The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Its current 13 full members are located in five Northeastern states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. Members are all relatively small private institutions, a majority Catholic or formerly Catholic, with the only exceptions being two secular institutions: Rider University and Quinnipiac University. The MAAC currently sponsors 25 sports and has 17 associate member institutions.

History

The conference was founded in 1980 by six charter members: the U.S. Military Academy, Fairfield University, Fordham University, Iona College, Manhattan University, and Saint Peter's College. Competition officially began the next year, in the sports of men's cross-country and men's soccer. Competition in men's and women's basketball began in the 1981–1982 season. In 1982, Saint Peter's was the first women's team to represent the MAAC in the NCAA women's basketball tournament. In 1984, the MAAC received an automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament, where Iona was the first team to represent the MAAC on the men's side. The conference currently possesses 15 automatic bids to NCAA championships. In 2012–13, the MAAC became eligible for its 15th NCAA championship automatic bid when women's rowing fulfilled the qualifying requirements. The league added football in 1993, but discontinued it following the 2007 season. From 1997 to 2003, the MAAC sponsored ice hockey. At that time, the hockey league split from the MAAC and changed its name to the Atlantic Hockey Association (now Atlantic Hockey America after its 2024 merger with College Hockey America). Also, Marist College and Rider University moved the majority of their intercollegiate athletic programs to the MAAC in 1997 with the intent that the MAAC would enhance media exposure and competition for their men's and women's Division I basketball programs. In September 2011, the conference announced the launch of MAAC.TV, the league's first broadband network. In March 2012, for the first time in 16 years, the MAAC had two teams advance to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, with Loyola earning the league's automatic bid and Iona garnering an at-large bid. In July 2013, Quinnipiac University and Monmouth University joined the MAAC to replace Loyola University Maryland, departing to the Patriot League. Also in 2013, the MAAC announced that it would add field hockey with league play set to begin in the 2013–14 academic year. However, field hockey was dropped after the 2018 season. The MAAC field hockey league was effectively taken over by the Northeast Conference (NEC), which reinstated the sport the following year. The conference decided to no longer host a conference championship for men's rowing after the 2016 season, which is governed by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. On January 25, 2022, Monmouth announced it was leaving the MAAC after the 2021–22 school year to join the Colonial Athletic Association, now known as the Coastal Athletic Association. The MAAC responded by entering into negotiations with Mount St. Mary's University, a full but non-football NEC member. ESPN reported on April 27, 2022 that the addition of Mount St. Mary's for 2022–23 and beyond would be finalized in early May. The last of these developments came shortly after the MAAC's greatest success in men's basketball, when Saint Peter's became the first 15-seed ever to reach an NCAA regional final, losing there to eventual national runner-up No. 8 North Carolina. Mount St. Mary's would be confirmed as Monmouth's replacement on May 2. Also in 2022, four schools that were already MAAC affiliates added men's lacrosse to their MAAC memberships. All were full members of conferences that dropped the sport following the addition of men's lacrosse by the Atlantic 10 Conference. LIU, Sacred Heart, and Wagner are members of the Northeast Conference, and VMI is a member of the Southern Conference. LIU is the only one of the four that had not previously housed men's lacrosse in the MAAC. In October 2023, the MAAC announced that Merrimack College and Sacred Heart University would join the conference for the 2024-25 season.

Athletic and academic success

Over the conference's history, MAAC teams have achieved national acclaim in many sports. In the summer of 2002, the Marist men's varsity eight boat advanced to the semifinals of the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. In 2007, the Marist women's basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. The Red Foxes have recorded five NCAA wins since their run in 2007. In the fall of 2011, the Iona men's cross country team finished tied for ninth place at the NCAA Championship race, extending the Gaels' streak to 10 straight Top 10 national finishes. During the 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the Saint Peter's Peacocks became the first 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight. With an overall record of 22–12, Saint Peter's had the best NCAA postseason run with the most wins in a single NCAA Tournament by any MAAC program (men or women) in the conference's 41-year history. In basketball, MAAC teams have made a total of 80 NIT appearances and 50 NCAA basketball tournament appearances. Notable MAAC student athletes include Mary Beth Riley, a 1991 graduate of Canisius, who was the first recipient of the NCAA Woman of the Year Award and Erin Whalen, a member of the Iona women's rowing team who in the fall of 1998 was awarded one of the nation's 32 Rhodes Scholarships for academic achievement and civic leadership.

Member institutions

Current

Current full members

The MAAC currently has thirteen full member institutions; all are private schools. Of these, all but Quinnipiac, Rider, and Marist College are Catholic, though Marist is formerly Catholic.

Associate members

Of the MAAC's ten current affiliate members, only two are Catholic. Drake, Jacksonville, LIU, Robert Morris, and Stetson are nonsectarian and Wagner College is Lutheran. There are also two public institutions, the University at Albany and the Virginia Military Institute. Departing members are in red.

Former members

Former Full members

Former associate members

Membership timeline

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Sports

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 13 women's NCAA sanctioned sports, plus two sports not organized by the NCAA—esports, which are fully coeducational, and men's rowing.

Men's

Unsponsored

Women's

Unsponsored

Facilities

Basketball

Men's

Postseason history

NCAA tournament at-large bids

In 2012, Iona, who was inspired by one of their all around best players Sean Armand, which had lost in the semifinals of that year's MAAC tournament, received an NCAA at-large tournament bid. This was the second time the conference was awarded multiple men's NCAA bids. After St. Peter's won the 1995 MAAC tournament, the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection committee awarded Manhattan University an at large bid. The Jaspers proved the committee correct by defeating Oklahoma in the first round. The same first-round success Manhattan enjoyed in the 1995 NCAA tournament could not be matched by Iona. In the 2012 NCAAs, the Gaels unexpectedly relinquished a 25-point, first-half lead to the BYU Cougars, falling 78–72 in Dayton, Ohio. Further, Iona's offense, the highest-scoring (per game) in the nation, managed just 17 points in the second half of that upset. It was the largest comeback in NCAA tournament history, besting the 22-point hole the Duke Blue Devils rallied from to defeat the Maryland Terrapins in the Final Four of the 2001 NCAA tournament.

Women's

Postseason history

Baseball

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Champions

From 1990 through 1993, the MAAC, split into two divisions. ~North Division Champion ^South Division Champion

Postseason history

Soccer

Men's

^ Tournament delayed until April 2021 due to Covid

Women's

^ Tournament delayed until April 2021 due to Covid

Lacrosse

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Men's

Women's

Swimming and diving

Conference champions

Cross country

Champions

Volleyball

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Women's

^ Tournament delayed until April 2021 due to Covid

Postseason history

Football

The MAAC Football League was formed before the 1993 season, but it was discontinued following the 2007 season. At its peak in 1997, it consisted of 10 teams:

Champions

Notable sports figures

Some of the notable sport figures who played collegiately and/or graduated from a MAAC school, include:

Baseball

Basketball

Soccer