Patriot League
The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective group of higher education institutions in NCAA Division I and has a very high student-athlete graduation rate for both the NCAA graduation success rate and the federal graduation rate.
The Patriot League consists of 10 core members: American University, the United States Military Academy, Boston University, Bucknell University, Colgate University, College of the Holy Cross, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Loyola University Maryland and the United States Naval Academy.
All 10 core members participate in the NCAA's Division I for all Patriot League sports that they offer. Since not all schools sponsor every available NCAA sport, such as ice hockey and wrestling, most schools are affiliated with other collegiate conferences.
Additionally, the Patriot League has a unique arrangement for football. Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, and Lehigh are members of the Patriot League's Football Championship Subdivision conference. Of the five other conference members, American, Boston University and Loyola Maryland do not sponsor football while Army and Navy play in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision; Army is an independent while Navy currently competes as an associate member of the American Athletic Conference.
Four other private institutions are Patriot League members only for specific sports and are referred to as 'Patriot League associate members.' Fordham University and Georgetown University are associate members in football, while MIT is an associate member in women's rowing and University of Richmond is an associate member in women's golf.
About
Patriot League members are schools with very strong academic reputations that adhere strongly to the ideal of the "scholar-athlete", with the emphasis on "scholar". An academic index ensures that athletes are truly representative of and integrated with the rest of the student body. Out-of-league play for Patriot League schools is often with members of the Ivy League, which follow similar philosophies regarding academics and athletics.Patriot League members have some of the oldest collegiate athletic programs in the country. In particular, The Rivalry between Lehigh University and Lafayette College is both the nation's most played and longest uninterrupted college football series.
The winner of the Patriot League Basketball tournament receives an automatic invitation to the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament every March. In recent years, Bucknell and Lehigh have both won NCAA tournament games. The Patriot League champion in a number of other sports also receives an automatic invitation to its respective NCAA tournaments.
History
The origins of the Patriot League began after the eight Ivy League schools expanded their football schedules to ten games starting in 1980. Needing opponents with a similar competitive level on a regular basis for each team's three nonconference games, the league contacted two university presidents, the Reverend John E. Brooks, S.J., of Holy Cross and Peter Likins of Lehigh, about forming a new conference that also prohibited athletic scholarships. The result was the Colonial League, a football-only circuit that began competition in 1986. Its six charter members were Holy Cross, Lehigh, Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette and Davidson, which dropped out after the 1988 season for reasons related to geography, lack of competitiveness, and a reluctance to relinquish its basketball scholarships in case the conference expanded into other sports.In 1990, the league changed its name to the Patriot League at the suggestion of Carl F. Ullrich, who would go on to become the conference's first full-time administrator. At the start of the 1990–91 academic year, the league became an all-sport conference, with 22 sports, and now had seven full members, including Fordham and the United States Military Academy as new members. In 1991, the league gained an eighth full member — the United States Naval Academy.
In 1993, the league hired Constance H. Hurlbut as executive director. She was the first woman and youngest person to be the leader of an NCAA Division I conference.
In 1995, Fordham resigned its full membership but continued as an associate member in football. In 1996, Fairfield and Ursinus joined as associate members in field hockey. In 1997, Towson joined as an associate member in football. In 1999, Hobart joined as an associate member in men's lacrosse and Villanova joined as an associate member in women's lacrosse. In 2001, American University joined as the eighth full member and Georgetown University joined as an associate member in football. Two schools announced in summer 2012 that they would join the league for the 2013–14 academic year, with Boston University making its announcement on June 15 and Loyola University Maryland doing so on August 29.
Athletic scholarships
While need-based financial aid has always been available, athletic scholarships have only been allowed in recent years at Patriot League schools. Basketball scholarships were first allowed beginning with freshmen entering the league in the fall of 1998.In 2001, when American, which gave scholarships in all sports entered the league, the league began allowing all schools to do so in sports other than football. Lafayette, the last holdout with no athletic scholarships, began granting full rides in basketball and other sports with freshmen entering the school in the fall of 2006. Most Patriot League schools do not give athletic scholarships in a number of sports, and Bucknell only granted them in basketball prior to the addition of football scholarships in 2013.
In the spring of 2009, Fordham University announced that it would start offering football scholarships effective with the fall of 2010. This action made Fordham ineligible for the league championship, but it also prompted a league-wide discussion on football scholarships. On February 13, 2012, the Patriot League announced its members could begin offering football scholarships starting with the 2013–14 academic year. Since then, each school has been allowed no more than the equivalent of 15 scholarships to incoming football players. Since the transition to scholarship football was completed for the 2016–17 academic year, each football member has been allowed up to 60 scholarship equivalents per season, a total only slightly lower than the NCAA limit of 63 scholarship equivalents for FCS programs.
Presidents from six of the seven football schools indicated they would award scholarships in the fall of 2012. Georgetown University did not commit to offering scholarships.
Executive Directors
Member schools
Full members
There are ten "full" member schools:| Institution | Location | Founded | Joined | Type | Undergraduate Enrollment | Endowment | Nickname | Colors |
| American University | Washington, D.C. | 1893 | 2001 | Private | 6,028 | $708M | Eagles | |
| West Point, New York | 1802 | 1990 | Federal | 4,686 | N/A | Black Knights | ||
| Boston University | Boston, Massachusetts | 1839 | 2013 | Private | 15,803 | $2.2B | Terriers | |
| Bucknell University | Lewisburg, Pennsylvania | 1846 | 1986 | Private | 3,650 | $801M | Bison | |
| Colgate University | Hamilton, New York | 1819 | 1986 | Private | 2,837 | $908M | Raiders | |
| Worcester, Massachusetts | 1843 | 1986 | Private | 2,817 | $1B | Crusaders | ||
| Lafayette College | Easton, Pennsylvania | 1826 | 1986 | Private | 2,382 | $693.7M | Leopards | |
| Lehigh University | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | 1865 | 1986 | Private | 4,781 | $1.1B | Mountain Hawks | |
| Loyola University Maryland | Baltimore, Maryland | 1852 | 2013 | Private | 4,068 | $206M | Greyhounds | |
| Annapolis, Maryland | 1845 | 1991 | Federal | 4,400 | N/A | Midshipmen |
Associate members
There are four associate-member schools:| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Undergraduate Enrollment | Nickname | Colors | Primary Conference | Patriot Sport |
| Fordham University | Bronx, New York | 1841 | Private | 8,220 | Rams | Atlantic 10 | football | |
| Georgetown University | Georgetown, Washington, D.C. | 1789 | Private | 7,433 | Hoyas | Big East | football, women's rowing | |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, Massachusetts | 1861 | Private | 4,384 | Engineers | NEWMAC | women's rowing | |
| University of Richmond | Richmond, Virginia | 1830 | Private | 3,400 | Spiders | Atlantic 10 | women's golf |
American, Boston, and Loyola do not play football. On the other hand, Army participates as an independent in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and Navy participates in the American Athletic Conference for football only. Thus, Fordham and Georgetown replace them in the Patriot League for football only.
Fordham was also a full member of the Patriot League from 1990 until 1995 when they moved all sports except football to the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Former full members
Former associate members
Membership timeline
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bar:3 color:AssocF from:1986 till:1990 text:Colgate
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bar:4 color:Full from:1990 till:end
bar:5 color:AssocF from:1986 till:1990 text:Lafayette
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bar:6 color:AssocF from:1986 till:1990 text:Lehigh
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bar:8 color:FullXF from:1990 till:end text:Army
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bar:10 color:AssocOS from:1996 till:2002 text:Ursinus
bar:11 color:AssocOS from:1996 till:2004 text:Fairfield
bar:12 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2004 text:Towson
bar:13 color:AssocOS from:1998 till:2006 text:Villanova
bar:14 color:AssocOS from:1999 till:2004 text:Hobart
bar:15 color:FullXF from:2001 till:end text:American
bar:16 color:AssocF from:2001 till:end text:Georgetown
bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2009 till:end text:MIT
bar:18 shift: color:FullXF from:2013 till:end text:Boston University
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Sports
The Patriot League sponsors championship competition in twelve men's and thirteen women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Georgetown and Fordham are Associate members for football, and Georgetown and MIT are Associate members for rowing.- † Army and Navy play FBS football.
President's Cup
President's Cup Winners :
- 1991 – Bucknell
- 1992 – Bucknell
- 1993 – Bucknell
- 1994 – Army
- 1995 – Army
- 1996 – Bucknell
- 1997 – Army
- 1998 – Bucknell
- 1999 – Bucknell
- 2000 – Bucknell
- 2001 – Bucknell
- 2002 – Bucknell
- 2003 – Bucknell
- 2004 – Bucknell
- 2005 – Army
- 2006 – Bucknell
- 2007 – Bucknell
- 2008 – Bucknell
- 2009 – Bucknell
- 2010 – Bucknell
- 2011 – Bucknell
- 2012 – Navy
- 2013 – Bucknell
- 2014 – Navy
- 2015 – Navy
- 2016 – Navy
- 2017 – Navy
- 2018 – Navy
Basketball
;Women's tournament champion
;NCAA
In NCAA basketball, Boston, Bucknell, Navy, Lehigh, and Holy Cross are the only teams in the conference ever to have recorded NCAA Tournament victories. Bucknell won tournament games in 2005 over Kansas and in 2006 over Arkansas. Lehigh won over Duke in the first round in the 2012 tournament.
The Bison, Mountain Hawks, and Crusaders are the only teams to win in the NCAA Tournament while actually representing the Patriot League. A Navy team—then representing the Colonial Athletic Association—led by future Hall of Famer David Robinson won three tournament games while advancing to the regional finals in 1986, while BU won two games in the 1959 tournament before falling in the regional finals. Holy Cross was among the best teams in the country in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and won the 1947 national championship with a team that included Hall of Famer Bob Cousy. Its combined record in the NCAA Tournament is 8–12. After a 63-year drought, Holy Cross defeated Southern University in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Field hockey
;Tournament champion- 1994 – Lehigh
- 1995 – Lafayette
- 1996 – Colgate
- 1997 – Holy Cross
- 1998 – Holy Cross
- 1999 – Lafayette
- 2000 – Holy Cross
- 2001 – Fairfield
- 2002 – Lafayette
- 2003 – American
- 2004 – American
- 2005 – American
- 2006 – American
- 2007 – American
- 2008 – American
- 2009 – American
- 2010 – American
- 2011 – Lafayette
- 2012 – Lafayette
- 2013 – American
- 2014 – Boston
- 2015 – Boston
- 2016 – American
- 2017 – Boston
- 2018 – Boston
Football
- 1986 – Holy Cross
- 1987 – Holy Cross
- 1988 – Lafayette
- 1989 – Holy Cross
- 1990 – Holy Cross
- 1991 – Holy Cross
- 1992 – Lafayette
- 1993 – Lehigh
- 1994 – Lafayette
- 1995 – Lehigh
- 1996 – Bucknell
- 1997 – Colgate
- 1998 – Lehigh
- 1999 – Colgate and Lehigh
- 2000 – Lehigh
- 2001 – Lehigh
- 2002 – Colgate and Fordham
- 2003 – Colgate
- 2004 – Lafayette and Lehigh
- 2005 – Colgate and Lafayette
- 2006 – Lafayette and Lehigh
- 2007 – Fordham
- 2008 – Colgate
- 2009 – Holy Cross
- 2010 – Lehigh
- 2011 – Lehigh
- 2012 – Colgate
- 2013 – Lafayette
- 2014 – Fordham
- 2015 – Colgate
- 2016 – Lehigh
- 2017 – Colgate and Lehigh
- 2018 – Colgate
- 2019 - Holy Cross
Until 1997, Patriot League teams did not participate in the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs. The policy was in step with the Ivy League's policy of not participating in the playoffs since the Patriot League was founded with the Ivy League's athletics philosophy. The league champion receives the automatic playoff berth. If there are co-champions, a tie-breaker determines the playoff participant.
Colgate was the first team to receive the league's automatic berth in 1997. The following year, Lehigh won the league's first playoff game. It is also the only year where a Patriot League team, Colgate, received a playoff invitation without being a league co-champion. The 2003 Colgate team advanced all the way to the National Championship game before falling to the University of Delaware. It was the first time a Patriot League team has advanced beyond the second round and played in a championship game. The 2015 Colgate team became the second Patriot League team to advance past the second round. After winning their first and second round games, they lost in the quarter-finals to Sam Houston. In 2018, Colgate again advanced to the quarter-finals, losing to eventual champion North Dakota State. Colgate is the only Patriot league team to advance past the second round