MIAC Release | FAQ

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced a number of historic changes on Wednesday, May 27.

The College of St. Scholastica has been accepted as a new member of the MIAC, beginning in the 2021-22 academic year. The addition of St. Scholastica to the MIAC will coincide with Macalester's return to the conference in football and the league's transition to a 10-team, two-division model for the sport.

"It's exciting to add St. Scholastica to the conference and to welcome Macalester back to MIAC football," SJU athletic director Bob Alpers '82 said. "I would like to commend Commissioner Dan McKane for the unbelievable work he's done to bring this together."

Located in Duluth, Minn., St. Scholastica has been a full member of the NCAA Division III Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) since 1995 and the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) since 2013. CSS will become the MIAC's 13th full member institution in 2021-22 and compete in 20 MIAC-sponsored sports. 

Macalester, meanwhile, has competed independently in football and as part of the Midwest Conference in the sport over the last two decades after departing the MIAC in 2002.

"The addition of St. Scholastica and Macalester to MIAC football in 2021 will help to solidify our conference for years to come, and the divisional play will be an exciting concept for our league," SJU head football coach Gary Fasching '81 said. "I applaud Commissioner Dan McKane and the members of the committee who worked hard to put this plan together. Saint John's looks forward to continuing to build great relationships with our member schools, and look forward to a new era of MIAC football in 2021."

With St. Scholastica and Macalester in the fold, the MIAC will transition to a two-division model for football beginning in 2021. The division names came from two of the MIAC's primary colors, Northwoods Green and Skyline Silver. 

Northwoods Division
Carleton
Gustavus Adolphus
Saint John's
St. Olaf
St. Scholastica

Skyline Division
Augsburg
Bethel
Concordia
Hamline
Macalester

Each MIAC team will play eight conference games, including four "in-division" games, three "crossover" games and one "playoff" game. The final week of the regular season will function as "Championship Week," wherein teams will be ranked 1-5 in each division based on the current season's in-division games only. Each team will then match up with the corresponding seed in the other division for a "playoff" game. The winner of the contest between the two divisional leaders will receive the MIAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Playoffs. 

The three crossover games will be determined based on the results of the previous scheduling cycle. Following the 2022 season, each division will be reordered into the scheduling matrix based on in-division records from 2021 & 2022. In other words, the No. 1 team in the Northwoods Division (combined in-division record from 2021 and 2022) will play the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 team from the Skyline Division for the next 2 seasons, etc.

Skyline Division teams will host Championship Week in odd years (2021) and Northwoods Division teams will host in even years (2022). The model will be reviewed after the first two-year cycle, so the odd-even structure may change in the future. The structure for 2021 and 2022 was devised to balance home/away games for all teams.

SJU's Revised 2021 Football Schedule (UPDATE June 4)
Sept. 4 - at Aurora, Ill.
Sept. 11 - at Whitworth, Wash.
Sept. 18 - Bye Week
Sept. 25 - BETHEL
Oct. 2 - at Concordia
Oct. 9 - AUGSBURG
Oct. 16 - ST. OLAF
Oct. 23 - at Gustavus
Oct. 30 - ST. SCHOLASTICA
Nov. 6 - at Carleton
Nov. 13 - at MIAC Championship Week