Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference


The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is a competitive collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division II.
The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its twelve member institutions are located in the midwestern United States in the U.S. states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio. There are three affiliate members who compete in the GLIAC for sports not sponsored by their home conference.
Sponsorship of football was dropped by the GLIAC after the 1989 season. Conference schools sponsoring football joined with members of the Heartland Football Conference to form the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference, which began play in 1990. The MIFC merged with the GLIAC in July 1999 and the GLIAC resumed sponsorship of football that fall.

Member schools

Current members

;Notes
  1. Ashland University will be leaving for the G-MAC in 2021.

    Affiliate members

Former members

Former affiliate members

School names and nicknames reflect those in use in the final season each school was an affiliate.
InstitutionLocationFoundedTypeNicknameJoinedLeftSportPrimary
conference
Alderson Broaddus UniversityPhilippi, West Virginia1871Private Battlers20122015lacrosse Great Midwest
Indianapolis, Indiana1902Private Greyhounds1999/20152013/2019football ;
lacrosse ;
swimming & diving 		Great Lakes Valley
Lewis UniversityRomeoville, Illinois1932Private Flyers2004/20182013/2019lacrosse ;
swimming & diving 		Great Lakes Valley
Maryville UniversityTown and Country, Missouri1872Private Saints20182019lacrosse Great Lakes Valley
McKendree UniversityLebanon, Illinois1828Private Bearcats20142019lacrosse Great Lakes Valley
Notre Dame CollegeSouth Euclid, Ohio1922Private Falcons20122013football;
lacrosse ;
soccer ;
soccer ;
wrestling		Mountain East
Urbana UniversityUrbana, Ohio1850Private Blue Knights20122014lacrosse
Ursuline CollegePepper Pike, Ohio1850Private Arrows20132015
;
2016
lacrosse ;
swimming & diving 		Great Midwest
Wheeling Jesuit UniversityWheeling, West Virginia1954Private Cardinals20122014lacrosse Mountain East

Membership timeline

The GLIAC dropped American football after the 1989 season and resumed it for the 1999 season.

DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1972 till:2024
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:20 top:5
Colors =
id:line value:black
id:Full value:rgb # all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # non-football
id:AssocF value:rgb # football-only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # associate
PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:darkblue shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1972 till:1990 text:Ferris State
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1990 till:1999
bar:1 color:Full from:1999 till:end
bar:2 color:Full from:1972 till:1990 text:Grand Valley State
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1990 till:1999
bar:2 color:Full from:1999 till:end
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1972 till:end text:Lake Superior State
bar:4 color:Full from:1972 till:1987 text:Northwood
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1992 till:1999 text:
bar:4 color:Full from:1999 till:end
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1972 till:1975 text:Saginaw Valley State
bar:5 color:Full from:1975 till:1990
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1990 till:1999
bar:5 color:Full from:1999 till:end
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1974 till:1997 text:Oakland
bar:7 color:Full from:1975 till:1990 text:Hillsdale
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1990 till:1999
bar:7 color:Full from:1999 till:2017
bar:8 color:Full from:1975 till:1977 text:Northern Michigan
bar:8 color:Full from:1987 till:1990 text:
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1990 till:1999
bar:8 color:Full from:1999 till:end
bar:9 color:Full from:1975 till:1990 text:Wayne State
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1990 till:1999
bar:9 color:Full from:1999 till:end
bar:10 color:Full from:1980 till:1990 text:Michigan Tech
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1990 till:1999
bar:10 color:Full from:1999 till:end
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1995 till:1999 text:Ashland
bar:11 color:Full from:1999 till:2021
bar:12 color:FullxF from:1995 till:1999 text:Gannon
bar:12 color:Full from:1999 till:2008
bar:13 color:FullxF from:1995 till:1999 text:Mercyhurst
bar:13 color:Full from:1999 till:2008
bar:14 color:FullxF from:1997 till:1999 text:Findlay
bar:14 color:Full from:1999 till:2017
bar:15 color:FullxF from:1997 till:1999 text:Westminster
bar:15 color:Full from:1999 till:2000
bar:16 color:AssocF from:1999 till:2000 text:Indianapolis
bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2000 till:2013
bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2019 text:
bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2005 till:2013 text:Lewis
bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:2019 text:
bar:18 color:Full from:2008 till:2018 text:Tiffin
bar:19 color:Full from:2010 till:2017 text:Lake Erie
bar:20 color:Full from:2010 till:2017 text:Ohio Dominican
bar:21 color:Full from:2012 till:2016 text:Malone
bar:22 color:Full from:2012 till:2017 text:Walsh
bar:23 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2013 text:Notre Dame
bar:24 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2015 text:Alderson Broaddus
bar:25 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2014 text:Urbana
bar:26 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2014 text:Wheeling Jesuit
bar:27 color:AssocOS from:2013 till:2016 text:Ursuline
bar:28 color:AssocOS from:2014 till:2019 text:Mckendree
bar:29 shift: color:Full from:2017 till:end text:Davenport
bar:30 shift: color:FullxF from:2017 till:end text:Purdue–Northwest
bar:31 shift: color:AssocOS from:2017 till:end text:Concordia–St. Paul
bar:32 shift: color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text:Wisconsin-Parkside
bar:33 shift: color:AssocOS from:2018 till:end text:St. Cloud State
bar:34 shift: color:AssocOS from:2018 till:2019 text:Maryville
bar:35 shift: color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text:Upper Iowa
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1973

Sports

The GLIAC sponsors the following 21 sports:
SportMen'sWomen's
Baseball
Basketball
Cross Country
Football
Golf
Lacrosse
Soccer
Softball
Swimming & Diving
Tennis
Track & Field Indoor
Track & Field Outdoor
Volleyball

Men's sponsored sports by school

Women's sponsored sports by school

Championships

National Championships

GLIAC schools have won 42 NCAA National Championships:
YearSportSchool
1975footballNorthern Michigan
1980men's swimming & divingOakland
1990women's swimming & divingOakland
1991women's swimming & divingOakland
1992women's swimming & divingOakland
1993women's swimming & divingOakland
1993women's volleyballNorthern Michigan
1994men's swimming & divingOakland
1994women's swimming & divingOakland
1994women's volleyballNorthern Michigan
1995men's swimming & divingOakland
1996men's swimming & divingOakland
1997men's swimming & divingOakland
2002footballGrand Valley State
2003footballGrand Valley State
2005footballGrand Valley State
2005women's volleyballGrand Valley State
2006women's basketballGrand Valley State
2006footballGrand Valley State
2009men's basketballFindlay
2009women's soccerGrand Valley State
2010women's cross countryGrand Valley State
2010women's soccerGrand Valley State
2011women's track & field Grand Valley State
2011women's track & field Grand Valley State
2012women's cross countryGrand Valley State
2012women's swimming & divingWayne State
2012women's track & field Grand Valley State
2012women's track & field Grand Valley State
2013women's basketballAshland
2013women's cross countryGrand Valley State
2013women's soccerGrand Valley State
2014women's cross countryGrand Valley State
2014women's soccerGrand Valley State
2015women's soccerGrand Valley State
2016women's cross countryGrand Valley State
2016men's track & field Tiffin
2017women's basketballAshland
2017men's track & field Tiffin
2018men's basketballFerris State
2018men's cross countryGrand Valley State
2018women's cross countryGrand Valley State
2019men's track & field Ashland
2019men's track & field Ashland
2019women's soccerGrand Valley State

Football facilities

InstitutionStadiumCapacitySurface
AshlandJack Miller Stadium6,000Artificial
DavenportMeyering Field2,300Artificial
Ferris StateTop Taggart Field6,200Artificial
Grand Valley StateLubbers Stadium10,444Artificial
Michigan TechSherman Field3,000Artificial
Northern MichiganSuperior Dome8,000Artificial
NorthwoodHantz Stadium3,000Artificial
Saginaw Valley StateWickes Memorial Stadium6,300Artificial
Wayne StateAdams Field6,000Artificial