Horizon League

The Horizon League is a NCAA conference that plays in the NCAA Division I. The conference is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and features universities and colleges from the Great Lakes Region. While it plays many sports, it has never played football.

History

The Horizon League was founded in 1979 as the Midwestern City Conference (MCC) with six members. None of these schools are in the league now. The school that has been in the league the longest is Detroit Mercy, which joined in 1980 (when it was known as simply "Detroit").

The conference changed its name in 1985 to Midwestern Collegiate Conference. In 1993, the largest conference expansion in NCAA history that did not involve a merger was announced. Six schools left the Mid-Continent Conference, now known as The Summit League, to join the Midwestern Collegiate Conference for the 1994–95 school year. In June 2001, the conference changed its name to the current Horizon League to avoid confusion with the "other" MCC (which did not become The Summit League until 2007).

Today, eight of the Horizon League's 11 full members (those playing most, if not all, of their sports in the league) are former members of The Summit League. The exceptions are Detroit Mercy, Northern Kentucky, and Robert Morris.

The most recent changes to the conference membership happened in the 2020s. First, in 2020, Purdue Fort Wayne and Robert Morris joined. In 2022, UIC left to join the Missouri Valley Conference. Most recently, the conference announced in February 2025 that Northern Illinois, which had left in 1997, would return in 2026. Northern Illinois returned to the Horizon League at the same time that the school's football team joined the Mountain West Conference.

Members

The Horizon League now has 12 full members.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameJoined
Cleveland State UniversityCleveland, Ohio1964PublicVikings1994
University of Detroit MercyDetroit. Michigan1877PrivateTitans1980
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (Green Bay)Green Bay, Wisconsin1965PublicPhoenix1994
Indiana University Indianapolis (IU Indy)Indianapolis, Indiana1969PublicJaguars2017
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (Milwaukee)Milwaukee, Wisconsin1956PublicPanthers1994
Northern Illinois UniversityDeKalb, Illinois1895PublicHuskies2026
Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights, Kentucky1968PublicNorse2015
Oakland UniversityRochester, Michigan1957PublicGolden Grizzlies2013
Purdue University Fort WayneFort Wayne, Indiana1964PublicMastodons2020
Robert Morris UniversityMoon Township, Pennsylvania1921PrivateColonials2020
Wright State UniversityDayton, Ohio1964PublicRaiders1994
Youngstown State UniversityYoungstown, Ohio1908PublicPenguins2001
  1. ↑ IU Indy joined the Horizon League as IUPUI, representing the former Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. At the end of the 2023–24 school year, the Indiana University and Purdue University systems shut down IUPUI. That school was replaced by new IU and Purdue campuses. The athletic program transferred to the new IU campus. Shortly before the campus split became official, the athletic website adopted a branding as IU Indy.
  2. ↑ Northern Illinois had been a Horizon member from 1994 to 1997.
  3. ↑ The Oakland campus has a mailing address of Rochester, but is actually located in the neighboring cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills.
  4. ↑ Purdue Fort Wayne did not exist until 2018, but inherited its athletic program from Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), founded in 1964. In 2018, the Indiana University and Purdue University systems shut down their joint Fort Wayne campus. Each system then opened a new Fort Wayne campus of its own.
  5. ↑ The Wright State campus has a mailing address of Dayton, but is actually located in the neighboring suburb of Fairborn.

Former full members

A total of 13 schools have been full members, but are no longer in the conference.

Nicknames are those used when the schools were conference members.

SchoolLocationFoundedJoinedLeftTypeNicknameCurrent Conference
Butler UniversityIndianapolis, Indiana185519792012PrivateBulldogsBig East
University of DaytonDayton, Ohio185019871993PrivateFlyersAtlantic 10
Duquesne UniversityPittsburgh, Pennsylvania187819921993PrivateDukesAtlantic 10
University of EvansvilleEvansville, Indiana185419791994PrivatePurple AcesMissouri Valley
La Salle UniversityPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania186319921995PrivateExplorersAtlantic 10
Loyola University ChicagoChicago, Illinois187019792013PrivateRamblersAtlantic 10
Marquette UniversityMilwaukee, Wisconsin188119881991PrivateWarriorsBig East
University of Notre DameSouth Bend, Indiana18421982
1987/1988		1986
1995		PrivateFighting IrishACC
Oklahoma City UniversityOklahoma City, Oklahoma190419791985PrivateChiefsSooner (NAIA)
Oral Roberts UniversityTulsa, Oklahoma196319791987PrivateTitansThe Summit
Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, Missouri181819811991PrivateBillikensAtlantic 10
University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)Chicago, Illinois185919942022PublicFlamesMissouri Valley
Valparaiso UniversityValparaiso, Indiana185920072017PrivateCrusadersMissouri Valley
Xavier UniversityCincinnati, Ohio183119791995PrivateMusketeersBig East
  1. ↑ The Marquette men's basketball team joined in 1989, a year after the school joined in other sports.
  2. ↑ Marquette changed its nickname to "Golden Eagles" in 1994.
  3. ↑ Notre Dame was never a conference member in men's basketball.
  4. ↑ When Notre Dame rejoined the conference in 1987, it did so only for men's sports. Women's sports joined the next year.
  5. ↑ Oklahoma City changed its nickname to "Stars" in 1999.
  6. ↑ Oral Roberts changed its nickname to "Golden Eagles" in 1993.
  7. ↑ The Saint Louis men's basketball team joined in 1982, a year after the school joined in other sports.
  8. ↑ Valparaiso changed its nickname to Beacons in 2021.

Associate members

NCAA conferences often have one or more "associate" members that play only a limited number of sports in the conference, usually one. For most of its history, the Horizon League has not had associate members. The first such member was Belmont, which was a men's soccer member from 2014 to 2018. More recently, the Horizon greatly expanded its men's tennis league. The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) merged its men's tennis league into the Horizon in 2022. At the same time, Belmont returned to the conference for men's tennis, and Chicago State moved men's and women's tennis into the Horizon.

Lindenwood shut down its men's tennis team after the 2023–24 season. At the same time, Chicago State joined the Northeast Conference, which sponsors tennis for both sexes. However, it kept both tennis teams in the Horizon League through the 2024–25 season, honoring its affiliation contract with that conference. Eastern Illinois shut down its men's tennis team after the 2024–25 season. Tennessee Tech, which had joined Horizon men's tennis alongside other OVC teams in 2022, left after 2025–26 when it joined the tennis-sponsoring Southern Conference. Oral Roberts joined for men's tennis at the same time Tennessee Tech left.

Current

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameHorizon League
sport(s)		JoinedMain conference
Belmont UniversityNashville, Tennessee1890PrivateBruinsMen's tennis2022MVC
Oral Roberts UniversityTulsa, Oklahoma1963PrivateGolden EaglesMen's tennis2026Summit League
University of Southern IndianaEvansville, Indiana1965PublicScreaming EaglesMen's tennis2022OVC
Tennessee State UniversityNashville, Tennessee1912PublicTigersMen's tennis2022OVC
  1. ↑ Mailing address; the campus is in unincorporated Vanderburgh County.

Former

As noted above, current men's tennis member Belmont once housed its men's soccer team in the Horizon League.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameHorizon League
sport		JoinedLeftMain conferenceConference in former
Horizon sport
Belmont UniversityNashville, Tennessee1890PrivateBruinsMen's soccer20142018MVC
Chicago State UniversityChicago, Illinois1867PublicCougarsMen's and women's tennis20222025NEC
Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston, Illinois1895PublicPanthersMen's tennis20222025OVCNone
Lindenwood UniversitySt. Charles, Missouri1827PublicLionsMen's tennis20222024OVCNone
Tennessee Tech UniversityCookeville, Tennessee1915PublicGolden EaglesMen's tennis20222026SoCon

References

  1. ↑ "Northern Kentucky University to Join Horizon League in July" (Press release). Horizon League. May 11, 2015. Archived from the original on May 14, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Robert Morris to Join Horizon League" (Press release). Horizon League. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Purdue University Fort Wayne to Join Horizon League" (Press release). Horizon League. August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  4. ↑ "UIC to Join the Missouri Valley Conference" (Press release). Missouri Valley Conference. January 26, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Horizon League Welcomes NIU" (Press release). Horizon League. February 27, 2025. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  6. ↑ Tryon, Matthew (August 12, 2022). "What's next for IUPUI athletics? Staying in the Horizon League and 'tough decisions'". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Goodbye IPFW, hello Purdue Fort Wayne". Journal & Courier. Fort Wayne, IN. April 21, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Horizon League Announces Innovative Partnership with Ohio Valley Conference and Men's Tennis Programs, Adds Chicago State as an Affiliate Member for Men's and Women's Tennis" (Press release). Horizon League. July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Men's Tennis Accepts Affiliate Membership in Horizon League" (Press release). Belmont Bruins. July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.