Patriot League

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Patriot League

Data
Established	1986
Members	8
Sports fielded	23 sports (11 men's, 12 women's)^[1]
Region	Northeastern United States
States	5 - Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and also the District of Columbia
Past names	Colonial League
Headquarters	Center Valley, Pennsylvania^[2]
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.

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 academic and athletic excellence. 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". Its member institutions are among the oldest and most prestigious in the nation and their alumni have played leadership roles in the shaping of our country. 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 some Patriot League schools, and no football scholarships are permitted at all. Moreover, conference games in some sports are set for specific days of the week to fit academic calendars, and television networks often need to work cooperatively with the Patriot League to set telecast dates, rather than dictating when games will be played in order to suit television.

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^[3]. Similarly, matchups between Army and Navy in any sport, especially football, are always intense.

In NCAA basketball, Bucknell is the only team in the conference ever to have recorded NCAA Tournament victories, winning in 2005 over Kansas and in 2006 over Arkansas. 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.

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 are the last Division I basketball leagues which function as a place for student athletes, rather than functioning as defacto 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.

There are eight full-time member schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname
American University	Washington, D.C.	1893	Private/Methodist	10,842	Eagles
United States Military Academy	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	2,303	Leopards
Lehigh University	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania	1865	Private/Non-sectarian	4,577	Mountain Hawks
United States Naval Academy	Annapolis, Maryland	1845	Public/Federal	4,000	Midshipmen

There are three part-time member schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Notes
Fordham University	Bronx, NY	1841	Private/Catholic	8,430	Rams	Football Only Member
Georgetown University	Washington, D.C.	1789	Private/Catholic	6,719	Hoyas	Football Only Member
Villanova University	Radnor, Pennsylvania	1842	Private/Catholic	6,300	Wildcats	Women's Lacrosse Only Member

American does not play football, while Army and Navy participate as Independents in the NCAAFootball Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A). Thus, Fordham and Georgetown replace them in the Patriot League for football only.

1 Conference facilities
2 Championships
- 2.1 Football
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] Conference facilities

School	Football stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity
American	Non-Football School	N/A	Bender Arena	4,500
Army	Plays Division I FBS football	N/A	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	4,500	Football Only Member	N/A
Holy Cross	Fitton Field	23,500	Hart Center	3,600
Lafayette	Fisher Field	13,750	Kirby Sports Center	3,500
Lehigh	Goodman Stadium	16,000	Stabler Arena	5,600
Navy	Plays Division I FBS football	N/A	Alumni Hall	5,710

[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

Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament History

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Patriot League
Bucknell • Colgate • Holy Cross • Lafayette • Lehigh Non-football members: American • Army • Navy Football-only members: Fordham • Georgetown Women's Lacrosse-only member: Villanova