Central States Collegiate Hockey League
The Central States Collegiate Hockey League is Division I ACHA level hockey-college athletic conference. The CSCHL is in its 48th season of existence and is one of the top ranked ACHA leagues. It currently has 5 member teams in the Midwestern United States.
Format
League teams play a 20-game league schedule, plus additional regular season games against non-league opponents. Following the regular season, the league holds a Championship Tournament. The CSCHL Regular Season champion team is awarded an automatic bid to the annual ACHA Men's Division I National Tournament.History
The league began in 1970 with Chicago State University, Illinois State University and Iowa State University as founding members. The following season the league expanded to 24 teams in 3 divisions making the CSCHL the premier ice hockey conference in the midwest. Joining the CSCHL included Bradley University, Drake University, Illinois Benedictine University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Lewis University, Northeastern Illinois University, and Western Illinois University. The University of Illinois joined shortly after in 1974. The league saw great expansion in the early 1990s when the University of Michigan-Dearborn joined after operating as an NAIA varsity program. Ohio University followed in 1993 and Kent State University joined in 1994 after the university dropped NCAA hockey. Following the 2003 season, UW-Whitewater departed & dropped down to play ACHA D2. In 2004, Robert Morris University-Illinois joined the league, followed by Lindenwood University in 2006. After the 2008 season, Saint Louis University departed to play at the ACHA Division II level. At the conclusion of the 2009–2010 season, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan–Dearborn, and Western Michigan University left to join the new Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League. The CSCHL added Indiana University, who joins the league for the 2010–2011 season, after transitioning from ACHA II. Kent State departed for the GLCHL at the conclusion of the 2011–12 season. Indiana University rejoined the Great Midwest Hockey League in the 2014–2015 season to once again compete at the Division II level. During the 2019–2020 season, Robert Morris Illinois merged with non-hockey Roosevelt University. The hockey program was retained through the merger process of the universities and athletics departments and will play under the Roosevelt Lakers program beginning in the 2020-21 seasonCurrent members
| School | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Team nickname | Colors | Primary conference |
| Iowa State University | Ames, IA | 1858 | Public | 36,660 | Cyclones | Big 12 Conference | |
| Lindenwood University | St. Charles, MO | 1827 | Private | 11,904 | Lions | GLVC | |
| Roosevelt University | Chicago, IL | 1945 | Private | 6,391 | Lakers | Chicagoland | |
| Ohio University | Athens, OH | 1804 | Public | 20,437 | Bobcats | Mid-American | |
| University of Illinois | Champaign, IL | 1867 | Public | 42,326 | Fighting Illini | Big Ten Conference |
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:750 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1979 till:2021
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:red from:1979 till:1980 text:Chicago State University
bar:2 color:red from:1979 till:1986 text:Illinois State University
bar:3 color:red from:1979 till:1981 text:Iowa State University
bar:3 color:red from:1983 shift: till:end text:
bar:4 color:red from:1979 till:end text:University of Illinois
bar:5 color:red from:1979 till:1980 text:University of Missouri
bar:6 color:red from:1980 till:1988 text:St. Norbert College
bar:7 color:red from:1980 till:1997 text:Marquette University
bar:8 color:red from:1981 till:1990 text:Northwestern University
bar:9 color:red from:1982 till:1985 text:University of Alabama in Huntsville
bar:10 color:red from:1983 till:1984 text:University of Notre Dame
bar:11 color:red from:1985 till:2003 text:University of Wisconsin–Whitewater
bar:12 color:red from:1989 till:2010 text:Eastern Michigan University
bar:13 color:red from:1991 till:2010 text:University Michigan, Dearborn
bar:14 color:red from:1991 till:1995 text:University of Minnesota
bar:15 color:red from:1992 till:1994 text:Purdue University
bar:16 color:red from:1993 till:end text:Ohio University
bar:17 color:red from:1993 till:1994 text:University of Toledo
bar:18 color:red from:1993 till:2012 text:Kent State University
bar:19 color:red from:1998 till:2010 text:Western Michigan University
bar:20 color:red from:2000 till:2008 text:Saint Louis University
bar:21 color:red from:2000 till:2002 text:University at Buffalo
bar:22 color:red from:2004 till:2020 text:Robert Morris University
bar:23 color:red from:2006 till:end text:Lindenwood University
bar:24 color:red from:2010 shift: till:2014 text:Indiana University
bar:25 color:red from:2020 till:end text:Roosevelt University
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1979
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fontsize:L
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pos: # tabs:
text:"Central States Collegiate Hockey League Membership History"
Former teams
- Northeastern Illinois University folded hockey program
- University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee folded hockey program.
- Kent State University moved to GLCHL
- Eastern Michigan University moved to GLCHL
- University of Michigan–Dearborn moved to GLCHL
- Western Michigan University moved to GLCHL
- Saint Louis University dropped to ACHA Div II
- University of Wisconsin–Whitewater dropped to ACHA Div II
- University at Buffalo moved to ECHL
- Marquette University dropped to ACHA Div II
- University of Toledo dropped to ACHA Div II
- Purdue University dropped to ACHA Div II
- University of Minnesota dropped to ACHA Div II
- University of Notre Dame moved to NCAA Div I WCHA
- University of Alabama in Huntsville moved to NCAA DII, now DI in WCHA
- Northwestern University dropped to ACHA Div II
- St. Norbert College moved to NCAA Div III Northern Collegiate Hockey Association
- University of Missouri dropped to ACHA Div II
- Illinois State University dropped to ACHA Div II
- University of Illinois at Chicago moved to NCAA DI CCHA, folded hockey program.
- Chicago State University folded hockey program.
- Indiana University dropped to ACHA Div II
- Robert Morris University merged with Roosevelt University in 2020.
Conference arenas