Mason–Dixon Conference Explained

Mason–Dixon Conference

Classification	NCAA Division II
Years of existence	1936–1978
Members	17 at height
Sports fielded	Baseball, basketball, football, golf, soccer, track, tennis, wrestling
Region	South Atlantic States
States/districts	Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C.

The Mason–Dixon Conference is a defunct NCAA Division II (former NCAA College Division) athletics conference, formed in 1936^[1] and disbanded in October 1978. A track championship bearing the conference's name continued for several years after the demise of the all-sports league. Its members were predominantly from states bordering the eponymous Mason–Dixon line. A similarly named Mason-Dixon Athletic Conference began play in NCAA Division II men's basketball in 1983–84 with three of the previous members (Mount St. Mary's University, Randolph–Macon College, University of Maryland–Baltimore County) plus Longwood University, Liberty University and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

Originally for track and field only, it was established in 1936 by Waldo Hamilton and Dorsey Griffith who both coached the sport at Johns Hopkins University and The Catholic University of America respectively. Its main purpose was to provide an annual championship meet for smaller colleges.^[2] The circuit began with nine member schools. Besides the institutions for which the founders represented, the others were American University, Gallaudet University, Randolph - Macon College, University of Baltimore, University of Delaware, Washington College and Western Maryland College.

Within four years it began to include other sports. Men's basketball was added in 1940.^[3] The Mason–Dixon Conference sought to "solidify small college athletics and to stimulate a competitive spirit."^[1]

Member schools

Final members

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined^[4]	Left	Current conference
	Baltimore, Maryland	1925	Public	2,825	Super Bees	1936–37	1977–78^[5]	N/A
Frostburg State College	Frostburg, Maryland	1898	Public	6,133	Bobcats	1977–78	1977–78	Mountain East (NCAA D-II)
George Mason University	Fairfax, Virginia	1957	Public	35,047	Patriots	1972–73	1977–78	Atlantic 10 (A-10) (NCAA D-I)
Mount St. Mary's University	Emmitsburg, Maryland	1808	Catholic	1,889	Mountaineers	1940–41	1977–78	Metro Atlantic (MAAC) (NCAA D-I)
Towson State Teachers College	Towson, Maryland	1866	Public	22,923	Tigers	1939–40	1977–78	Coastal (CAA) (NCAA D-I)
	Catonsville, Maryland	1966	Public	13,767	Retrievers	1972–73	1977–78	America East (NCAA D-I)

Notes:

Other members

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined^[6]	Left	Current conference
American University	Washington, D.C.	1893	United Methodist	6,028	Eagles	1936–37	1965–66	Patriot (NCAA D-I)
Bridgewater College	Bridgewater, Virginia	1880	Church of the Brethren	1,690	Bridgewater	1941–42	1975–76	Old Dominion (ODAC) (NCAA D-III)
	Washington, D.C.	1887	Pontifical	5,771	Cardinals	1936–37	1975–76	Landmark (NCAA D-III)
	Newark, Delaware	1743	Public	23,281	Fightin' Blue Hens	1936–37	1946–47	Colonial (CAA) (NCAA D-I)
Emory and Henry College	Emory, Virginia	1836	United Methodist	1,000	Wasps	1975–76	1975–76	South Atlantic (SAC) (NCAA D-II)
Gallaudet University	Washington, D.C.	1864	Quasigovernmental	1,740	Bison	1936–37	1973–74	United East (NCAA D-III)
Hampden–Sydney College	Hampden Sydney, Virginia	1775	Presbyterian	1,120	Tigers	1947–48	1975–76	Old Dominion (ODAC) (NCAA D-III)
Johns Hopkins University	Baltimore, Maryland	1876	Nonsectarian	20,174	Blue Jays	1936–37	1973–74	Centennial (NCAA D-III)
Loyola College Maryland	Baltimore, Maryland	1852	Catholic (Jesuit)	4,068	Greyhounds	1940–41	1976–77	Patriot (NCAA D-I)
Lynchburg College	Lynchburg, Virginia	1903	Disciples of Christ	2,500	Hornets	1948–49	1968–69	Old Dominion (ODAC) (NCAA D-III)
Old Dominion University	Norfolk, Virginia	1930	Public	24,176	Monarchs &<br>Lady Monarchs	1962–63	1968–69	Sun Belt
Randolph–Macon College	Ashland, Virginia	1830	United Methodist	1,146	Yellow Jackets	1936–37	1974–75	Old Dominion (ODAC) (NCAA D-III)
Roanoke College	Salem, Virginia	1842	Private	2,000	Maroons	1948-49	1975–76	Old Dominion (ODAC) (NCAA D-III)
Salisbury State College	Salisbury, Maryland	1925	Public	7,383	Sea Gulls	1974–75	1975–76	Coast to Coast (C2C) (NCAA D-III)
St. John's College of Maryland	Annapolis, Maryland	1784	Nonsectarian	775	?	1936–37	—	N/A
Shepherd University	Shepherdstown, West Virginia	1871	Public	3,159	Rams	1964–65	1967–68	Pennsylvania (PSAC) (NCAA D-II)
Washington and Lee University	Lexington, Virginia	1749	Nonsectarian	2,200	Generals	1975–76	1975–76	Old Dominion (ODAC) (NCAA D-III)
Washington College	Chestertown, Maryland	1782	Nonsectarian	1,479	Shoremen &<br>Shorewomen	1936–37	1971–72	Centennial (NCAA D-III)
Western Maryland College	Westminster, Maryland	1867	Nonsectarian	1,559	Green Terror	1936–37	1973–74	Centennial (NCAA D-III)

Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyyImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20Period = from:1936 till:1978TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalPlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two

PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:Full from:1936 till:1966 text:American (1936–1966)

bar:2 color:Full from:1936 till:end text:Baltimore (1936–1978)

bar:3 color:Full from:1936 till:1976 text:Catholic (D.C.) (1936–1976)

bar:4 color:Full from:1936 till:1947 text:Delaware (1936–1947)

bar:5 color:Full from:1936 till:1974 text:Gallaudet (1936–1974)

bar:6 color:Full from:1936 till:1974 text:Johns Hopkins (1936–1974)

bar:7 color:Full from:1936 till:1975 text:Randolph–Macon (1936–1975)

bar:8 color:Full from:1936 till:1972 text:Washington (Md.) (1936–1972)

bar:9 color:Full from:1936 till:1974 text:Western Maryland (1936–1974)

bar:10 color:Full from:1936 till:1939 text:St. John's (Md.) (1936–1939?)

bar:11 color:Full from:1939 till:end text:Towson State (1939–1978)

bar:12 color:Full from:1940 till:1977 text:Loyola (Md.) (1940–1977)

bar:13 color:Full from:1940 till:end text:Mount St. Mary's (1940–1978)

bar:14 color:Full from:1941 till:1976 text:Bridgewater (1941–1976)

bar:15 color:Full from:1947 till:1976 text:Hampden–Sydney (1947–1976)

bar:16 color:Full from:1948 till:1969 text:Lynchburg (1948–1969)

bar:17 color:Full from:1948 till:1975 text:Roanoke (1948–1975)

bar:18 color:Full from:1962 till:1969 text:Old Dominion (1962–1969)

bar:19 color:Full from:1964 till:1968 text:Shepherd (1964–1968)

bar:20 color:Full from:1972 till:end text:George Mason (1972–1978)

bar:21 color:Full from:1972 till:end text:UMBC (1972–1978)

bar:22 shift:(-40) color:Full from:1974 till:1976 text:Salisbury State (1974–1976)

bar:23 shift:(-40) color:Full from:1974 till:1976 text:Emory & Henry (1974–1976)

bar:24 shift:(-80) color:Full from:1975 till:1976 text:Washington & Lee (1975–1976)

bar:25 shift:(-110) color:Full from:1977 till:end text:Frostburg State (1977–1978)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1936

Champions by sport

Men's basketball

1941 – Western Maryland
1942 – Loyola
1943 – Gallaudet
1944 – Mount Saint Mary's
1945 – American
1946 – American
1947 – Loyola
1948 – Loyola
1949 – Loyola
1950 – American
1951 – American
1952 – Baltimore
1953 – Loyola

1954 – Mount Saint Mary's
1955 – Mount Saint Mary's
1956 – Mount Saint Mary's
1957 – Mount Saint Mary's
1958 – American
1959 – American
1960 – American and Mount Saint Mary's
1961 – Catholic and Mount Saint Mary's
1962 – Mount Saint Mary's
1963 – Mount Saint Mary's
1964 – Catholic
1965 – Randolph–Macon
1966 – Randolph–Macon

1967 – Mount Saint Mary's
1968 – Roanoke
1969 – Old Dominion
1970 – Roanoke
1971 – Loyola
1972 – Roanoke
1973 – Loyola
1974 – Randolph–Macon
1975 – Randolph–Macon
1976 – Baltimore
1977 – Towson State
1978 – Towson State

Football

1946 – Delaware
1947 – ^[7]
1948 –
1949 – Western Maryland
1950 –
1951 – Western Maryland
1952 –
1953 – ^[8]
1954 –
1955 –

1956 –
1957 –
1958 –
1959 – ^[9] ^[10]
1960 – and
1961 –
1962 –
1963 –
1964 –
1965 –

1966 –
1967 –
1968 – Randolph–Macon
1969 –
1970 –
1971 –
1972 –
1973 –
1974 –

Notes and References

Web site: American University Athletics Timeline . . 2009 . 28 December 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131118004949/http://aueagles.com/fan_central/history . 18 November 2013 . dead .
http://www.methodist.edu/monarchs/s-a%20handbook.htm Student Athlete Handbook - Methodist University Athletics.
http://cua.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/releases/100_years_of_hoops_article McManes, Chris. "Flight of the Cardinals: A 100-year history of CUA men's basketball," The Catholic University of America Athletics, Monday, November 1, 2010.
Web site: Morse . Jon F. . OLD DOMINION (pre-1946-) MASON-DIXON (pre-1946-1974) . NCAA Division III Conference Alignments . jonfmorse.com . 2009 . 28 December 2009.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1990-11-06/sports/1990310183_1_mason-dixon-division-athletic-director McMullen, Paul. "With 8 in state taking plunge, UB was first to drown in Division I pool," The Baltimore Evening Sun, Tuesday, November 6, 1990.
Web site: Morse . Jon F. . OLD DOMINION (pre-1946-) MASON-DIXON (pre-1946-1974) . NCAA Division III Conference Alignments . jonfmorse.com . 2009 . 28 December 2009.
News: . Mason-Dixon Leader . . Baltimore, Maryland. December 1, 1847 . 24 . April 29, 2023 . .
News: . Mason-Dixon Crown To Hampden-Sydney . . . . November 16, 1953 . 11 . October 23, 2021 . .
News: . Hopkins Defeats Terror Gridders . The Evening Sun . . November 23, 1959 . 14 . October 23, 2021 . .
News: . Terrors Beaten, 10-0, By Hopkins Blue Jays (continued) . The Evening Sun . . November 23, 1959 . 15 . October 23, 2021 . .