Patriot League From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Patriot League Established: 1986 NCAA Division I FCS Members 8 Sports fielded 23 (men's: 11; women's: 12) Region Northeast Former names Colonial League Headquarters Center Valley, PA Commissioner Carolyn S. Femovich (since 1999) Website http://patriotleague.cstv.com Locations The Patriot League is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; in football, it participates in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS; still often referred to by its former designation of Division I-AA). There are seven football members and eight members for basketball and other sports. It was founded in 1986 as the Colonial League (not to be confused with the Colonial Athletic Association), but changed its name in 1990 when it expanded to include other sports besides football. Contents [hide] 1 About 1.1 Men's Basketball 1.2 Profile 2 Membership 2.1 Full members 3 Partial members 4 Conference facilities 5 Championships 5.1 Football 5.2 Basketball 6 Notes 7 External links [edit] About The Patriot League, which was founded on the principles of admitting athletes who are academically representative of their class, is in its second decade of existence. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of the undergraduate experience. In the most recent NCAA Graduation Rate Report of student-athletes, the Patriot League ranked first among NCAA Division I conferences. 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". Out-of-league play for Patriot League schools is typically with members of the Ivy League, which follow similar philosophies regarding academics and athletics. While financial aid has always been available, athletic scholarships have only been given 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 (AU does not play football) entered the league, the league began allowing all schools to do so in sports other than football. Lafayette, the last no athletic scholarships holdout, began granting full rides in basketball and other sports with freshmen entering the school in the fall of 2006. Football scholarships are still limited strictly to need-based aid. 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[1]. Similarly, matchups between Army and Navy in any sport, especially football, are always intense. [edit] Men's Basketball In NCAA basketball, Bucknell and Navy 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. A Navy team - 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. Teams in other sports have been somewhat more successful when competing against scholarship schools, especially in men's lacrosse, where the Patriot League is generally considered one of the very best conferences in the nation. [edit] Profile The Patriot League was profiled in the John Feinstein book, The Last Amateurs. The title is derived from the belief that the Patriot League and the Ivy League were the last Division I basketball leagues which function as a place for student athletes, rather than functioning as a de facto minor professional league with players not representative of their student bodies. In it, Feinstein followed all the league's men's basketball teams during the 1999–2000 season. [edit] Membership [edit] Full members Locations of current Patriot League full member institutions.There are eight full-time member schools: Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname American University Washington, D.C. 1893 Private/Methodist 5,962 Eagles United States Military Academy (Army) West Point, New York 1802 Public/Federal 4,000 Black Knights Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 1846 Private/Non-sectarian 3,555 Bison Colgate University Hamilton, New York 1819 Private/Non-sectarian 2,800 Raiders College of the Holy Cross Worcester, Massachusetts 1843 Private/Catholic 2,700 Crusaders Lafayette College Easton, Pennsylvania 1826 Private/Presbyterian 2,382 Leopards Lehigh University Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 1865 Private/Non-sectarian 4,577 Mountain Hawks United States Naval Academy (Navy) Annapolis, Maryland 1845 Public/Federal 4,000 Midshipmen [edit] Partial members There are two part-time member schools: Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Mascot Notes Fordham University New York City, NY 1841 Private/Catholic 8,430 Rams Football Only Member Georgetown University Georgetown,Washington, D.C. 1789 Private/Catholic 6,719 Hoyas Football Only Member American does not play football, while Army and Navy participate as Independents in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A). Thus, Fordham and Georgetown replace them in the Patriot League for football only. [edit] Conference facilities School Football stadium Capacity Basketball arena Capacity American Non-Football School N/A Bender Arena 4,500 Army* Michie Stadium 40,000 Christl Arena 5,043 Bucknell Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium 13,100 Sojka Pavilion 4,000 Colgate Andy Kerr Stadium 10,221 Cotterell Court 3,000 Fordham Coffey Field 7,000 Football Only Member N/A Georgetown Multi-Sport Field 2,500 Football Only Member N/A Holy Cross Fitton Field 23,500 Hart Center 3,600 Lafayette Fisher Field 15,207 Kirby Sports Center 3,500 Lehigh Goodman Stadium 16,000 Stabler Arena 5,600 Navy* Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium 34,000 Alumni Hall 5,710 *Plays Division I FBS football [edit] Championships [edit] 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 The 2003 Colgate team advanced all the way to the National Championship game before falling to the University of Delaware. [edit] Basketball Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament Patriot League Women's Basketball Tournament [edit] Notes ^ The Brown and White, Lehigh University Student Newspaper [edit] External links Official site of the Patriot League Hoop Time - The Online News Source for Patriot League Basketball Patriot League Basketball Blog Unofficial Fordham Athletics Message Board Patriot League Message Board [show]v • d • ePatriot League Participants Bucknell • Colgate • Holy Cross • Lafayette • Lehigh Non-football members American • Army • Navy Football-only members Fordham • Georgetown Women's Lacrosse-only member Villanova [show]v • d • eFootball stadiums of the Patriot League Andy Kerr Stadium (Colgate) • Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium (Bucknell) • Coffey Field (Fordham) • Fisher Field (Lafayette) • Fitton Field (Holy Cross) • Goodman Stadium (Lehigh) • Multi-Sport Field (Georgetown) [show]v • d • eBasketball arenas of the Patriot League Alumni Hall (Navy) • Bender Arena (American) • Christl Arena (Army) • Cotterell Court (Colgate) • Hart Center (Holy Cross) • Kirby Sports Center (Lafayette) • Sojka Pavilion (Bucknell) • Stabler Arena (Lehigh) [show]v • d • eNCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Conferences Big Sky Conference • Big South Conference • Colonial Athletic Association • Great West Conference • Ivy League • Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference • Missouri Valley Football Conference • Northeast Conference • Ohio Valley Conference • Patriot League • Pioneer Football League • Southern Conference • Southland Conference • Southwestern Athletic Conference • Independents NCAA Division I Football Championship Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_League" Categories: Patriot League | College athletics conferences | NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision conferences