Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association ( MIAA ) is an athletic conference that competes in the NCAA ' s Division III . The nine teams in the conference are all located in the states of Michigan and Indiana . The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association was established on March 24 , 1888 , making it the oldest college athletic conference in the United States . The current members of the MIAA include Adrian College , Albion College , Alma College , Calvin College , Hope College , Kalamazoo College , Olivet College , Saint Mary ' s College of Notre Dame , Indiana , and Trine University , formerly known as Tri - State University . Olivet and Albion are the only charter members remaining in the conference . Former members include such colleges as Michigan State University , previously Michigan Agricultural College , ( 1888 – 1907 ) , Eastern Michigan University , previously Michigan State Normal College , ( 1892 – 1926 ) , Hillsdale College ( 1888 – 1961 ) , and Defiance College ( 1997 – 2000 ) . The members of the MIAA remained the same from 1961 until 1997 when Defiance College of Ohio and Saint Mary ' s College of Indiana were invited to join , the first time colleges from outside of Michigan were admitted to the conference . Adrian , Albion , Alma , Calvin , Hope , Kalamazoo , Olivet and Saint Mary ' s have not been members of any other conference . In 2002 , the league accepted Wisconsin Lutheran College as an associate member for the purpose of competing only in football . Wisconsin Lutheran College left the MIAA for another conference in 2007 . The newest member of the MIAA was accepted in the 2004 – 05 season , Tri - State University . Tri - State University changed their name to Trine University in 2008 . History . The conference was established on March 24 , 1888 . Being the oldest conference in America , the conference has made some drastic changes involving the types of sports that the conference competes in . The number of sports with competition is 18 ( 9 men and 9 women sports ) . These sports include cross country , football , golf , basketball , tennis , swimming , baseball , volleyball , softball track and field and soccer . Some past sports that are no longer in competition include bicycle racing , Indian club juggling , wrestling , archery , and field hockey . The “ Father of the MIAA , ” was James Heckman of Hillsdale . Heckman promoted the idea of a permanent league after several schools had sponsored successful track and field days from 1884 to 1887 . The first delegates met in Jackson on March 17 , 1888 to organize the MIAA . A week after the meeting delegates from Albion , Hillsdale , Michigan State and Olivet drew up the MIAA ’ s first constitution . The schools that were to be a part of the MIAA in 1888 had diverse enrollment numbers . The largest enrollment belonged to Eastern with 714 . Albion was listed as 451 , Hillsdale 450 , Michigan State 314 , Olivet 277 , Adrian 150 , Hope 148 , Kalamazoo 143 and Alma with 95 students ( www . miaa . org accessed 10 / 15 / 08 ) . Some of the enrollment figures included many students taking work on a high school level . This meant that athletic teams of those years included both high school and college students . A five or six year career of athletic participation was not unusual at that time ( www . miaa . org accessed 10 / 15 / 08 ) . On May 31 , June 1 – 2 , 1888 the first MIAA track and field meet was held at East Lansing , not even three months after the original meeting . The events that were held included the 100 - yard dash , 200 - yard dash , 880 - yard run , high jump , long jump , shot put , hammer throw and mile relay . Some other events that would not normally be at a track and field meet today , were lawn tennis , wrestling , Indian club swing , horizontal and parallel bar performing , bicycle racing , sparring , and tug - of - war . The teams that competed in this event were Hillsdale , Albion , Michigan State , and Olivet . Hillsdale was the first MIAA track champion . The following year in 1889 , the second annual MIAA Field Day was done . At this Field Day Albion and Olivet participated in an exhibition “ football match . ” It was not until 1891 when the first official intercollegiate football game in the MIAA was played with Albion defeating Hillsdale 36 - 4 . Football was not recognized until 1894 as an official league sport ( www . miaa . org accessed 10 / 15 / 08 ) . The following sports came into effect as follows : Baseball , the 440 - yard dash , mile run , high hurdles and pole vault in 1889 . Football was recognized as an official league sport in 1894 . The two mile run and discus in 1912 and the javelin replaced the hammer throw in 1913 . Basketball became a league sport in 1911 . Cross country was introduced in 1922 while golf was in 1934 . Wrestling was introduced in 1969 , but then was dropped in 1981 . Soccer in 1970 and swimming in 1971 ( www . miaa . org accessed 10 / 15 / 08 ) . Contrary to what many would think that sports for women only started in 1978 - 79 there is evidence that it started much earlier than that . The first Albion college tennis tournament held six years after the league was formed was actually a co - ed event ( www . miaa . org accessed 10 / 15 / 08 ) . In 1936 , Albion invited all of the MIAA schools to a play day and convention which was the first attempt to organize a women ’ s athletic program for the MIAA . 100 women from all of the colleges in the MIAA participated in events such as archery , tennis , volleyball , basketball , badminton , softball , and swimming ( www . miaa . org accessed 10 / 15 / 08 ) . In 1941 the Athletic Federation of Michigan College Women ( AFMCW ) was established . It later became known as the Women ’ s Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association ( WMIAA ) in 1946 . In 1977 league presidents voted to allow post - season participation by member schools if they were so invited by the NCAA Division III Football Committee ( Harburn 4 ) . This ended a seventeen year ban on post - season competition . Albion ’ s 1977 team was the first team chosen to participate . Many teams during the ban did not have the chance to show off their skills as some teams were even ranked in the Top Ten nationally , because of the NCAA rule prohibiting more than two teams from the same region being selected ( Harburn 4 ) . Hillsdale College left the conference in 1960 because they accepted a bid to a postseason football bowl game and were subsequently suspended two years by the conference . In 1978 - 79 , the league combined into a single structure the administration of the men ’ s and women ’ s athletic programs of the member schools . This meant that women sports would be included . Winning streaks and distinguished coaches . The MIAA has had its share of many winning seasons , but there are some that may stick out more than others . For example Kalamazoo College men ’ s tennis has been a part of one that cannot be matched by any other college or university in America . They have won or shared every MIAA Finals championship since 1936 , which is 72 consecutive titles ( www . miaa . org accessed 5 / 2 / 10 ) . The only times they had to share the title was with Hope College in 1962 and 2003 . Some other notable championship streaks include Calvin ’ s men cross country 21 years in a row ; Calvin ’ s women track & field 17 years in a row ( www . miaa . org accessed 10 / 15 / 08 ) . Since 1990 , MIAA member colleges have won 18 National Division III championships . The first MIAA national championship was won by Kalamazoo in 1976 when it won the men ’ s tennis championship ( Renner 19 ) . The Kalamazoo College hornets would later win back - to - back championships in 1986 and 1987 ( Renner 19 ) and again in 1991 , 1992 , and 1993 . NCAA Division III history was made in 1991 - 92 when the MIAA claimed two national championships in basketball with Calvin winning the men ’ s title and Alma with the women ’ s ( www . miaa . org accessed 10 / 15 / 08 ) . The league has had 82 individual NCAA national championship performances since 1978 ( www . miaa . org accessed 10 / 15 / 08 ) . The league has had many coaches throughout its history . There are always some coaches that stand out from the rest . One coach that stands out from the rest is George Acker of Kalamazoo College . Acker was a Phys . Ed Professor and men ’ s tennis coach for 35 years . His impressive resume includes coaching 7 NCAA Division III Championships and 35 MIAA Championships . An impressive 209 - 1 MIAA career dual - meet record and an overall 537 - 231 record ( www . kzoo . edu / sports / ahof / sport . html accessed 10 / 15 / 08 ) . Acker was the winningest coach in the MIAA . He is followed by John Patnott of Hope College , Tish Loveless ( Kalamazoo College ) , Chester Barnard ( Kalamazoo College ) , and Bob Kent also from Kalamazoo College ( www . miaa . org accessed 10 / 15 / 08 ) . Another such coach was Jare T . Klein of Olivet . As coach of the famed Olivet College Wrestling program , Olivet teams won 10 League Championships ( including 9 straight ) in 15 Seasons . His team ' s overall dual meet record during his 29 year coaching tenure was 569 - 119 . It appears that Klein may have been a victim to his own success as the MIAA dropped wrestling as a league sport in 1984 . Rivalries . Of course a league will have many rivalries and the MIAA is no different . In a recent interview Jamie Zorbo , head football coach for Kalamazoo College , talked about the tradition of the MIAA and the rivalries . “ It is a competitive league ; all the teams that are competing have been for a long time and have a lot of history to play for . ” “ Great rivalries are made including Kalamazoo vs . Hope ; Albion vs . Kalamazoo and the Calvin vs . Hope rivalry in basketball . These are just a few of them . ” ( Zorbo , Jamie . Personal Interview 15 October 2008 ) . The Calvin vs . Hope rivalry has actually made national news . ESPN recently identified the nation ’ s greatest college basketball rivalries . Calvin – Hope rivalry tops the Division III and is ranked fourth in all college hoops . ESPN covered this game in 2005 and a “ fan poll ” was conducted after the game where 80 % of the voters voted for Calvin - Hope as number one . It was also covered in July 2007 in an ESPN series ( http : / / www . hope . edu / pr / athletics / therivalry / index . html accessed 15 October 2008 ) . Member schools . Current members . The league currently has 9 full members : Sports . Member teams compete in cross country , football , golf , soccer , volleyball , basketball , swimming , baseball , softball , tennis , lacrosse , and track and field . As a women ' s school , Saint Mary ' s does not participate in football or baseball .