Basketball	9	9
Cross Country	9	9
Field Hockey	-	9
Lacrosse	7	7
Soccer	8	9
Softball	-	7
Swimming & Diving	-	5
Tennis	-	6
Track and Field (Indoor)	9	9
Track and Field (outdoor)	9	9
Volleyball	-	7

Men's sports

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Lacrosse	Soccer	Track & Field (indoor)	Track & Field (outdoor)	Total Sports
Albany	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Binghamton	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Hartford	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Maine	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	5
New Hampshire	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	5
Stony Brook	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
UMass Lowell	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
UMBC	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Vermont	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
Totals	7	9	9	7	8	9	9	58

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the America East Conference which are played by AEC schools

School	Football	Golf	Ice Hockey	Skiing	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Wrestling
Albany	CAA	No	No	No	No	No	No
Binghamton	No	Big Sky	No	No	ECAC	Mid-American	EIWA
Hartford	No	Big Sky	No	No	No	Missouri Valley	No
Maine	CAA	No	Hockey East	No	ECAC	No	No
New Hampshire	CAA	No	Hockey East	EISA	No	No	No
Stony Brook	CAA	No	No	No	No	Missouri Valley	No
UMass Lowell	No	Independent	Hockey East	No	No	No	No
UMBC	No	No	No	No	CCSA	Missouri Valley	No
Vermont	No	No	Hockey East	EISA	No	No	No

Women's sports

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Field Hockey	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (indoor)	Track & Field (outdoor)	Volleyball	Total Sports
Albany	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Binghamton	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Hartford	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Maine	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	8
New Hampshire	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	9
Stony Brook	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
UMass Lowell	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	9
UMBC	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Vermont	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	N	8
Totals	9	9	5+4*	7	9	7	5	5	9	9	7	79+4

• * = Associate members California, Pacific, Stanford, and UC Davis

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the America East Conference which are played by AEC schools

School	Golf	Gymnastics	Ice Hockey	Skiing
Albany	MAAC	No	No	No
Hartford	MAAC	No	No	No
Maine	No	No	Hockey East	No
New Hampshire	No	EAGL	Hockey East	EISA
Vermont	No	No	Hockey East	EISA

Facilities

Member	Basketball arena	Capacity	Baseball field	Capacity
Albany	SEFCU Arena	4,538	Varsity Field	N/A
Binghamton	Binghamton University Events Center	5,142	Varsity Field	1,000
Hartford	Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion	4,017	Fiondella Field	1,000
Maine	Cross Insurance Center Memorial Gym	8,000 1,340	Larry Mahaney Diamond	3,000
New Hampshire	Lundholm Gym	3,500	Non-baseball school
Stony Brook	Stony Brook University Arena	4,160	Joe Nathan Field	1,000
UMass Lowell	Costello Athletic Center Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell	2,100 6,495	Edward A. LeLacheur Park	4,767
UMBC	Retriever Activities Center	4,024	The Baseball Factory Field at UMBC	1,000
Vermont	Patrick Gym	3,266	Non-baseball school

The conference does not sponsor football. Four members have football programs, all of which compete in the Colonial Athletic Association: Albany, Maine, New Hampshire, and Stony Brook.

The conference does not sponsor ice hockey. Members who participate in that sport (UMass Lowell for men only, and Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont for both men and women) do so as members of Hockey East.

Champions

• List of America East Conference champions

See also

• America East Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
• America East Conference Baseball Tournament
• America East Conference Women's Basketball Tournament

External links

• Official website