Northeast Conference

The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a college athletic conference whose schools are members of the NCAA. The NCAA designates the Northeast Conference to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision for Division I Men's Football (formerly Division I-AA) and to Division I Sports for all other sports. Participating schools are primarily located in the northeastern United States.

The circuit was named the ECAC-Metro Conference when it was established in 1981. The original eleven member schools were Fairleigh Dickinson University, Long Island University, Loyola College in Maryland (left in 1989), Marist College (left in 1997), Robert Morris University, St. Francis College (N.Y.), St. Francis College (Pa.), Siena College (left in 1984), Towson State University (left in 1982), the University of Baltimore (left in 1983) and Wagner College. The conference's name was changed to its present form on August 1, 1988.

The Northeast Conference has expanded seven times since 1981. The expansions and additions from the original charter members were in 1985 (Monmouth University), 1989 (Mount St. Mary's University), 1992 (Rider University, who left in 1997), 1997 (Central Connecticut State University), 1998 (Quinnipiac University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County who left in 2003), 1999 (Sacred Heart University) and 2008 (Bryant University).

The Northeast Conference has a total of twelve members in 23 championship sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s bowling, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s indoor track & field, women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s outdoor track & field, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball. Men's lacrosse became the league’s 23rd sport by the 2011 season. There are also nine affiliate members that compete in football, field hockey, and women's bowling. The Northeast Conference's ranks increased to 12 in 2008 with the addition of Bryant University.