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55-520: Despite its name, the ECAC is not a traditional athletic conference , but rather a loosely organized sports federation for colleges and universities in the northeastern United States . Among other things, it organizes end-of-season college basketball tournaments for member schools which are not members of a traditional conference, or which do not otherwise have access to such a tournament. At various times, it has organized end-of-season basketball tournaments at

110-811: A season , a conference refers to a single tournament. This has since been carried over by other leagues, such as the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), which has its own conferences , the Philippine Super Liga , the Premier Volleyball League , the PBA D-League , and formerly the Philippine Basketball League . The term "conference" referring to a single tournament does not apply if there's only one tournament in

165-440: A Southern tournament (for schools south of New York and New Jersey) in 1986. In 2013, the ECAC returned to a three-tournament structure, holding Metro, New England, and Southern regional tournaments, while in 2014 it had four tournaments (Metro, New England, Southeast, and Southwest). In 2015 and 2016, it again had a three-tournament structure, with New England, Metro, and South tournaments. In 2017, it changed format again, becoming

220-516: A conference system. From 2011 through to 2015, the competition had one conference based in each of its three founding countries . The winner of each conference received a playoff spot, as did the three next best teams overall. With the addition of Argentina's Jaguares and Japan's Sunwolves for 2016, plus a sixth franchise for South Africa, the competition reorganised into a new four-conference system. In 2016 and 2017, Australia and New Zealand formed separate conferences within an Australasian group;

275-610: A group of teams (generally eight to twelve colleges and/or universities, occasionally as high as sixteen) that regularly play against each other within a national governing body, the most significant of which is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Most of these groups (including the "Power Five" conferences that are primary partners in the College Football Playoff ) refer to themselves as conferences, although

330-487: A lesser extent their own conference; NBA and NHL teams play at least two games (one at each home arena ) against every other team in their league in a regular season, MLB teams play at least one 3-game series against every other team (as of the 2023 season ), but the NFL teams do not. In college sports , the terms "league," "conference" and (generally at lower levels) "athletic association" can be used interchangeably to refer to

385-502: A minute to play and his team behind, Holy Cross ' s Michael Vicens stole the ball along his own end line and raced down the court to score on a reverse dunk. This energized both the crowd and the Holy Cross players and swung the game ' s momentum in favor of Holy Cross. The Crusaders got the ball with less than 10 seconds to go, and Potter scored on an 18-foot (5.5-meter) jumper with five seconds remaining to again give Holy Cross

440-459: A number of at-large bids still existed, the process for selecting the field for the 1975 NCAA tournament included many second-place conference teams and threatened to exclude independent schools in the northeastern United States, which had no end-of-season conference tournament to play in and therefore no automatic bids. With no conventional athletic conferences yet in existence in the Northeast,

495-806: A rematch of the December 1976 Colonial Classic final played at the Boston Garden , in which Holy Cross had handed Providence one of only three losses the Friars suffered all season on a game-winning last-second shot by the Crusaders ' Chris Potter – was played before a sold-out crowd at the Hartford Civic Center and was one of the greatest games in the eight-season history of the ECAC Division I tournaments. With less than

550-749: A season, such as in the case of the college sports leagues, the Philippine Football League , and the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League . Rose Hill Gymnasium Rose Hill Gymnasium is a 3,200-seat multi-purpose arena on the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University in The Bronx , New York City , New York . The arena, which opened in 1925, is the oldest on-campus venue currently used primarily for an NCAA Division I basketball team and

605-514: A secondary trophy called a "shield" (Irish, Scottish/Italian, South African, Welsh), with the overall league table used to determine playoff participants. The winner of each shield, however, is assured a place in the following year's European Rugby Champions Cup regardless of its overall league position. The now defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association , where teams are represented by companies instead of geographical entities, and there are multiple tournaments held sequentially in

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660-460: A single tournament which determined a single ECAC Division III champion. No tournament took place in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic , but the tournament resumed in 2022. Athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions , with

715-511: A total of sixteen teams (eight from each conference) qualify for the league's postseason playoffs. In the NHL , since the 2013–14 season, the top 3 in each division are guaranteed to qualify and division winners are awarded the highest seeds, meaning they will have home-ice advantage in a given round, with the two best remaining teams in each conference receiving wild card spots. In the NBA, starting with

770-647: A win, 68-67. Holy Cross thus won an automatic bid to the 1977 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and made its first appearance in that tournament since 1956. Providence also reached the NCAA tournament via an at-large bid. Southern Note: The St. Bonaventure-Syracuse semifinal game was held at Manley Field House , Syracuse, NY . The Old Dominion-Georgetown semifinal game took place at McDonough Gymnasium , Washington, DC . National rankings indicated. Sources Metro New England Upstate-Southern Note: The St. Bonaventure-Syracuse semifinal game

825-437: Is divided into an American Football Conference (AFC) and a National Football Conference (NFC). Both conferences have 16 teams, and each conference is divided into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. These conferences, for the most part, derive from the fact that they were once separate organizations: the original National Football League and the 1960s American Football League ; the two entities merged in 1970, with each league forming

880-691: Is part of NCAA Division I (specifically the Football Bowl Subdivision ), but is itself also subdivided into an East and West division. In English association football, the top level of non-League football —i.e., the level below the Premier League and the three tiers that make up the English Football League (EFL)—was known as the Football Conference from the 1986–87 season through the end of

935-577: Is the highest level of provincial competition in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the highest domestic level in Japan, and the only professional domestic level in Argentina. From the creation of Super Rugby in 1996 through 2015 , only Australia, New Zealand and South Africa participated; the competition added teams in the latter two countries in 2016 . Since the 2011 season , it has operated on

990-872: The FA Cup (open to teams from all levels), the EFL Cup (open only to teams from the Premier League and the English Football League), and the FA Trophy (open only to teams in the broader definition of the National League, plus the two tiers below it). The Kontinental Hockey League has a Western Conference and an Eastern Conference . This is similar to the NHL 's conferences in North America . In rugby union , Super Rugby

1045-644: The Horizon League , Ivy League , Patriot League , Pioneer League and Summit League use the word "league" instead, and another conference calls itself the Coastal Athletic Association . The NCAA itself is divided into divisions and subdivisions based on athletic scholarship eligibility, which can lead to redundancy when these conferences also have divisions of their own. For instance, the Southeastern Conference

1100-504: The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament . Before 1975, the ECAC had not organized such tournaments for Division I schools; the NCAA tournament invited only one team per Division I conference and accommodated independents with a limited number of at-large bids. In 1975, however, the NCAA tournament's field expanded to 32 teams, including the champions of end-of-season conference tournaments, who received automatic bids. Although

1155-541: The NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament . From 1973 through 1975 and from 1977 through 1980, it held four regional tournaments – Metro (for the New York City area and New Jersey ), New England , Southern (for schools south of New York and New Jersey), and Upstate (for Upstate New York ) – each year, while in 1976 it held only three tournaments (Metro, New England, and Upstate). After 1980,

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1210-516: The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I , Division II , and Division III levels. From 1975 to 1981, the ECAC organized annual regional end-of-season men's basketball tournaments for independent Division I ECAC member colleges and universities in the Northeastern United States . The winner of each regional tournament was declared the ECAC regional champion for the season and received an automatic bid in

1265-678: The National Invitation Tournament providing a means of postseason tournament play for Division I teams not invited to the NCAA tournament, the ECAC had no reason to continue its Division I basketball tournament series, and it ceased to organize such tournaments after 1981. National rankings indicated. Sources Sources Metro New England Southern Upstate National rankings indicated. Sources Metro New England Southern Upstate National rankings indicated. Sources Source Metro Note: The Manhattan-St. John ' s semifinal game

1320-534: The 2014–15 season. In turn, from 2004, the Conference was divided into three leagues—Conference Premier, at the fifth tier of the English football pyramid , and Conference North and Conference South, which made up the sixth tier. Starting with the 2015–16 season, the Football Conference and its component leagues were renamed. The Football Conference and Conference Premier were both renamed "National League", and

1375-498: The 2015–16 season, the playoff spots go to the eight top teams in each conference by overall record, with home-court advantage in each playoff series based solely on record. Major League Soccer (MLS) also divides itself into an Eastern and Western Conference , though it does not have divisions within them; it too allocates an equal number of teams from each conference to play for its MLS Cup Playoffs (since 2019, this has been seven teams each). The National Football League (NFL)

1430-774: The ECAC Metro Conference (which later became the Northeast Conference ), while the ECAC South Region teams formed the ECAC South Conference (which later became the Colonial Athletic Association and later still the Coastal Athletic Association ). With all the former independents in the northeastern United States having joined a traditional conference holding its own end-of-season tournament, and with

1485-407: The ECAC began to organize its Division I basketball tournaments in 1975, allowing Northeastern independents to retain their independent status while still having an opportunity to play in an end-of-season tournament offering an automatic bid. The ECAC Division I tournaments thus assured that at least some Northeastern colleges and universities would receive NCAA tournament bids. In both 1975 and 1976,

1540-598: The ECAC divided the Division II and Division III competitions, placing the Division II competitions on hiatus until 1988 and beginning Division III-only tournaments in 1981. After 1980, the ECAC placed Division II end-of-season tournament competition on hiatus until 1988. From 1988 through 2005 it organized a single annual Division II men's basketball tournament as an invitational event for Division II ECAC teams not invited to that year ' s NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament . No tournament took place in 2006, but

1595-534: The ECAC held it twice more, in 2007 and 2008. The Division II tournament again went on hiatus from 2009 through 2013, thanks to various factors including an expansion of the NCAA Men's Division II Tournament field and a decline in the number of Division II men's basketball programs associated with the ECAC. A Division II tournament took place in 2014, but the tournament again went on hiatus after that. After its last combined Division II/III regional tournaments in 1980,

1650-418: The ECAC organized four regional Division I tournaments: Metro (for the New York City area and New Jersey ); New England ; South (for Pennsylvania , Maryland , Virginia , West Virginia , and Washington, D.C. ); and Upstate (for Upstate New York ). As Eastern independent colleges and universities began to join existing conferences or form new ones and play in their own end-of-season conference tournaments,

1705-507: The ECAC split Division II and Division III tournament competition. In 1981, it held its first Division III-only postseason regional invitational men's basketball tournaments for ECAC teams not invited to the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament , and these have occurred annually ever since. The ECAC organized these tournaments regionally, holding Metro (for the New York City area and New Jersey ), New England , and Upstate (for Upstate New York ) tournaments from 1981 to 1985 and adding

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1760-863: The New England region all joined the Big East Conference , the Atlantic 10 Conference, or the new ECAC North Conference (which later became the America East Conference ), the ECAC also did away with its New England tournament, and in 1980 and 1981 it held only two tournaments, Metro and Southern. After the conclusion of play in 1981, some of the teams in the Metro Region formed the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and others formed

1815-525: The South African teams were joined by the Jaguares and Sunwolves in a "South African" group, with that group also being divided into two conferences. The winner of each conference continued to receive a playoff spot, with additional berths going to the next three best Australasian teams and the next best team of the South African group. For 2018, Super Rugby will revert to a 15-team format, following

1870-518: The basis of the NFC and AFC respectively. The NFL allocates seven teams from each conference for the NFL playoffs ; the four division winners (guaranteed one of the top four seeds, based on winning percentage), and the three best-non division winners, also known as wild cards . Major League Baseball (MLB) does not use the word "conference." Instead, it is divided into two separate leagues which are identical to

1925-472: The best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conferences often, but not always, include teams from a common geographic region. The AFL Women's competition used a non-geographic conference system in 2019 and 2020 . The league was divided into two conferences, based on ladder position in the previous season. Not every team could play each other due to the limited number of rounds, so conferences were introduced so that teams were only measured against

1980-528: The competition's rebranding as the United Rugby Championship. For the first season under the URC name in 2021–22, the competition reorganized into four regionally based pools, though no longer using the word "conference". Three of the pools are made up of teams from one country—Ireland, South Africa, and Wales. The fourth features the teams from Italy and Scotland. Each regional pool competes for

2035-749: The conferences listed above in all but name (which, although their operations have been integrated via the Commissioner of Baseball in modern times, were originally separately managed organizations with an intense rivalry). These are the American League (AL) and National League (NL), with 15 teams each. Each league is divided into the Eastern ( AL , NL ), Central ( AL , NL ), and Western ( AL , NL ) divisions, with all six divisions having 5 teams each. Each league produces six teams for postseason play , with each division winner also guaranteed one of

2090-482: The court, and additional elevated seating along the court. ESPN named this gym one of the four “cathedrals” of college basketball. At the time it was built, it was one of the largest on-campus facilities in the country, earning it the nickname "The Prairie." The Rose Hill Gymnasium has been the site of many legendary college and high school basketball games, including the final high school game of Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar . During World War II, it

2145-516: The dropping of two teams from South Africa and one from Australia. The new format features three conferences—Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, each with five teams; the Sunwolves will join the Australian conference and the Jaguares will play in the South African conference. The conference winners will continue to receive playoff berths, with additional berths going to the top five teams in

2200-414: The finals (one from each conference/league) and the records of teams outside a conference/league are ignored, which can allow teams with inferior records to make the playoffs while teams in the other conference with better records do not get in. An extreme example of this has occurred three times in the NFL, when the 2010 Seattle Seahawks , 2014 Carolina Panthers , and 2020 Washington Football Team reached

2255-419: The league season, the teams that top each conference table received berths in the semifinals, with the next two teams in each conference playing off for semifinal berths. After the 2020–21 season, South Africa fully aligned its club rugby structure with that of Europe. The then-existing Pro14 franchises from South Africa were replaced by the country's four Super Rugby franchises, which moved into Pro14 and led to

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2310-570: The number of ECAC regional tournaments declined due to reduced demand for them. After the formation of the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (which later became the Atlantic 10 Conference ), the ECAC combined its Southern and Upstate Regions into a single "Southern" (later "Upstate-Southern" and "South-Upstate") Region and held only three regional tournaments in 1977, 1978, and 1979. After the teams that played in

2365-506: The overall competition table that were not already qualified. In the same sport, Pro14, now known as the United Rugby Championship , adopted a conference system effective in 2017–18 , following the addition of the two South African teams dropped from Super Rugby. The competition split into two conferences, each featuring two teams from Ireland and Wales, plus single teams from Italy, Scotland and South Africa. Following

2420-558: The playoffs by winning their respective divisions despite losing records (7–9 for the Seahawks and Washington, 7–8–1 for the Panthers). These are the only teams ever to qualify for the playoffs with losing records in seasons that were not shortened by strikes (as in 1982 , which was shortened from 16 to 9 games). In addition, a team's regular season schedule is weighted towards more games against other teams within their own division and to

2475-440: The second-oldest overall (with the oldest being Northeastern University 's Matthews Arena , which opened in 1910 and currently used for its basketball and hockey teams). The volleyball team of Fordham University also uses the gym. The Rose Hill Gymnasium has a gothic facade in keeping with the rest of Fordham University 's buildings. The interior design features two high-tech video boards, bleachers that surround all four sides of

2530-573: The small gym into a 10,500-seat gym. This plan fell through when Lombardi died in 1970, and the head basketball coach Digger Phelps left Fordham for Notre Dame in 1971. Instead, Fordham University built a separate athletic facility attached to the gym. In 2018, the Rose Hill Gymnasium basketball court was renamed the Frank McLaughlin Family Basketball Court after alumnus Frank McLaughlin , who

2585-713: The teams they played. The system was controversial because it allowed some weak teams to make finals, and strong teams from the other conference missed out on finals. It was because of this that the conference system was removed for the 2021 season . In the United States and Canada , the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) are divided into Eastern ( NHL , NBA ) and Western ( NHL , NBA ) Conferences, with multiple divisions within each conference (two in each NHL conference, three in each NBA conference). In both leagues,

2640-484: The top three seeds, even if their record is lower than the league's top wild card teams . In all five sports, the champion of one conference (or league in MLB's case) plays the champion of the other conference for the final round championship, this is guaranteed to occur because the rules for the playoffs require play to be exclusively within the conference/league in all rounds before the final round, leaving only two teams for

2695-407: The two regional leagues were renamed National League North and National League South . This does not strictly meet the definition indicated in the previous sections of this article, as each individual league mentioned in this section is a separate competition. The only times that teams from different leagues compete against one another in meaningful matches are in knockout cup competitions, such as

2750-449: The windows for exterior support, stone carvings, a parapet with crenellations commonly used in medieval castles , a stone sculpture of a cross and Fordham's emblem above the main arch to the entrance, and walls made of rough light field stones. The Gymnasium hosted its first basketball game on January 16, 1925. The game was refereed by Frankie Frisch, a Fordham alumni, and New York Giants' second baseman. During World War 2, this gym

2805-546: Was also used as a barracks . New York City Mayor Ed Koch lived in these barracks for a time. As early as 1970, an effort headed by famed Fordham alumnus Vince Lombardi was made to build a new arena. This effort ended with Lombardi's death and the move of head basketball coach "Digger" Phelps to the University of Notre Dame . Some of the features of the building that display a Gothic Revival architectural style include arches and arch-like shapes, buttresses around

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2860-660: Was held at Rose Hill Gymnasium , Bronx, NY . The Army-Seton Hall semifinal game took place at Yanitelli Center , Jersey City, NJ . New England The 1977 New England Tournament ' s semifinal games contrasted with one another greatly: Holy Cross , led by freshman guard Ronnie Perry , played a hard, physical game – with 45 free throws in the second half, 24 by Holy Cross and 21 by Connecticut – to defeat Connecticut 89-77, while Providence , led by senior guard Joe Hassett , found its offense lacking and used tough defensive play to overcome Fairfield 44-31. The much-anticipated championship game that followed –

2915-496: Was held at the Rochester Community War Memorial , Rochester, NY . The Virginia Commonwealth-Georgetown game took place at McDonough Gymnasium , Washington, DC . National rankings indicated. Source Sources Metro New England South-Upstate Note: Syracuse-St. Bonaventure semifinal game was played at Rochester War Memorial , Rochester, NY . Georgetown-Old Dominion semifinal game

2970-549: Was played in Cole Field House, College Park, MD. Source Sources Metro Conference did not play a formal schedule South Source Sources Metro South The ECAC organized combined Division II/Division III men's basketball tournaments annually from 1973 to 1980 as invitational events for ECAC teams not invited to the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament or – after it began in 1975 –

3025-424: Was used as a U.S. Army barracks to shelter the soldiers and separate them from the general public. On May 11, 1946, President Harry Truman visited this barrack and rang a ship bell that remains there today. Fordham athletic teams continue to ring this bell after conference championship wins. The Rose Hill Gymnasium was almost renovated in the early 1970s. Vince Lombardi, a Fordham football alumni, wanted to transform

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