Illinois Wesleyan University won 16 athletic championships as a member of the "Little 19 Conference" from 1908 until 1937.
BASEBALL (2) - 1916, 1923
MEN'S BASKETBALL (9) - 1912, 1914, 1919, 1923, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1936
FOOTBALL (4) - 1910, 1932, 1933, 1936
MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK (1) - 1911
At one time the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was a robust league that claimed most of the Illinois institutions of higher education. It was nicknamed the "Little Nineteen," but in 1928 had a membership of 23 schools.
The league had roots in the 1870’s when a number of schools banded together for oratorical contests. Their first intercollegiate football game was played in 1881 between Illinois State and Knox College, and by 1894 a football association was established.
The IIAC was formed in April, 1908, with eight charter members - Illinois State, Illinois Wesleyan, Bradley University, Millikin University, Monmouth University, Knox College, Lombard College and Illinois College. The first track meet was held on May 22, 1908. Eastern Illinois University and Western Illinois University joined in 1912 and 1915 respectively.
In 1920, the name 'Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference' was adopted - providing the initials IIAC. Conference membership reached a peak of 23 member schools in 1928, when virtually all of the small colleges in Illinois were included.
The conference began to falter after the 1936-37 season when 12 schools withdrew to form the Illinois College Conference (also known as Illinois Intercollege Conference). Those 12 schools were Augustana, Bradley, Illinois College, Illinois Wesleyan, Knox, Lake Forest, McKendree, Millikin, Monmouth, North Central (Ill.), Shurtleff (closed after the 1956-57 academic year and absorbed by Southern Illinois University) and Wheaton. St. Viator closed in 1939, and Olivet Nazarene University took over its campus in 1947. Carthage, Elmhurst and Eureka withdrew from the IIAC in December 1941, leaving only five schools: Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois and Western Illinois.
Illinois Wesleyan won two football championships in the Illinois Intercollege Conference, in 1939 (2-0) and 1940 (3-0).
Website for Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Website for Illinois Intercollege Conference (Football 1938-42)
Â
