Western Collegiate Hockey Association

The league was founded in 1951 as the Midwest Collegiate Hockey League (MCHL),{{cite web |url=http://www.uscho.com/m/wc/?data=history |title=History of the WCHA |first=Kurt |last=Stutt |publisher=USCHO |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521173313/http://www.uscho.com/m/wc/?data=history |archive-date=May 21, 2008 |access-date=November 26, 2010}} then was known as the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League (WIHL) until 1958. The WIHL disbanded in 1958 after Minnesota and the three Michigan schools withdrew in protest of Colorado College, Denver and North Dakota recruiting overage Canadians. While this didn't violate NCAA rules, the four "M" schools felt it violated the spirit of intercollegiate athletics. The current Western Collegiate Hockey Association was founded for the 1959–60 season after the former WIHL schools concluded that the region needed a strong league. Despite this, Denver and Minnesota would not play each other until 1973, when the league took over scheduling from the individual members. The 2005 NCAA Frozen Four hockey tournament finals were noteworthy when all four teams came from the WCHA.

WCHA teams also won the first 13 NCAA women's titles, which were first awarded in 2001. In 2006, WCHA member Wisconsin was the first school to capture both the men's and women's Division I ice hockey championships in the same season.{{Cite news |last=Schmoldt |first=Eric |title=UW’s championship celebration continues at rally |newspaper=The Badger Herald |location=Madison, Wisconsin |publisher=University of Wisconsin |date=April 10, 2006 |url=http://badgerherald.com/sports/2006/04/10/uws_championship_cel.php |access-date=November 25, 2010}}

The men's regular season conference champion was awarded the MacNaughton Cup,{{Cite web |last=Julien |first=Connie |title=MacNaughton Cup Winners |work=CC Hockey History |date=2009 |url=http://www.cchockeyhistory.org/MacNaughtonCupWinners.htm }} while the league's tournament champion winning the WCHA Final Five took home the Broadmoor Trophy.{{Cite web |title=WCHA Unveils New Playoff Format and Broadmoor Trophy, Welcomes Bemidji State and Nebraska Omaha |work=Media Center |publisher=Western Collegiate Hockey Association |date=March 20, 2010 |url=http://www.wcha.com/men/tourney/index.php |access-date=November 26, 2010}}

{{main|2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment#Hockey|l1=2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment: Hockey}}

On March 22, 2011, Minnesota and Wisconsin announced that their men's teams planned to leave the league in order to form a hockey Big Ten Conference in 2013–14, along with Penn State, which would start a varsity hockey program in 2012–13, and Central Collegiate Hockey Association members Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State.{{cite web|title=Big Ten Officially Announces Hockey Conference|url=http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2011/03/21_big_ten_officially_announces.php/|work=College Hockey News|access-date=July 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716043026/http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2011/03/21_big_ten_officially_announces.php|archive-date=July 16, 2011|date=March 21, 2011|url-status=live}}

In response to the creation of the Big Ten men's hockey conference, Denver, Colorado College, North Dakota, Omaha, Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State left the WCHA to join Miami University and Western Michigan of the CCHA to create the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.{{cite news|last=Paisley|first=Joe|title=Schools confirm new college hockey 'super league'|url=http://www.gazette.com/sports/schools-121249-college-hockey.html|access-date=July 15, 2011|date=July 9, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829105934/http://www.gazette.com/sports/schools-121249-college-hockey.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 29, 2012}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/7000875/national-collegiate-hockey-conference-invites-st-cloud-state-huskies-western-michigan-broncos|title=St. Cloud St., W. Michigan join league|date=September 22, 2011}} Facing membership at 4 teams for the 2013–14 season, the WCHA conference added one of its former members, Northern Michigan of the CCHA, on July 15, 2011.{{cite web|title=WCHA set to add Northern Michigan as sixth member for 2013–14|url=http://www.uscho.com/2011/07/15/wcha-set-to-add-northern-michigan-as-sixth-member-for-2013-14/|work=U.S. College Hockey Online|access-date=July 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720191219/http://www.uscho.com/2011/07/15/wcha-set-to-add-northern-michigan-as-sixth-member-for-2013-14/|archive-date=July 20, 2011|date=July 15, 2011|url-status=live}}

On August 25, 2011, the WCHA announced that it had invited the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Bowling Green, Ferris State, and Lake Superior State to join beginning in the 2013–14 season. On August 26, 2011, Alaska-Fairbanks, Ferris State, and Lake Superior State accepted their invitations and joined Northern Michigan in the WCHA in 2013.{{Cite news|last=Sipple|first=George|work=Detroit Free Press|url=http://www.freep.com/article/20110826/SPORTS08/110826042/Ferris-State-becomes-third-CCHA-team-accept-WCHA-invitation|title=Ferris State becomes third CCHA team to accept WCHA invitation|date=August 26, 2011|access-date=August 26, 2011}} After much deliberation, on October 4, 2011, Bowling Green decided to join the WCHA as well in 2013.{{Cite news|last=Wagner|first=John|work=Toledo Blade|url=http://www.toledoblade.com/sports/2011/10/05/Falcons-make-switch-to-WCHA.html|title=Falcons make switch to WCHA|date=October 4, 2011|access-date=October 5, 2011}} On January 17, 2013, the WCHA admitted Alabama–Huntsville to the league, effective in the 2013–14 season.{{cite web|title=WCHA accepts Alabama-Huntsville for 2013-14 season|url=http://www.uscho.com/2013/01/17/wcha-accepts-alabama-huntsville-for-2013-14-season/|work=USCHO.com|access-date=January 17, 2013|date=January 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119174452/http://www.uscho.com/2013/01/17/wcha-accepts-alabama-huntsville-for-2013-14-season/|archive-date=January 19, 2013|url-status=live}}

This realignment activity only affected the men's side of the WCHA. Even after Penn State took the ice with both men's and women's teams, the Big Ten still had only four members with varsity women's hockey (Michigan and Michigan State field only men's teams). This meant that the women's side of the WCHA remained intact for the immediate future.

{{Seealso|2021–2024 NCAA conference realignment}}

The next change in the conference membership came shortly after the 2016–17 season, when North Dakota announced that it would drop women's hockey.{{cite press release|url=http://www.undsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=211538211 |title=Deep budget cuts force UND to eliminate three varsity sports |date=March 29, 2017 |publisher=North Dakota Fighting Hawks |access-date=April 1, 2017}}

During the 2019 offseason, the future of the men's side of the WCHA fell into serious doubt when its seven Midwestern members—Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, and Northern Michigan—notified the WCHA that they would leave the league after the 2020–21 season, potentially forming a new men's hockey conference.{{cite press release|url=https://bgsufalcons.com/news/2019/6/28/ice-hockey-statement-regarding-hockey-league-affiliation.aspx |title=Statement Regarding Hockey League Affiliation |publisher=Bowling Green Falcons |date=June 28, 2019 |access-date=June 29, 2019}} In February 2020, these seven schools announced they would form a new CCHA.{{cite news|url=https://www.startribune.com/ccha-will-be-new-name-for-seven-teams-leaving-wcha-in-2021-22/567973232/ |title=CCHA will be new name for seven teams leaving WCHA in 2021-22 |first=Randy |last=Johnson |newspaper=Star Tribune |location=Minneapolis |date=February 18, 2020 |access-date=April 22, 2020}}

At the time the seven Midwestern members announced their plans to leave, the two Alaska teams were facing a crisis following the veto by state governor Mike Dunleavy of over $100 million in funding for the University of Alaska system, a move that was seen as potentially ending intercollegiate athletics entirely at both the Anchorage and Fairbanks campuses.{{cite web|url=https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2019/06/28_7-of-10-WCHA-Announce-Plans.php |title=7 of 10 WCHA Teams Announce Plans to Leave |publisher=College Hockey News |date=June 28, 2019 |access-date=June 29, 2019}} The cuts led the UA system to start the process of consolidating the three-campus system into a single accredited institution (though retaining the existing campuses), with the system president telling local media that a single accreditation would likely lead to the Anchorage and Fairbanks athletic programs being combined into a single program. While both campuses continued to sponsor men's ice hockey in the 2019–20 season, the future of at least one of the teams beyond that point was then seen as uncertain at best.{{cite news|url=https://www.adn.com/sports/uaa-athletics/2019/08/02/as-university-of-alaska-moves-toward-consolidation-two-athletic-programs-are-likely-to-become-one/ |title=As University of Alaska moves toward consolidation, two athletic programs might become one |first=Beth |last=Bragg |newspaper=Anchorage Daily News |date=August 2, 2019 |access-date=August 11, 2019}} Later developments saw many of the budget cuts pulled back, as well as a temporary halt to work on a single UA system accreditation; this led the UA system to announce that athletics at both campuses would continue as is through the 2020–21 school year.{{cite news|url=https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2019/11/11_Alaska-Schools-Cleared-to.php |title=Alaska Schools Cleared to Play in 2020-21 |website=College Hockey News |date=November 11, 2019 |access-date=December 6, 2019}}

In November 2019, Alabama–Huntsville submitted a withdrawal letter to the WCHA, stating that it also planned to leave after the 2020–21 season. At the time, UAH was discussing potential future options with the two Alaska campuses.{{cite news|url=https://www.adn.com/sports/uaa-athletics/2019/11/21/could-uaa-and-uaf-be-the-last-hockey-teams-left-in-the-wcha/ |title=Could UAA and UAF be the last hockey teams left in the WCHA? |first=Beth |last=Bragg |newspaper=Anchorage Daily News |date=November 20, 2019 |access-date=April 22, 2020}} However, UAH subsequently dropped hockey effective immediately on May 22, 2020, due to the financial impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic on its athletic department. {{cite web|url=https://uahchargers.com/news/2020/5/22/general-covid-19-forcing-uah-to-take-steps-for-more-budget-reductions.aspx |title=COVID-19 Forcing UAH to Take Steps for More Budget Reductions |publisher=UAH Athletics |date=May 22, 2020 |access-date=May 23, 2020}} On May 29, 2020, UAH President Darren Dawson announced that men's hockey would return for the 2020–21 season after more than $750,000 in private contributions were made in the week prior.{{cite web|url=https://www.al.com/news/2020/05/uah-announces-hockey-will-return-after-private-funds-raised-to-support-program.html |title=UAH announces hockey will return after private funds raised to support program |publisher=AL.com |date=May 29, 2020 |access-date=May 29, 2020}} This reprieve proved temporary, as the school and its hockey supporters agreed that the continuation of the sport beyond 2020–21 would be contingent on finding a new conference home; when no conference move materialized, the hockey program was dropped again (although UAH officially called it a "suspension").{{cite news|url=https://www.al.com/news/2021/05/uah-drops-hockey-program-for-3rd-time-after-empty-search-for-conference.html |title=UAH drops hockey program for 3rd time after empty search for conference |first=Paul |last=Gattis |website=AL.com |date=May 5, 2021 |accessdate=July 3, 2021}}

In August 2020, Alaska Anchorage announced that it would drop hockey after the 2020–21 season.{{cite press release|url=https://goseawolves.com/news/2020/8/19/uaa-announces-reconfiguration-of-athletics-programs.aspx |title=UAA announces reconfiguration of athletics programs |publisher=Alaska Anchorage Seawolves |date=August 19, 2020 |access-date=September 10, 2020}} The University of Alaska Board of Regents offered the hockey team a chance at reinstatement in September if they could raise 2 seasons worth of expenses, approximately $3 million, by February 2021. The fundraising was divided into 2 parts: $1.5 million in cash, and the remainder in firm pledges. As of December 2020, the team had begun fundraising for the needed money.{{cite news|last=Bragg|first=Beth|URL=https://www.adn.com/sports/uaa-athletics/2020/10/19/uaa-hockey-supporters-launch-save-seawolf-hockey-fundraising-campaign/|title=UAA hockey supporters launch Save Seawolf Hockey fundraising campaign|publisher=Anchorage Daily News|date=October 19, 2020|access-date=December 1, 2020}}

The men's WCHA would fold after the 2020–21 season, but the women's WCHA announced a further expansion effective in 2021–22 with the arrival of St. Thomas, a Twin Cities school that received NCAA approval to directly transition from Division III to Division I. St. Thomas had been expelled from its longtime D-III home of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference effective with the end of the 2020–21 school year due to perceptions by many members that it had grown too strong for that conference in multiple sports.{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Dave |title=MIAC ousts original member St. Thomas for being too strong |url=http://www.startribune.com/miac-ousts-original-member-st-thomas-for-being-too-strong/510276802/ |access-date=July 15, 2019 |work=Star Tribune |agency=Associated Press |date=May 22, 2019}}{{cite press release|url=https://www.stthomas.edu/athletics/athletics-conference-update/index.html |title=Athletics Conference Update |publisher=University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) |date=October 4, 2019 |access-date=October 4, 2019}} The Summit League offered the Tommies a D-I home, and backed the school's bid to directly transition from D-III.{{cite press release|url=https://www.tommiesports.com/general/2019-20/releases/NCAA_Announcement |title=NCAA Ruling Allows D-III St. Thomas to Make Unprecedented Leap to D-I |publisher=St. Thomas Tommies |date=July 15, 2020 |access-date=July 16, 2020}}

The now women-only WCHA has 8 members following the 2021 arrival of St. Thomas. The men's side of the conference had 10 members in its final season of 2020–21, at which time only two schools, Bemidji State and Minnesota State, had both men's and women's teams in the conference.

| Minnesota

| 1990

| rowspan="2" | 2013

| 0 (0)

|colspan=2| NCHC

|-

!scope=row| Wisconsin

| Madison

| Wisconsin

| 1969

| 6 (6)

|colspan=2| Big Ten

|}

{{notelist|group=fm}}

{{notelist|group=fw}}

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20

Period = from:01/01/1950 till:07/01/2025

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AlignBars = late

Colors =

id:men value:rgb(0.6,0.6,1) legend:men

id:women value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5) legend:women

id:both value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.8) legend:both

id:lightgrey value:gray(0.8)

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PlotData=

width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:Wolverines color:men from:07/01/1951 till:07/01/1981 text:Michigan (1951–1981)

bar:Spartans color:men from:07/01/1951 till:07/01/1981 text:Michigan State (1951–1981)

bar:Tigers color:men from:07/01/1951 till:07/01/2013 text:Colorado College (1951–2013)

bar:Pioneers color:men from:07/01/1951 till:07/01/2013 text:Denver (1951–2013)

bar:MTUHuskies color:men from:07/01/1951 till:07/01/1981 text:Michigan Tech (1951–1981, 1984–2021)

bar:MTUHuskies color:men from:07/01/1984 till:07/01/2021

bar:Gophers color:men from:07/01/1951 till:07/01/1999 text:Minnesota (1951–present)

bar:Gophers color:both from:07/01/1999 till:07/01/2013

bar:Gophers color:women from:07/01/2013 till:end

bar:Sioux color:men from:07/01/1951 till:07/01/2004 text:North Dakota (1951–2017)

bar:Sioux color:both from:07/01/2004 till:07/01/2013

bar:Sioux color:women from:07/01/2013 till:07/01/2017

bar:Bulldogs color:men from:07/01/1966 till:07/01/1999 text:Minnesota–Duluth (1966–present)

bar:Bulldogs color:both from:07/01/1999 till:07/01/2013

bar:Bulldogs color:women from:07/01/2013 till:end

bar:Badgers color:men from:07/01/1969 till:07/01/1999 text:Wisconsin (1969–present)

bar:Badgers color:both from:07/01/1999 till:07/01/2013

bar:Badgers color:women from:07/01/2013 till:end

bar:Irish color:men from:07/01/1971 till:07/01/1981 text:Notre Dame (1971–1981)

bar:Wildcats color:men from:07/01/1984 till:07/01/1997 text:Northern Michigan (1984–1997, 2013–2021)

bar:Wildcats color:men from:07/01/2013 till:07/01/2021

bar:StCHuskies color:men from:07/01/1990 till:07/01/1999 text:St. Cloud State (1990–present)

bar:StCHuskies color:both from:07/01/1999 till:07/01/2013

bar:StCHuskies color:women from:07/01/2013 till:end

bar:Seawolves color:men from:07/01/1993 till:06/30/2021 text:Alaska–Anchorage (1993–2021)

bar:Beavers color:women from:07/01/1999 till:07/01/2010 text:Bemidji State (1999–present)

bar:Beavers color:both from:07/01/2010 till:07/01/2021

bar:Beavers color:women from:07/01/2021 till:end

bar:MMavericks color:both from:07/01/1999 till:07/01/2021 text:Minnesota State (1999–present)

bar:MMavericks color:women from:07/01/2021 till:end

bar:Buckeyes color:women from:07/01/1999 till:end text:Ohio State (1999-present)

bar:NMavericks color:men from:07/01/2010 shift:(-30) till:07/01/2013 text:Omaha (2010–2013)

bar:UAH color:men from:07/01/2013 shift:(-50) till:06/30/2021 text:Alabama–Huntsville (2013–2021)

bar:Fairbanks color:men from:07/01/2013 shift:(-41) till:06/30/2021 text:Alaska–Fairbanks (2013–2021)

bar:BGFalcons color:men from:07/01/2013 shift:(-25) till:07/01/2021 text:Bowling Green (2013–2021)

bar:FerrisSt color:men from:07/01/2013 shift:(-11) till:07/01/2021 text:Ferris State (2013–2021)

bar:LakeState color:men from:07/01/2013 shift:(-48) till:07/01/2021 text:Lake Superior State(2013–2021)

bar:StThomas color:women from:07/01/2021 shift:(-48) till:end text:St. Thomas (2021–present)

bar:Names color:lightgrey width:15 from:07/01/1951 till:07/01/1958

bar:Names color:lightgrey width:15 from:07/01/1959 till:end

at:01/01/1951 shift:(-4) text:MCHL

at:07/01/1953 mark:(line,black) shift:(10) text:WIHL

at:07/01/1959 text:WCHA

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1950

Legend = orientation:vertical left:58 top:150

File:Map - College Hockey - WCHA cities.png

At the conclusion of each regular season schedule the coaches of each WCHA team vote which players they choose to be on the two to four All-Conference teams:{{cite news|title=Head Coaches Tab Denver as MacNaughton Cup Favorite in Annual Grand Forks Herald WCHA Pre-Season Poll|url=http://wcha.com/men/presarch/2009/20090930.php|publisher=WCHA.com|date=September 30, 2009|access-date=August 26, 2013}} first team and second team with a rookie team added in 1990–91 and a third team added in 1995–96. Additionally they vote to award up to 5 individual trophies to an eligible player at the same time. The WCHA also awards a Most Valuable Player in Tournament, which is voted on at the conclusion of the conference tournament. Only the Coach of the Year award has been bestowed in each year of the WCHA's existence, making it the oldest continually-awarded conference award in Division I ice hockey.{{cite news|title=WCHA Awards|url=http://www.augenblick.org/chha/wcha_awd.html|publisher=College hockey Historical Archive|access-date=August 26, 2013}}

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WCHA schools have won 37 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey National Championships.

* Prior to 1959 the teams that formed the WCHA played in the MCHL or the WIHL.

{{col-2}}

WCHA schools have won 19 NCAA Women's Ice Hockey National Championships.

{{col-end}}

{{Reflist|2}}

{{portal|Ice hockey}}

• {{Official website|http://www.wcha.com/}}

{{Western Collegiate Hockey Association men's navbox}}

{{Western Collegiate Hockey Association women's navbox}}

{{WCHA men's ice hockey tournament}}

{{NCAA Division 1 hockey conferences}}

Category:College ice hockey conferences in the United States