Central States Collegiate Hockey League
The Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) is Division I ACHA level hockey-college athletic conference. The CSCHL is in its 51st season of existence and is one of the top ranked ACHA leagues. It currently has 5 member teams in the Midwestern United States. Format. League teams play a 20-game league schedule, plus additional regular season games against non-league opponents. Following the regular season, the league holds a Championship Tournament. The CSCHL Regular Season champion team is awarded an automatic bid to the annual ACHA Men's Division I National Tournament. History . The league began in 1970 with Chicago State University, Illinois State University and Iowa State University as founding members. The following season the league expanded to 24 teams in 3 divisions making the CSCHL the premier ice hockey conference in the midwest. Joining the CSCHL included Bradley University, Drake University, Illinois Benedictine University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Lewis University, Northeastern Illinois University, and Western Illinois University. The University of Illinois joined shortly after in 1974. The league saw great expansion in the early 1990s when the University of Michigan-Dearborn joined after operating as an NAIA varsity program. Ohio University  followed in 1993 and Kent State University joined in 1994 after the university dropped NCAA hockey. Following the 2003 season, UW-Whitewater departed & dropped down to play ACHA D2. In 2004, Robert Morris University-Illinois joined the league, followed by Lindenwood University in 2006. After the 2008 season, Saint Louis University departed to play at the ACHA Division II level. At the conclusion of the 2009–2010 season, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan–Dearborn, and Western Michigan University left to join the new Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League. The CSCHL added Indiana University, who joins the league for the 2010–2011 season, after  transitioning from ACHA II. Kent State departed for the GLCHL at the conclusion of the 2011–12 season. Indiana University rejoined the Great Midwest Hockey League (GMHL) in the 2014–15 season to once again compete at the Division II level. During the 2019–20 season, Robert Morris Illinois merged with erstwhile non-hockey Roosevelt University. The hockey program was retained through the merger process of the universities and athletics departments and has played under the Roosevelt Lakers program beginning in the 2020-21 season. After the 2021–22 season, Lindenwood will move up its men's hockey team to NCAA Division I status  and therefore leave both the league and the ACHA.