West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference#WVIAC breakup

The conference was one of the oldest in intercollegiate athletics, dating back to its founding in 1924 by the West Virginia Department of Education.

In its final school year of 2012–13, the WVIAC offered championships in 16 sports and was headquartered in Princeton, West Virginia. Men's championships were offered in football, basketball, baseball, track, cross country, soccer, tennis, and golf. Women's titles were contested in volleyball, softball, basketball, cross country, soccer, track, tennis, and golf.

The WVIAC moved into the NCAA Division II in 1995 after its long affiliation with the NAIA.

Its post-season basketball tournament, which was first conducted in 1936, was at the time of the conference's demise one of the oldest college post-season tournaments in continuous existence—only the Southern Conference men's basketball tournament, established in 1922, was older.

• 1924 – The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was founded. Charter members included Alderson College, Bethany College, Broaddus College, Concord State Normal School (now Concord University), Davis & Elkins College, Fairmont State Normal School (now Fairmont State University), Glenville State Normal School (now Glenville State University), the Keyser Preparatory Branch of West Virginia University (now as Potomac State College), Marshall College (now Marshall University), Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston), New River State School (now the West Virginia Tech Institute of Technology), Salem College (now Salem University), Shepherd College (now Shepherd University), West Liberty State Teachers College (now West Liberty University), the West Virginia University and West Virginia Wesleyan College, beginning the 1924–25 academic year.
• 1927 – West Virginia left the WVIAC after the 1926–27 academic year.
• 1929 – Morehead State Normal and Teachers College (now Morehead State University) joined the WVIAC in the 1929–30 academic year.
• 1932 – Alderson–Broaddus College (now Alderson–Broaddus University) joined the WVIAC due to the merger of both Alderson and Broaddus Colleges in the 1932–33 academic year.
• 1933 – Two institutions left the WVIAC to join their respective new home primary conferences: Marshall to the Buckeye Conference and Morehead State to fully align with the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) (a second conference they had joined since the 1931–32 school year), both effective after the 1932–33 academic year.
• 1939 – Marshall rejoined the WVIAC as a non-competing member in the 1939–40 academic year.
• 1946 – Mountain State University joined the WVIAC in the 1946–47 academic year.
• 1948 – Marshall left the WVIAC for a second time to join the University Division ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) after the 1947–48 academic year.
• 1955 – Bluefield State College (now Bluefield State University) and West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) joined the WVIAC in the 1955–56 academic year.
• 1957 – Wheeling College (later Wheeling Jesuit College, then Wheeling Jesuit University, now Wheeling University) joined the WVIAC in the 1957–58 academic year.
• 1962 – Bethany left the WVIAC to fully align with the Presidents' Athletic Conference (a second conference they had joined since the 1958–59 school year) after the 1961–62 academic year.
• 1963 – Potomac State left the WVIAC after the 1962–63 academic year.
• 1977 – Mountain State left the WVIAC after the 1976–77 academic year.
• 1986 – West Virginia Wesleyan left the WVIAC after the 1985–86 academic year.
• 1988 – West Virginia Wesleyan rejoined the WVIAC in the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1993 – The WVIAC joined the NCAA ranks, while still being affiliated with the NAIA, beginning the 1993–94 academic year.
• 1995 – The WVIAC had achieved full membership status within the NCAA Division II ranks after years being mostly affiliated in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the 1995–96 academic year.
• 1999 – Ohio Valley University joined the WVIAC in the 1999–2000 academic year.
• 2006 – West Virginia Tech left the WVIAC to return to the NAIA and join the Mid-South Conference after the 2005–06 academic year.
• 2006 – The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (Pittsburgh–Johnstown) and Seton Hill University joined the WVIAC as provisional members, becoming the first two institutions to join the conference from outside the state of West Virginia since the departure of Morehead in 1933 in the 2006–07 academic year.
• 2010 – Salem left the WVIAC to become an NCAA D-II Independent after the 2009–10 academic year.
• 2013 – The WVIAC ceased operations as an athletic conference after the 2012–13 academic year; as many schools left to join their respective new home primary conferences, beginning the 2013–14 academic year: Alderson–Broaddus, Davis & Elkins and Ohio Valley joined the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC); Concord, Charleston, Fairmont State, Glenville State, Shepherd, West Liberty, West Virginia State, West Virginia Wesleyan and Wheeling Jesuit joined alongside Notre Dame College of Ohio (former D-II Independent school), Urbana University (from the G-MAC), and the University of Virginia's College at Wise (from the Mid-South Conference of the NAIA) to form the Mountain East Conference; and Pittsburgh–Johnstown and Seton Hill joined the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). The only school since the conference's breakup who hadn't still found a new conference home was Bluefield State, which ultimately ended up as a D-II Independent (until it rejoined the CIAA beginning the 2023–24 school year) alongside former member Salem (who would later join the G-MAC from 2013–14 to 2015–16, before returning as an independent).

On June 18, 2012, nine football-playing members of the WVIAC announced they would withdraw from the league to form a new regional all-sports conference.{{cite web|url=http://www.wvmetronews.com/2012/06/19/a-break-up-for-wviac/ |title=A Break Up For WVIAC |work=WV Metro News |date=June 19, 2012 |access-date=June 19, 2012}}

The WVIAC officially ceased to exist on September 1, 2013.{{cite press release |url=http://www.shepherdrams.com/page.cfm?story=33186&cat=exclusives |title=NCAA ADDS MOUNTAIN EAST CONFERENCE AS NEWEST DIVISION II LEAGUE |publisher=Mountain East Conference |date=February 15, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212065443/http://www.shepherdrams.com/page.cfm?story=33186&cat=exclusives |archive-date=December 12, 2013 }} Eight of the nine football-playing members (Concord, Charleston, Fairmont State, Glenville State, Shepherd, West Liberty, West Virginia State, and West Virginia Wesleyan) and one non-football playing member (Wheeling Jesuit) of the conference joined a provisional D-II member from Virginia (UVA-Wise) and two associate Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference members from Ohio (Notre Dame and Urbana) to form a new all-sports conference, the Mountain East Conference.{{cite web|url=http://wvmetronews.com/2012/08/20/a-new-conference-called-mountain-east/ |title=A New conference Called Mountain East |date=August 20, 2012 |access-date=August 20, 2012}} Seton Hill and Pitt-Johnstown joined the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Three of the remaining non-football members (Alderson–Broaddus, Davis & Elkins, and Ohio Valley) accepted invitations to join the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.{{cite press release|url=http://g-macsports.com/news/2012/8/21/GEN_0821123920.aspx |title=G-MAC News: Conference Adds Three New Members |publisher=Great Midwest Athletic Conference |date=August 21, 2012 |access-date=August 22, 2012}} The final remaining member, Bluefield State, competed as a D-II independent for 9 years before being invited to rejoin its former conference in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 2023.[https://hbcugameday.com/2022/12/08/ciaa-expected-to-add-bluefield-state-cut-ties-with-chowan/ CIAA expected to add Bluefield State, cut ties with Chowan]

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bar:1 color:FullxF from:1924 till:1932 text:Alderson (1924–1932)

bar:2 color:Full from:1924 till:1962 text:Bethany (1924–1962)

bar:2 color:AssocF from:1963 till:1964

bar:3 color:FullxF from:1924 till:1932 text:Broaddus (1924–1932)

bar:4 color:Full from:1924 till:1957 text:Charleston (1924–2013)

bar:4 color:FullxF from:1957 till:2003

bar:4 color:Full from:2003 till:2013

bar:5 color:Full from:1924 till:2013 text:Concord (1924–2013)

bar:6 color:Full from:1924 till:1953 text:Davis & Elkins (1924–2013)

bar:6 color:FullxF from:1953 till:1955

bar:6 color:Full from:1955 till:1962

bar:6 color:FullxF from:1962 till:2013

bar:7 color:Full from:1924 till:2013 text:Fairmont State (1924–2013)

bar:8 color:Full from:1924 till:2013 text:Glenville State (1924–2013)

bar:9 color:Full from:1924 till:1933 text:Marshall (1924–1933; 1939–1948)

bar:9 color:FullxF from:1939 till:1948

bar:10 color:Full from:1924 till:1963 text:Potomac State (1924–1963)

bar:10 color:AssocF from:1964 till:1965

bar:11 color:Full from:1924 till:1989 text:Salem International (1924–2010)

bar:11 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2010

bar:12 color:Full from:1924 till:2013 text:Shepherd (1924–2013)

bar:13 color:Full from:1924 till:2013 text:West Liberty (1924–2013)

bar:14 color:Full from:1924 till:1927 text:West Virginia (1924–1927)

bar:15 color:Full from:1924 till:2006 text:West Virginia Tech (1924–2006)

bar:16 color:Full from:1924 till:1951 text:West Virginia Wesleyan (1924–1986; 1988–2013)

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bar:17 color:Full from:1929 till:1933 text:Morehead State (1929–1933)

bar:18 color:FullxF from:1932 till:2013 text:Alderson–Broaddus (1932–2013)

bar:19 color:FullxF from:1946 till:1977 text:Mountain State University (1946–1977)

bar:20 color:Full from:1955 till:1981 text:Bluefield State (1955–2013)

bar:20 color:FullxF from:1981 till:2013

bar:21 color:Full from:1955 till:1962 text:West Virginia State (1955–2013)

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bar:21 color:Full from:1963 till:2013

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bar:23 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2013 text:Ohio Valley (1999–2013)

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Category:Sports organizations established in 1924

Category:Sports leagues disestablished in 2013

Category:1924 establishments in West Virginia

Category:2013 disestablishments in West Virginia

Category:College sports in Pennsylvania

Category:College sports in West Virginia

Category:Mountain East Conference