SAINT PETER, Minn. – Big changes are coming to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference a year from now. The conference announced Wednesday the College of St. Scholastica has been accepted as a new member of the league, beginning the 2021-22 academic year.
Macalester, a charter member of the MIAC, will also rejoin the league in football after playing independently and in the Midwest Conference since 2002.
With Macalester and St. Scholastica in the fold for football, the MIAC has adopted a 10-team, two-division model for the sport. Gustavus will be a member of the Northwoods Division, which also includes Carleton, Saint John’s, St. Olaf, and St. Scholastica. The Skyline Division consists of Augsburg, Bethel, Concordia, Hamline, and Macalester.
Each team will play four in-division games, three crossover games, and the final week will be a playoff format with the corresponding seeds from each division facing off. The winner of the No. 1 seeded matchup will earn the conference’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament.
Outside of football, Gustavus and St. Scholastica will match up as conference foes in 19 other MIAC-sponsored sports, including baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s ice hockey, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, and volleyball.
Gustavus and St. Scholastica are no strangers for a majority of sports, having a competitive history dating back 45 years. The first athletic meeting between the Gusties and Saints was in men’s hockey on March 2, 1975 at Wessman Arena in Superior, Wis. The Saints defeated the Gusties 7-1 to capture the NAIA national title. Gustavus got revenge in the next meeting of the all-time series (see photo on right), which has since grown into a non-conference rivalry consisting of 39 games – deadlocked at 19-19-1.
Three other sports with a significant series history against St. Scholastica include men’s soccer (Gusties lead 15-4-2), softball (Gusties lead 14-5), and volleyball (Gusties lead 14-8). When the Gusties and Saints face each other in football on Sept. 25, 2021, it will mark the first meeting between the two schools in the sport.