MAC Freedom Conference

MAC Freedom
Conference	NCAA
Founded	1999
Sports fielded	23 men's: 11; women's: 12; ;
Division	Division III
No. of teams	8
Headquarters	Annville, Pennsylvania
Region	Mid-Atlantic
Official website	http://www.gomacsports.com

The MAC Freedom, in full Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom,^[1] is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. It is one of the three conferences that operate under the umbrella of the Middle Atlantic Conferences; the others are the MAC Commonwealth and the Middle Atlantic Conference, a grouping used for some sports that consists of MAC Commonwealth and MAC Freedom schools. Member institutions are located in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Member schools

The most recent changes in membership coincided with the 2023 departure of Lycoming College and Wilkes University. The MAC, which only had 16 members remaining, balanced the two leagues by moving Lebanon Valley from the MAC Commonwealth to the MAC Freedom.^[2]

Current members

The MAC Freedom currently has eight full members, all are private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined^[a]	Football?
Arcadia University	Glenside, Pennsylvania	1853	Presbyterian	2,473	Knights	2007; 2020^[b]^[3]	No
Delaware Valley University	Doylestown, Pennsylvania	1917	Nonsectarian	2,375	Aggies	1965^[c]	Yes
DeSales University	Center Valley, Pennsylvania	1965	Catholic	3,309	Bulldogs	1997^[c]	No
Fairleigh Dickinson University–Florham	Madison, New Jersey	1942	Nonsectarian	2,546	Devils	1977^[c]	Yes
King's College	Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania	1946	Catholic	2,421	Monarchs	1977^[c]	Yes
Lebanon Valley College	Annville, Pennsylvania	1866	Methodist	1,712	Flying Dutchmen	2023^[c]^[d]	Yes
Misericordia University	Dallas, Pennsylvania	1924	Catholic	2,879	Cougars	2008	Yes
Stevens Institute of Technology	Hoboken, New Jersey	1870	Nonsectarian	5,260	Ducks	1922; 2019^[e]	No

Notes

^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^ Arcadia moved from the MAC Freedom to the MAC Commonwealth after the 2007–08 school year, before returning back in 2020–21.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Member school has been part of the MAC before the formation of the MAC Freedom in the 1999–2000 school year.
^ Lebanon Valley joined the MAC prior to the 1945–46 school year. However, they were a part of the MAC Commonwealth from 1999–2000 to 2022–23.
^ Stevens left the MAC after the 1977–78 school year, before rejoining back in 2019–20.

Enrollment source:^[4]

Future members

The MAC Freedom will have one future full member, a private school:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joining^[a]	Previous conference
Marywood University	Scranton, Pennsylvania	1915	Catholic (I.H.M.)	2,470	Pacers	2026	Atlantic East (AEC)

Notes

^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.

Former members

The MAC Freedom had seven former full members, all were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined^[a]	Left^[b]	Current conference	Football?
Alvernia University	Reading, Pennsylvania	1958	Catholic	2,872	Crusaders^[c]	2008	2009	MAC Commonwealth	No
Drew University	Madison, New Jersey	1867	Methodist	2,647	Rangers	1968^[d]	2006	Landmark	No
Eastern University	St. Davids, Pennsylvania	1952	Baptist	3,420	Eagles	2008	2020	MAC Commonwealth	No
Lycoming College	Williamsport, Pennsylvania	1812	Methodist	1,272	Warriors	1952;^[d] 2020^[e]	2008; 2023	Landmark	Yes
Manhattanville College	Purchase, New York	1841	Nonsectarian	2,700	Valiants	2007	2019	Skyline	No
University of Scranton	Scranton, Pennsylvania	1888	Catholic	5,160	Royals	1938^[d]	2007	Landmark	No
Wilkes University	Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania	1933	Nonsectarian	5,552	Colonels	1946^[d]	2023	Landmark	Yes

Notes

^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^ Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
^ Alvernia has been known as the Golden Wolves since the 2017–18 school year.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Member school had been part of the MAC before the formation of the MAC Freedom in the 1999–2000 school year.
^ Lycoming moved from the MAC Freedom to the MAC Commonwealth after the 2006–07 school year; before returning back in 2020–21.

Membership timeline

Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football) Associate member (sport)

Sports

The MAC Freedom sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's field hockey, men's and women's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, women's softball, men's and women's tennis, and women's volleyball. In addition, members also compete in the MAC's Middle Atlantic Conference in men's and women's cross country, men's football, men's and women's ice hockey,^[a] men's and women's swimming, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, men's volleyball, and men's wrestling.

Men's Sports


School	Baseball	Basketball	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Tennis	Total MAC Freedom Sports
Arcadia	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
Delaware Valley	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	5
DeSales	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
FDU–Florham	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
King’s	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
Lebanon Valley	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
Misericordia	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
Stevens	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	6
Totals	8	8	8	8	8	7	47

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the MAC that are played by MAC schools


School	Equestrian	Fencing
Delaware Valley	Y^[b]
Stevens		IND

Women's Sports


School	Basketball	Field Hockey	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Volleyball	Total MAC Freedom Sports
Arcadia	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Delaware Valley	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	6
DeSales	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
FDU–Florham	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
King’s	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Lebanon Valley	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Misericordia	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Stevens	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7
Totals	8	8	8	8	8	7	8	55

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the MAC that are played by MAC schools


School	Equestrian	Fencing
Delaware Valley	Y^[b]
Stevens		IND

Footnotes

^ While officially sponsoring ice hockey, the larger MAC does not conduct a conference tournament; all MAC ice hockey schools compete in the single-sport United Collegiate Hockey Conference for that league's automatic bids to the NCAA Division III men's and women's tournaments. The MAC uses regular-season results of UCHC games involving MAC members to extrapolate a conference champion. The relationship between the MAC and UCHC is similar to that in Division I between the Ivy League and ECAC Hockey.
^ ^a ^b Co-Ed

References

^ "MAC Officially Welcomes York (Pa.), New Conference Structure" (Press release). Middle Atlantic Conferences. July 1, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020. Located in Annville, Pa., the Middle Atlantic Conference is an NCAA Division III conference comprised of the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC), Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth (MAC Commonwealth) and Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom).
^ "Lebanon Valley Moves to MAC Freedom in 2023-24" (Press release). Middle Atlantic Conference. June 9, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
^ "MAC Announces Realignment for 2020-21" (Press release). Middle Atlantic Conferences. May 7, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
^ "Best Colleges". U.S. News & World Report.