The Metro Conference, formerly known as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) from 1980 to 2026, is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Its current 13 full members are located in five Northeastern states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
Members are all relatively small private institutions, a majority Catholic or formerly Catholic, with the only exceptions being two secular institutions: Rider University and Quinnipiac University.
The Metro currently sponsors 25 sports and has 17 associate member institutions.
Contents
History
The conference was founded in 1980 by six charter members: the U.S. Military Academy, Fairfield University, Fordham University, Iona College, Manhattan College, and Saint Peter's College. Competition officially began the next year, in the sports of men's cross-country and men's soccer.
Competition in men's and women's basketball began in the 1981–1982 season. In 1982, Saint Peter's was the first women's team to represent the MAAC in the NCAA women's basketball tournament. In 1984, the Metro received an automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament, where Iona was the first team to represent the MAAC on the men's side.
The conference currently possesses 15 automatic bids to NCAA championships. In 2012–13, the MAAC became eligible for its 15th NCAA championship automatic bid when women's rowing fulfilled the qualifying requirements.
The league added football in 1993, but discontinued it following the 2007 season.
From 1997 to 2003, the MAAC sponsored ice hockey. At that time, the hockey league split from the MAAC and changed its name to the Atlantic Hockey Association (now Atlantic Hockey America after its 2024 merger with College Hockey America). Also, Marist College and Rider University moved the majority of their intercollegiate athletic programs to the MAAC in 1997 with the intent that the MAAC would enhance media exposure and competition for their men's and women's Division I basketball programs.
In 2011, the conference launched MAAC.TV, the league's first broadband network.
In March 2012, for the first time in 16 years, the MAAC had two teams advance to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, with Loyola earning the league's automatic bid and Iona garnering an at-large bid.
In July 2013, Quinnipiac University and Monmouth University joined the MAAC to replace Loyola University Maryland, departing to the Patriot League. Field hockey was added for the 2013–14 academic year. However, field hockey was dropped after the 2018 season. The MAAC field hockey league was effectively taken over by the Northeast Conference (NEC), which reinstated the sport the following year. The conference decided to no longer host a conference championship for men's rowing after the 2016 season, which is governed by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association.
Athletic and academic success
Over the conference's history, MAAC teams have achieved national acclaim in many sports. In the summer of 2002, the Marist men's varsity eight boat advanced to the semifinals of the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. In 2007, the Marist women's basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. The Red Foxes have recorded five NCAA wins since their run in 2007. In the fall of 2011, the Iona men's cross country team finished tied for ninth place at the NCAA Championship race, extending the Gaels' streak to 10 straight Top 10 national finishes. During the 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the Saint Peter's Peacocks became the first 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight. With an overall record of 22–12, Saint Peter's had the best NCAA postseason run with the most wins in a single NCAA Tournament by any MAAC program (men or women) in the conference's 41-year history. In basketball, MAAC teams have made a total of 80 NIT appearances and 50 NCAA basketball tournament appearances.
Notable MAAC student athletes include Mary Beth Riley, a 1991 graduate of Canisius, who was the first recipient of the NCAA Woman of the Year Award and Erin Whalen, a member of the Iona women's rowing team who in the fall of 1998 was awarded one of the nation's 32 Rhodes Scholarships for academic achievement and civic leadership.
2023–present: New leadership; rebranding to the Metro
On August 17, 2022, MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor announced his intent to retire after the 2022–23 season after serving in the role since 1988. On February 7, 2023, the MAAC announced that Travis Tellitocci, previously with the Ohio Valley Conference as its assistant commissioner for football, basketball and officiating, would replace Ensor as just the fourth commissioner in MAAC history.
On May 28, 2026, the MAAC announced its intention to rebrand to The Metro Conference, effective July 1, 2026, in an effort to eliminate confusion with the Mid-American Conference's acronym.
Member institutions
Current
The Metro currently has thirteen full member institutions; all are private schools. Of these, all but Quinnipiac, Rider, and Marist are Catholic, though Marist is formerly Catholic.
Notes
Of the Metro's ten current affiliate members, only two are Catholic. Drake, Jacksonville, LIU, Robert Morris, and Stetson are nonsectarian and Wagner College is Lutheran. There are also two public institutions, the University at Albany and the Virginia Military Institute.
Notes
Former
Notes
Notes
Membership timeline
Full member (all sports)
Full member (non-football)
Associate member (football)
Associate member (sport)
Other Conference
Other Conference
Sports
The Metro Conference sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 13 women's NCAA sanctioned sports, plus two sports not organized by the NCAA - esports, which are fully coeducational, and men's rowing.
Men's
Notes
Women's
Notes
Basketball
Men's
Notes
MAAC men's basketball conference tournament locations
In 2012, Iona, who was inspired by one of their all around best players Sean Armand, which had lost in the semifinals of that year's MAAC tournament, received an NCAA at-large tournament bid. This was the second time the conference was awarded multiple men's NCAA bids.
After St. Peter's won the 1995 MAAC tournament, the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection committee awarded Manhattan University an at large bid. The Jaspers proved the committee correct by defeating Oklahoma in the first round.
The same first-round success Manhattan enjoyed in the 1995 NCAA tournament could not be matched by Iona. In the 2012 NCAAs, the Gaels unexpectedly relinquished a 25-point, first-half lead to the BYU Cougars, falling 78–72 in Dayton, Ohio. Further, Iona's offense, the highest-scoring (per game) in the nation, managed just 17 points in the second half of that upset.
It was the largest comeback in NCAA tournament history, besting the 22-point hole the Duke Blue Devils rallied from to defeat the Maryland Terrapins in the Final Four of the 2001 NCAA tournament.
Women's
Notes
Soccer
Men's
^ Tournament delayed until April 2021 due to Covid
Women's
^ Tournament delayed until April 2021 due to Covid
Swimming and diving
Cross country
Football
The MAAC Football League was formed before the 1993 season, but it was discontinued following the 2007 season.
At its peak in 1997, it consisted of 10 teams:
Canisius (1993-2002, discontinued football after 2002 season)
Duquesne (1994-2007, joined Northeast Conference after 2007 season)
Fairfield (1996-2002, discontinued football after 2002 season)
Georgetown (1993-1999, joined Patriot League after 1999 season)
Iona (1993-2007, became independent, discontinued football after 2008 season)
La Salle (1997-2007, discontinued football after 2007 season)
Marist (1994-2007, became independent, joined Pioneer Football League after 2008 season)
St. John's (1993-1997, became independent, joined Northeast Conference after 1999 season, discontinued football after 2002 season)
Saint Peter's (1993-2006, discontinued football after 2006 season)
Siena (1993-2003, discontinued football after 2003 season)
Champions
1993 Iona (5-0-0)
1994 Marist (6-1) & St. John's (6-1)
1995 Duquesne (7-0)
1996 Duquesne (8-0)
1997 Georgetown (7-0)
1998 Fairfield (7-1) & Georgetown (7-1)
1999 Duquesne (7-1)
2000 Duquesne (7-0)
2001 Duquesne (6-0)
2002 Duquesne (8-0)
2003 Duquesne (5-0)
2004 Duquesne (4-0)
2005 Duquesne (4-0)
2006 Duquesne (3-1) & Marist (3-1)
2007 Duquesne, Iona & Marist (all 2-1)
Ice hockey
History
The MAAC began sponsoring hockey in 1997 due to NCAA regulations that required all Division I conferences to participate in all Division sports. At the founding of the MAAC hockey conference, only three of the eight founding teams were full members of the conference: Canisius, Fairfield, and Iona. The MAAC also added five associate members: American International, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Quinnipiac, and Sacred Heart (at the time Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart were not members of the MAAC, though they would join the conference as full members later on). The conference began play starting with the 1998–99 season, where Quinnipiac and Holy Cross won the inaugural regular season and conference tournament championships, respectively. The MAAC added two additional teams starting with the 1999–00 season: Mercyhurst and Bentley. Army joined the conference for the 2000–01 season, bringing the conference up to eleven member teams. At the conclusion of the 2002–03 season, Fairfield and Iona both discontinued their men's ice hockey programs, and while the conference's remaining nine teams could continue without them, having only one full member necessitated the folding of the MAAC hockey conference as MAAC rules only allowed full conference members to vote in new decisions, leaving almost all MAAC hockey members without a voice in conference decisions pertinent to hockey. The following year all of the teams continued their programs in the newly formed Atlantic Hockey conference. As of the 2025–26 athletic season, five current MAAC members sponsor ice hockey, spread across the AHA, ECAC, and Hockey East conferences.
Ice hockey membership timeline
MAAC ice hockey membership often varied significantly from normal conference membership, with the majority of schools being associate members.
Full members Associate members
Notable sports figures
Some of the notable sport figures who played collegiately and/or graduated from a MAAC school, include:
Baseball
Jack Armstrong, former MLB pitcher; 1990 MLB All-Star and World Champion (Rider)
John Axford, former MLB pitcher (Canisius)
Kevin Barry, former MLB pitcher (Rider)
Shad Barry, former MLB player (Niagara)
Chris Begg, pitcher for Team Canada at the 2004 Summer Olympics and World Baseball Classic (Niagara)
Brad Brach, former relief pitcher (Monmouth)
Frank Brooks, former MLB relief pitcher (Saint Peter's)
Frank Cashen, former General Manager of the Baltimore Orioles and 1986 World Series Champion New York Mets (Loyola)
Keefe Cato, former MLB pitcher (Fairfield)
Tim Christman, former MLB relief pitcher (Siena)
Harry Croft, former MLB player (Niagara)
Pete Harnisch, MLB All-Star Pitcher (Fordham)
Billy Harrell, former MLB infielder (Siena)
Jim Hoey, former MLB relief pitcher (Rider)
Gary Holle, former MLB first baseman (Siena)
Miguel Jimenez, former MLB pitcher (Fordham)
Jeff Kunkel, former MLB player; 3rd overall pick of the 1983 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers (Rider)
Basketball
Joe Arlauckas, former NBA player (Niagara)
John Beilein, former head coach of Cleveland Cavaliers and Michigan men's basketball (Canisius)
Matt Brady, current Maryland assistant coach, former head coach of James Madison men's basketball (Siena)
Steve Burtt, Sr., former NBA player (Iona)
Al Butler, former NBA player (Niagara)
Keydren Clark, two-time NCAA scoring leader; seventh all-time NCAA scoring leader (Saint Peter's)
Larry Costello, former NBA player and coach; six-time NBA All-Star (Niagara)
Joe DeSantis, former men's college basketball coach; 1979 NCAA All-American (Fairfield)
Doug Edert, breakout star of Saint Peter's 2022 NCAA tournament run
Kathy Fedorjaka, former Bucknell women's basketball coach (Fairfield)
Luis Flores, former NBA player (Manhattan)
Greg Francis, current Alberta men's basketball coach; former Canadian Olympic basketball player (Fairfield)
Deng Gai, former NBA player; 2006 NCAA block shot leader (Fairfield)
Sean Green, former NBA player (Iona)
Kenny Hasbrouck, former NBA player (Siena)
Soccer
Jose Aguinaga, New York Red Bulls draft pick, former USL forward (Rider)
Abby Allan, New Zealand women's national football team (Fairfield)
Jamie Darvill, USL-2 player (Loyola)
Anthony Di Biase, USL-2 player (Niagara)
Bryan Harkin, USL-2 player (Fairfield)
Christof Lindenmayer, former MLS player (Loyola)
Mark Longwell, former U.S. National and NASL defender (Fairfield)
Brett Maron, current player in Sweden, Goalkeeper (Fairfield)
Jim McElderry, current Rutgers men's soccer coach and former Fordham men's soccer coach (Fairfield)
Jim McKeown, former NASL defender (Rider)
Tennant McVea, current USL League Two player and associate head coach for Old Dominion men's soccer, former Finnish Premier Division player (Loyola)
Michael O'Keeffe, New Zealand men's national football team (Fairfield)
Bobby Smith, National Soccer Hall of Fame member; former U.S. National and NASL defender (Rider)
Matt Turner, Nottingham Forest and USMNT goalkeeper (Fairfield)
Florian Valot, currently plays for Miami FC in USL, former player for New York Red Bulls and FC Cincinnati, midfielder/forward (Rider)