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New Great Midwest Athletic Conference includes Ohio, Kentucky institutions

NCAA.org

Six Division II colleges and universities from Kentucky and Ohio have announced the creation of the new Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

The six members include Cedarville University, Central State University, Kentucky Wesleyan, Notre Dame College (Ohio), Urbana University and Ursuline College. 

Kentucky Wesleyan currently holds membership in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The five Ohio schools are Division II independents; some are currently working their way through the Division II membership process.

The new conference will begin competition in the fall 2013, pending approval from the NCAA. 

Division II currently has in place a moratorium on new conference membership, pending the outcome of legislation that would modify standards for new and existing conferences. If the legislation is approved in January, the Membership Committee mostly likely will lift the moratorium.

The legislation that will be voted upon in January would require new conferences to have at least 10 institutions to apply and become active. However, because of the effective date of the proposed legislation, the G-MAC could apply under the current, less restrictive standards.

If approved, the G-MAC would become the 24th Division II conference.

The G-MAC presidents issued a joint statement stating: “The Great Midwest Athletic Conference reflects the membership of similar institutions with parallel academic and athletic philosophies and resources.”

A statement from the six institutions noted that league administrators have been working to create the structure needed to form a conference that will be desirable to other institutions with similar philosophies. Expansion beyond the original six will be a priority moving forward, the statement said.

“We believe the G-MAC will become the model NCAA Division II conference with our focus on the whole student-athlete experience – including academics, socializing, and being able to compete athletically with success,” said the statement from the six presidents.