Old Dominion Athletic Conference
Template:Short description Template:Infobox sports league The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. Of its 15 member schools, all but one are located in Virginia; the other full member is in North Carolina. The conference also has two associate members, one in Virginia and one in North Carolina, with a third associate member in Washington, D.C. set to join in July 2025.
History
The conference was founded in May 1975 as the Virginia College Conference.[1] On January 1, 1976, the name was changed to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The 1976–77 season was the first in which championships were offered. In 1980, Maryville College joined and became the first member outside of Virginia. In 1981, Catholic University joined the conference after leaving Division I's ECAC South Conference. In 1982–83, women's sports were added, and Hollins College (now university), Randolph–Macon Woman's College (now Randolph College), and Sweet Briar College all joined. Mary Baldwin College (now university) joined in 1984. In 1988, Maryville left and was replaced by Virginia Wesleyan College (now university). In 1989 Catholic left the conference to become a charter member of the Capital Athletic Conference, returning in 1999 as a football-only member.[2] They were replaced by Guilford College two years later. The next school to leave the conference was Mary Baldwin, which left in 1992.
In 2010 the ODAC announced the addition of Shenandoah University as a full-time member, with its first full year of involvement during the 2012–13 academic year.[3]
The league office moved its physical location from Salem, to Forest in eastern Bedford County located just outside centrally located Lynchburg, Virginia. They also contracted Jim Ward Design for its new marks.[4]
On March 3, 2015, Sweet Briar College announced it was to close (cease operations) at the end of the 2015 summer session.[5] However, on June 20, 2015, the Virginia Attorney General announced a mediation agreement that kept Sweet Briar College open for the 2015–16 academic year.[6] Sweet Briar reactivated its sports teams in the 2015–16 season and remained a full member of the ODAC.
On September 29, 2015, it was announced that Catholic University would withdraw in 2017 as associate member to join the new football league at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference.[7]
In June 2017, it was announced that Ferrum College would become the 15th full-time member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference after it moved from the USA South Conference.
Southern Virginia University, which joined the ODAC as a football only member in 2019, announced in December of that year that it was leaving both the ODAC and Coast to Coast Athletic Conference to join the football-sponsoring USA South Athletic Conference as a full member.[8]
The conference has hosted Division III championships in football and men's basketball, both of which were held in Salem, Virginia. D-III softball has also used Salem as a championship host along with Division III women's lacrosse and volleyball on several occasions. Since 1993 - the conference and city have hosted over 80 Division III national championships.
It was announced on November 17, 2020, that Emory & Henry College, later a university, would leave the ODAC and begin its transition to Division II in July 2021 and compete in the South Atlantic Conference in 2022.[9]
The most recent change in conference membership was announced on March 8, 2021, that Averett University would leave the USA South and join its former USA South counterpart Ferrum College in the ODAC as a full member in 2022.[10]
Chronological timeline
- 1975 – The ODAC was founded as the Virginia Athletic Conference. Charter members included Bridgewater College, Eastern Mennonite College (now Eastern Mennonite University), Emory & Henry College (now Emory & Henry University), Hampden–Sydney College, Lynchburg College (now the University of Lynchburg), Randolph–Macon College, Roanoke College and Washington and Lee University. However, it was renamed to become the Old Dominion Athletic Conference on 1 January 1976, effective beginning the 1976–77 academic year, their first year of competition.
- 1980 – Maryville College joined the ODAC, effective in the 1980–81 academic year.
- 1981 – Catholic University joined the ODAC, effective in the 1981–82 academic year.
- 1982 – Women's sports were instated in the ODAC, also three women's sports institutions of Hollins College (now Hollins University), Randolph–Macon Woman's College (now Randolph College) and Sweet Briar College joined the ODAC, effective in the 1982–83 academic year.
- 1984 – Mary Baldwin College (now Mary Baldwin University) joined the ODAC, effective in the 1984–85 academic year.
- 1988 – Maryville left the ODAC, effective after the 1987–88 academic year.
- 1989
- Catholic (D.C.) left the ODAC, effective after the 1988–89 academic year.
- Virginia Wesleyan College (now Virginia Wesleyan University) joined the ODAC, effective in the 1989–90 academic year.
- 1991 – Guilford College joined the ODAC, effective in the 1991–92 academic year.
- 1992 – Mary Baldwin left the ODAC, effective after the 1991–92 academic year.
- 1999 – Catholic (D.C.) re-joined the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 1999 fall season (1999–2000 academic year).
- 2011 – Greensboro College and Notre Dame of Maryland University joined the ODAC as associate members for women's swimming, effective in the 2011–12 academic year.
- 2012 – Shenandoah University joined the ODAC, effective in the 2012-13 academic year.
- 2015 – Ferrum College joined the ODAC as an associate member for men's and women's swimming, effective in the 2015–16 academic year.
- 2016 – Notre Dame (Md.) left the ODAC as an associate member for women's swimming by discontinuing the sport, effective after the 2015–16 academic year.
- 2017 – Catholic (D.C.) left the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2016 fall season (2016–17 academic year).
- 2018 – Ferrum upgraded to join the ODAC for all sports, effective in the 2018–19 academic year.
- 2019 – Southern Virginia University joined the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 2019 fall season (2019–20 academic year).
- 2021
- Southern Virginia left the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2020 fall season (2020–21 academic year).
- Emory & Henry left the ODAC to join the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) by becoming an NCAA D-II Independent in the 2021–22 academic year. They joined the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) in the 2022–23 academic year.
- Averett University announced that it would join the ODAC, effective in the 2022–23 academic year.
- 2022 – Southern Virginia and Greensboro joined as associate members in men's wrestling in the 2022–23 academic year.
- 2023 – The ODAC announced that it would add men's volleyball for the 2025 season (2024–25 academic year), initially with seven full members. At the time of announcement, Eastern Mennonite, Randolph–Macon, and Roanoke had established programs; Averett and Virginia Wesleyan were preparing to play their first varsity seasons in 2024; and Lynchburg and Randolph had committed to starting varsity play in 2025.[11]
- 2025
- Ferrum will leave the ODAC to join the Division II ranks and Conference Carolinas (CC) in the 2025–26 academic year.
- Gallaudet University will join the ODAC as an associate member for football for the 2025 season (2025–26 academic year).[12]
Member schools
Current members
The ODAC currently has 15 full members; all are private schools:
- Notes
Associate members
The ODAC currently has two associate members; both are private schools:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Primary conference |
ODAC sport(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greensboro College | Greensboro, North Carolina | 1838 | Private | 1,250 | Pride | 2011–12 | USA South | Template:Sortname |
| 2022–23 | Template:Sortname | |||||||
| Southern Virginia University | Buena Vista, Virginia | 1867 | LDS Church | 1,106 | Knights | 2022–23 | USA South | Template:Sortname |
Future associate members
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joining | Primary conference |
ODAC sport(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallaudet University | Washington, D.C. | 1864 | Quasigovernmental | 1,740 | Bison | 2025–26 | United East | Football |
Former members
The ODAC has four former full members; all are private schools:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Catholic University of America | Washington, D.C. | 1887 | Catholic (Pontifical)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
3,469 | Cardinals | 1981 | 1989Template:Efn | Landmark |
| Emory & Henry CollegeTemplate:Efn | Emory, Virginia | 1836 | United Methodist | 1,000 | Wasps | 1976 | 2021 | South Atlantic (SAC)Template:Efn |
| Maryville College | Maryville, Tennessee | 1819 | Presbyterian | 1,176 | Scots | 1980 | 1988 | C.C. South (CCS) (Southern (SAA) in 2026)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| Mary Baldwin CollegeTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn | Staunton, Virginia | 1842 | Presbyterian | 2,542 | Fighting Squirrels | 1984 | 1992 | USA South |
- Notes
Former associate members
The ODAC had three former associate members; all are private schools:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | ODAC sport(s) |
Current primary conference |
Current conference in former ODAC sport(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Catholic University of AmericaTemplate:Efn | Washington, D.C. | 1887 | Catholic (Pontifical)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
3,469 | Cardinals | 1999 | 2017 | football | Landmark | |
| Notre Dame of Maryland UniversityTemplate:Efn | Baltimore, Maryland | 1873 | Catholic (SSND)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
4,878 | Gators | 2011 | 2016 | women's swimming | United East (UEC) | (dropped sport) |
| Southern Virginia University | Buena Vista, Virginia | 1867 | LDS Church | 1,106 | Knights | 2019 | 2021 | football | USA South | |
- Notes
Membership timeline
This timeline is expressed with color bars.<timeline>
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1976 till:2030
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors =
id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote)
id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1976 till:end text:Bridgewater (1976–present)
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1976 till:end text:Eastern Mennonite (1976–present)
bar:3 color:Full from:1976 till:2021 text:Emory & Henry (1976–2021)
bar:4 color:Full from:1976 till:end text:Hampden–Sydney (1976–present)
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1976 till:end text:Lynchburg (1976–present)
bar:6 color:Full from:1976 till:end text:Randolph–Macon (1976–present)
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1976 till:2024 text:Roanoke (1976–present) bar:7 color:Full from:2024 till:end
bar:8 color:Full from:1976 till:end text:Washington and Lee (1976–present)
bar:9 color:Full from:1980 till:1988 text:Maryville (Tenn.) (1980–1988)
bar:10 color:Full from:1981 till:1989 text:Catholic (1981–1989) bar:10 color:AssocF from:1999 till:2017 text:(1999–2017)
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1982 till:end text:Hollins (1982–present)
bar:12 color:FullxF from:1982 till:end text:Randolph (1982–present)
bar:13 color:FullxF from:1982 till:end text:Sweet Briar (1982–present)
bar:14 color:FullxF from:1984 till:1992 text:Mary Baldwin (1984–1992)
bar:15 color:FullxF from:1989 till:end text:Virginia Wesleyan (1989–present)
bar:16 color:Full from:1991 till:end text:Guilford (1991–present)
bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:end text:Greensboro (2011–present)
bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:2016 text:Notre Dame (Md.) (2011–2016)
bar:19 color:Full from:2012 till:end text:Shenandoah (2012–present)
bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2018 text:Ferrum (2018–2025) bar:20 color:Full from:2018 till:2025
bar:21 shift:(-40) color:AssocF from:2019 till:2021 text:Southern Virginia (2019–2021; 2022–present) bar:21 shift:(-40) color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text:
bar:22 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:Averett (2022–present)
bar:23 shift:(-40) color:AssocF from:2025 till:end text:Gallaudet (2025–future)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1976
</timeline>
Purple denotes football playing member.
Green denotes non-football playing member.
Red denotes associate member (football-only).
Blue denotes associate member (non-football).
Sports
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References
External links
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- ↑ "Virginia Colleges form Conference; 1976 Action Set". The Bee (Danville, Virginia). May 20, 1975. p. 8.
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