The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division III as a hockey-only conference.

The conference was formally approved in 1980 as an association of six schools in Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, though the teams' schedules would not be standardized until the following season. This led to some teams playing an unequal number of games in the 1980–81 season. As such, the 1981–82 season is considered the first official season of play.

In the summer of 2012, the five schools in the University of Wisconsin System announced that they would leave the conference to begin playing hockey in their all-sports conference, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The move would have left only two men's teams in the NCHA, leading St. Norbert and St. Scholastica to join the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association (MCHA). In April 2013, the NCHA and MCHA announced a merger, where the NCHA would absorb the MCHA's teams (of the MCHA's 10 schools, all 7 who also sponsored women's hockey played in the NCHA). The men's and women's sides will retain separate administrative structures, as well as their automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.

Members

Current

School Location(Population) Nickname Founded Affiliation Enrollment Colors Year Joined Primary Conference Adrian College Adrian, Michigan(20,645) Bulldogs 1859 Private 1,400 Men: 2013Women: 2009 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Aurora University Aurora, Illinois(180,542) Spartans 1893 Private 4,400 Men: 2015Women: 2017 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Concordia University Wisconsin Mequon, Wisconsin(25,142) Falcons 1880 Private/Lutheran (LCMS) 1,600 Men: 2013Women: 2007 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference University of Dubuque Dubuque, Iowa(59,667) Spartans 1852 Private/Presbyterian (PC USA) 2,190 Men: 2023Women: 2023 American Rivers Conference Lake Forest College Lake Forest, Illinois(19,367) Foresters 1857 Private 1,417 Men: 1992–2009, 2013Women: 2000 Midwest Conference Lawrence University Appleton, Wisconsin(75,644) Vikings 1847 Private 1,469 Men: 2013Women: 2020 Midwest Conference Marian University Fond du Lac, Wisconsin(44,678) Sabres 1936 Private/Catholic 1,411 Men: 2013Women: 2009 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Milwaukee School of Engineering Milwaukee, Wisconsin(577,222) Raiders 1903 Private 2,300 Men: 2013Women: 2024 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference De Pere, Wisconsin(25,410) Green Knights 1898 Private/Catholic 2,015 Men: 1994Women: 2010 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Trine University Angola, Indiana(9,340) Thunder 1884 Private 2,000 Men: 2017Women: 2017 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

Former School Location Nickname Founded Affiliation Teams Year Joined Year Left SubsequentConference CurrentConference Bemidji State University Bemidji, Minnesota Beavers 1919 Public Men Men: 1980 Men: 1999 CHA (D-I) CCHA (D-I) Finlandia University Hancock, Michigan Lions 1896 Private/Lutheran (ELCA) Both Men: 2013Women: 2003 Men: 2023Women: 2023 N/A (Closed in 2023) Minnesota State University, Mankato Mankato, Minnesota Mavericks 1868 Public Men Men: 1980 Men: 1992 D-II Independent CCHA (D-I) Northland College Ashland, Wisconsin Lumberjacks 1906 Private/United Church of Christ Both Men: 2013Women: 2016 Men: 2019Women: 2019 WIAC N/A (Closed in 2025) St. Cloud, Minnesota Huskies 1868 Public Men Men: 1980 Men: 1987 D-I Independent NCHC (D-I) Duluth, Minnesota Saints 1912 Private/Catholic Both Men: 1983–1991, 1994Women: 2010 Men: 2021Women: 2021 MIAC Eau Claire, Wisconsin Blugolds 1916 Public Both Men: 1980Women: 2000 Men: 2013Women: 2013 WIAC River Falls, Wisconsin Falcons 1874 Public Both Men: 1980Women: 2000 Men: 2013Women: 2013 WIAC Stevens Point, Wisconsin Pointers 1894 Public Both Men: 1986Women: 2000 Men: 2013Women: 2013 WIAC Menomonie, Wisconsin Blue Devils 1891 Public Both Men: 1996 Men: 2013 WIAC Superior, Wisconsin Yellowjackets 1893 Public Both Men: 1980Women: 2000 Men: 2013Women: 2013 WIAC

Membership timeline

Champions

Men Season Regular season Tournament 1980–81 Mankato State — 1981–82 Bemidji State — 1982–83 Bemidji State — 1983–84 Bemidji State^ — 1984–85 Bemidji State — 1985–86 Bemidji StateMankato State Bemidji State^ 1986–87 St. Cloud StateMankato State St. Cloud State 1987–88 UW–River Falls UW–River Falls^ 1988–89 UW–Stevens Point UW–Stevens Point^ 1989–90 UW–Stevens Point UW–Stevens Point^ 1990–91 Bemidji StateMankato State UW–Stevens Point^ 1991–92 UW–Stevens Point UW–Stevens Point 1992–93 UW–Stevens Point UW–Stevens Point^ 1993–94 UW–Superior UW–Superior^ 1994–95 Bemidji State Bemidji State 1995–96 UW–River Falls UW–River Falls 1996–97 St. Norbert UW–Superior 1997–98 St. Norbert St. Norbert 1998–99 St. Norbert St. Norbert 1999–2000 UW–Stevens Point UW–Superior 2000–01 UW–Superior UW–Superior 2001–02 St. Norbert UW–Superior^ 2002–03 St. Norbert St. Norbert 2003–04 St. Norbert St. Norbert 2004–05 St. Norbert St. Norbert 2005–06 St. Norbert UW–Superior 2006–07 St. NorbertUW–River FallsUW–Stout St. Norbert 2007–08 St. Norbert St. Norbert^ 2008–09 UW–Superior UW–Stout 2009–10 St. Norbert St. Norbert 2010–11 St. Norbert St. Norbert^ 2011–12 St. Norbert St. Norbert^ 2012–13 UW–Eau Claire St. Norbert 2013–14 St. Norbert St. Norbert^ 2014–15 Adrian Adrian 2015–16 Adrian Adrian 2016–17 Adrian St. Norbert 2017–18 Adrian St. Norbert^ 2018–19 St. Norbert St. Norbert 2019–20 Adrian Adrian 2020–21 Adrian Marian

Women Season Regular season Tournament 2000–01 UW–Superior UW–River Falls 2001–02 UW–Stevens Point UW–Stevens Point 2002–03 UW–River Falls UW–River Falls 2003–04 UW–Superior UW–Stevens Point 2004–05 UW–Stevens Point UW–Stevens Point 2005–06 UW–Stevens Point UW–Stevens Point 2006–07 UW–Superior UW–Stevens Point 2007–08 UW–Superior UW–Superior 2008–09 UW–River Falls UW–River Falls 2009–10 Lake Forest UW–River Falls 2010–11 UW–River Falls Adrian 2011–12 UW–River Falls UW–River Falls 2012–13 UW–River Falls St. Norbert 2013–14 Lake Forest Lake Forest 2014–15 Adrian Lake Forest 2015–16 Adrian Adrian 2016–17 Adrian Adrian 2017–18 Adrian Adrian 2018–19 Adrian Adrian 2019–20 Adrian Adrian 2020–21 St. Scholastica Adrian

^ Won National Championship

Arenas School Arena Capacity Adrian Arrington Ice Arena 500 Aurora Fox Valley Ice Arena 3,500 Concordia Wisconsin Ozaukee Ice Center 1,000 Finlandia Houghton County Arena1200 Lake Forest Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse 1,000 Lawrence Appleton Family Ice Center 1,200 Marian Blue Line Family Ice Center 2,000 Milwaukee Engineering Kern Center 800 Northland Bay Area Civic Center 1,000 St. Norbert Cornerstone Community Center 2,000 Trine Thunder Ice Arena 700

See also Harris Cup

References

External links Official web site