WEST VIRGINIA INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE


The 'West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference' ('WVIAC') is a college athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but has now expanded into Pennsylvania. It participates in the NCAA's Division II. Within West Virginia, the conference is more often referred to as the 'WVC'.
The conference rates as one of the oldest in intercollegiate athletics dating back to its founding in 1924 by the West Virginia Department of Education. West Virginia University and Marshall University joined Broaddus (one of the predecessors to today's Alderson-Broaddus), Bethany, Concord, Davis & Elkins, Fairmont State, Glenville State, Morris Harvey (now the University of Charleston), New River State (now West Virginia Tech), Potomac State, Salem, Shepherd, West Liberty State, and West Virginia Wesleyan as charter members.
The WVIAC offers championships in 16 sports and is headquartered in Princeton, West Virginia. Men's championships are offered in football, basketball, baseball, track, cross country, soccer, tennis, and golf. Women's titles are contested in volleyball, softball, basketball, cross country, soccer, track, tennis, and golf. The 16-school membership makes it the largest conference in NCAA Division II.
2006 brought about a shakeup in the league's mostly stable membership. Charter member West Virginia Tech dropped back to NAIA membership after struggling competitively in recent seasons. The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and Seton Hill University were invited to become the WVIAC's first out-of-state members since Morehead State left the conference in 1932.
The WVIAC moved into the NCAA in 1994 after a long affiliation with the NAIA. The conference was the only one in Division II to place a team in the national quarterfinals in men's basketball, football, and baseball during the 1998-99 academic year. In addition, the WVIAC, along with two other conferences, became the first league to earn four bids into the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship.
2006-07 marks the 25th anniversary of women's sports in the WVIAC. The conference brought women's athletics under its umbrella when the West Virginia Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Association was absorbed into the WVIAC.
Its post-season basketball tournament, which was first conducted in 1936, is the oldest college post-season tournament in continuous existence—predating the NCAA tournament (1939), the NIT (1938), and the NAIA national championship (1937).

Contents
Rating system
Member schools
Teams
External link

Rating system


The WVIAC is noted for its unique rating system which is used to determine regular-season championships and tournament seeding in basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball. The rating system was first used in 1959 for mens basketball. With the large number of teams playing in the conference, balanced schedules are impossible. The rating system is a way for the conference to reward teams that play a stronger conference schedule. Each team is rewarded 100 points for each conference win, in addition to 10 bonus points for each conference victory for each defeated opponent. This total is then divided by the total number of conference games each team plays. The highest-rated team at the end of the season is the regular-season conference champion and #1 seed for the tournament.
The WVIAC is the only conference in NCAA currently employing a rating system in these sports instead of using regular head-to-head standings. While in most cases, the conference champion also has the best record, there have been cases in lower seeds where a team with fewer wins surpasses a team with more wins. The rating system is also a sure-fire way to break a tie atop the standings. A good example of this was in the 2005 mens basketball season, when Salem International and Alderson-Broaddus both finished with 15-3 conference records, however SIU won the conference with a 152.22 rating compared to A-B's 143.89.
Another advantage of the rating system is it allows a rating to be computed for each team regardless of the number of conference games played. While most teams are scheduled the same number of conference games, often games are cancelled without make-up (especially in baseball and softball). Rating teams who have played an uneven number of games can be tricky, but the rating system provides a clear and concise path to determine a regular season champion. In the event of a tie in the rating system, head-to-head competition between the teams and actual record in conference games.

Member schools


InstitutionLocationFoundedAffiliationEnrollment
Alderson-Broaddus College
Philippi, West Virginia1871Private/Baptist800
Bluefield State College
Bluefield, West Virginia1895Public1,800
University of CharlestonCharleston, West Virginia1888Private/Non-sectarian1,000
Concord UniversityAthens, West Virginia1872Public3,000
Davis and Elkins College
Elkins, West Virginia1904Private/Presbyterian654
Fairmont State UniversityFairmont, West Virginia1865Public7,000
Glenville State CollegeGlenville, West Virginia1872Public1,600
Ohio Valley University
Vienna, West Virginia1960Private/Church of Christ512
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
Johnstown, Pennsylvania1927Public3,029
Salem International University
Salem, West Virginia1888Private/For-Profit1,000
Seton Hill UniversityGreensburg, Pennsylvania1883Private/Catholic1,860
Shepherd UniversityShepherdstown, West Virginia1871Public3,900
West Liberty State CollegeWest Liberty, West Virginia1837Public2,400
West Virginia State UniversityInstitute, West Virginia1891Public5,000
West Virginia Wesleyan CollegeBuckhannon, West Virginia1890Private/Methodist1,400
Wheeling Jesuit University
Wheeling, West Virginia1954Private/Catholic1,232



★ - Denotes a non-football member
Teams


Alderson-Broaddus Battlers

Bluefield State Big Blues and Lady Blues

Charleston Golden Eagles

Concord Mountain Lions and Lady Lions

Davis and Elkins Senators and Lady Senators

Fairmont State Falcons

Glenville State Pioneers and Lady Pioneers

Ohio Valley Fighting Scots

Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cats

Salem International Tigers

Seton Hill Griffins

Shepherd Rams

West Liberty Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers

West Virginia State Yellow Jackets

West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats and Lady Bobcats

Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals

External link



Official Website of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

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