Middle Atlantic Conferences Founded in 1912 , the Middle Atlantic Conferences ( MAC ) is an umbrella organization of three athletic conferences which competes in the NCAA ' s Division III . The 18 - member teams are located in the Mid - Atlantic United States . The organization is divided into two main conferences : the Commonwealth Conference and the Freedom Conference . A third conference — named the Middle Atlantic Conference — combines members from both conferences and is used for certain sports that only a smaller set of members participate in , such as track and field and cross country . History . In 1912 , the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletics Association ( MASCAA ) was founded primarily as a track association and had its first event , a track meeting , at Lafayette College in May 1913 . In 1922 , it was reorganized as the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Conference ( MASCAC or MAC ) . The original 13 members present at the formation meeting in 1922 were : Bucknell University , Drexel University , Franklin & Marshall College , Gettysburg College , Haverford College , Muhlenberg College , New York University , Princeton University , Rutgers University , Stevens Institute of Technology , Susquehanna University , Swarthmore College , and the University of Delaware . In addition , another five members who were not present at the initial meeting but formally approved of the plan were : Columbia University , Johns Hopkins University , Lehigh University , Ursinus College , and Widener University . Throughout its history , the organization has had at least 50 different members associated with it . The conference had as many as 37 members at one time in the late 1950s . A major reduction in the league occurred in 1974 after the NCAA created Divisions I , II , and III . At that time , 11 members left to form the Division I East Coast Conference and by 1976 , the MAC became fully associated with Division III . An additional 11 members left in 1992 to form the Centennial Conference ; the football programs for eight of those schools had already left in 1981 . In 1999 , the current corporation formed with its three conferences : Commonwealth , Freedom , and Middle Atlantic . In May 2006 , the organization offered membership to Arcadia University and Manhattanville College as part of the Freedom Conference . They replaced Juniata College , Drew University , Moravian College , Susquehanna University , and the University of Scranton , who left to join the new Landmark Conference . To offset the change in numbers , it was also decided to switch Lycoming College from the Freedom to the Commonwealth Conference . In 2007 , Alvernia University , Misericordia University , and Eastern University , all from the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference , accepted membership in the Freedom Conference and started participation in the 2008 – 09 school year . Starting in the 2009 – 10 school year , Alvernia switched from the Freedom to the Commonwealth Conference to balance both conferences with eight teams each . Stevenson University and Hood College accepted invitations to join the MAC and Commonwealth starting in July 2012 expanding the conference to 18 members . MAC football . In 1958 , the MAC began sponsoring football . The football conference essentially operated as two separate conferences with the larger schools ( Delaware , Temple , Lafayette , Lehigh , Bucknell , Gettysburg , and Rutgers ) playing a round robin schedule , and the smaller schools ( Juniata , Lycoming , Wilkes , Widener , and Albright ) playing a separate round robin schedule . Although the upper division of the conference ( which also included Muhlenberg , Drexel , La Salle , and St . Joe ' s ) competed at the Division I ( then known as the University Division ) level in other sports , only Rutgers was considered a University Division football school . Following the 1969 season , the upper level of MAC football was disbanded as Temple dropped out to upgrade their football schedule . Rutgers had previously dropped out of the MAC for all sports and a five team football league was not desirable . The lower division continued as MAC football , but Delaware , Lafayette , Lehigh , Gettysburg , and Bucknell operated as football independents for the rest of their tenure with the league . Numerous other MAC schools competed in other football leagues throughout most of the league ' s history . In 1983 , the Centennial Football League was formed between 8 MAC members . Eventually , those 8 schools and two others broke apart from the MAC for all sports , founding the Centennial Conference . Since the Centennial Conference break in 1991 , all league members that sponsor football have competed in the MAC Football Conference . Member schools . Commonwealth Conference . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > " Conference records prior to 1946 are incomplete so years given are the earliest known that were officially recorded " Freedom Conference . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > " Conference records prior to 1946 are incomplete so years given are the earliest known that were officially recorded " Middle Atlantic Conference . The Middle Atlantic Conference combines schools from both the Commonwealth and Freedom conferences and is used for cross country , football , indoor and outdoor track and field , and swimming . Sports . Member teams compete in 24 sports , 12 men ' s and 12 women ' s .