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 will return to the Horizon League at the same time that the school's football team joins the Mountain West Conference.

Members
The Horizon League now has 11 full members, with a 12th joining in 2026.

 School  Location  Founded  Type  Nickname  Joined Cleveland State University  Cleveland, Ohio  1964  Public  Vikings  1994    Detroit. Michigan  1877  Private  Titans  1980  (Green Bay)  Green Bay, Wisconsin  1965  Public  Phoenix  1994  (IU Indy)  Indianapolis, Indiana  1969  Public  Jaguars  2017  (Milwaukee)  Milwaukee, Wisconsin  1956  Public  Panthers  1994 Northern Kentucky University  Highland Heights, Kentucky  1968  Public  Norse  2015 Oakland University  Rochester, Michigan  1957  Public  Golden Grizzlies  2013 Purdue University Fort Wayne  Fort Wayne, Indiana  1964  Public  Mastodons  2020 Robert Morris University  Moon Township, Pennsylvania  1921  Private  Colonials  2020 Wright State University  Dayton, Ohio  1964  Public  Raiders  1994 Youngstown State University  Youngstown, Ohio  1908  Public  Penguins  2001

Future member 
 School  Location  Founded  Type  Nickname  Joining Northern Illinois University  DeKalb, Illinois  1895  Public  Huskies  2026 

Former full members
A total of 14 schools have been full members, but are no longer in the conference. Northern Illinois will return to the Horizon League in 2026.

Nicknames are those used when the schools were conference members.

 School  Location  Founded  Joined  Left  Type  Nickname  Current Conference Butler University  Indianapolis, Indiana  1855  1979  2012  Private  Bulldogs  Big East    Dayton, Ohio  1850  1987  1993  Private  Flyers  Atlantic 10  Duquesne University  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania  1878  1992  1993  Private  Dukes  Atlantic 10    Evansville, Indiana  1854  1979  1994  Private  Purple Aces  Missouri Valley  La Salle University  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  1863  1992  1995  Private  Explorers  Atlantic 10  Loyola University Chicago  Chicago, Illinois  1870  1979  2013  Private  Ramblers  Atlantic 10  Marquette University  Milwaukee, Wisconsin  1881  1988  1991  Private  Warriors  Big East  Northern Illinois University  DeKalb, Illinois  1895  1994  1997  Public  Huskies  MAC   South Bend, Indiana  1842  19821987/1988  19861995  Private  Fighting Irish  ACC  Oklahoma City University  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma  1904  1979  1985  Private  Chiefs  Sooner (NAIA)  Oral Roberts University  Tulsa, Oklahoma  1963  1979  1987  Private  Titans  The Summit Saint Louis University  St. Louis, Missouri  1818  1981  1991  Private  Billikens  Atlantic 10   (UIC)  Chicago, Illinois  1859  1994  2022  Public  Flames  Missouri Valley Valparaiso University  Valparaiso, Indiana  1859  2007  2017  Private  Crusaders  Missouri Valley Xavier University  Cincinnati, Ohio  1831  1979  1995  Private  Musketeers  Big East 

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.

 Current 
 School  Location  Founded  Type  Nickname  Horizon Leaguesport(s)  Joined  Main conference Belmont University  Nashville, Tennessee  1890  Private  Bruins  Men's tennis  2022  MVC   Evansville, Indiana  1965  Public  Screaming Eagles  Men's tennis  2022  OVC Tennessee State University  Nashville, Tennessee  1912  Public  Tigers  Men's tennis  2022  OVC Tennessee Tech University  Cookeville, Tennessee  1915  Public  Golden Eagles  Men's tennis  2022  OVC

 Former 
As noted above, current men's tennis member Belmont once housed its men's soccer team in the Horizon League.
 School  Location  Founded  Type  Nickname  Horizon Leaguesport  Joined  Left  Main conference  Conference in formerHorizon sport Belmont University  Nashville, Tennessee  1890  Private  Bruins  Men's soccer  2014  2018  MVC Chicago State University  Chicago, Illinois  1867  Public  Cougars  Men's and women's tennis  2022  2025  NEC Eastern Illinois University  Charleston, Illinois  1895  Public  Panthers  Men's tennis  2022  2025  OVC   Lindenwood University    1827  Public  Lions  Men's tennis  2022  2024  OVC  

References


Category:NCAA Division I athletics conferences
Category:1979 establishments in the United States