Northwest Conference


The Northwest Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are located in the states of Oregon and Washington.

History

The NWC was formed in 1926, making it one of the oldest athletics conferences in the western United States. For 60 years, the Northwest Conference sponsored sports exclusively for men, but in 1984 it joined with the Women's Conference of Independent Colleges to become the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges, shortening the name to its current moniker in 1996 when it joined the NCAA.
The charter members included Willamette University, Pacific University, Whitman College, the College of Puget Sound, Linfield College and the College of Idaho. In 1931, Albany College joined, left in 1938, and re-joined in 1949 using its present name of Lewis & Clark College. Pacific Lutheran University was added in 1965, and Whitworth University in 1970. In 1978, the College of Idaho dropped out of the conference. Whitworth also left in 1984, but then returned in 1988. In 1996, George Fox University joined when the conference moved to the NCAA and Puget Sound re-joined in that same year since 1948. From 2006 to 2010, Menlo College was also a part of the conference as an associate member in football.
The College of Idaho dropped out in 1978 and is now a member of the NAIA's Cascade Collegiate Conference. Whitworth left the NWC in 1984 but returned in 1988. George Fox University and Seattle University joined the conference in 1997. Seattle dropped out again in 1999 to become members of NCAA Division II. Menlo College joined the conference in 2005 as a football-only member.

Member schools

Current members

The league currently has 9 full members:
InstitutionLocationNicknameFoundedTypeEnrollmentJoined
George Fox UniversityNewberg, OregonBruins1885Private/Quaker4,1401996
Lewis & Clark CollegePortland, OregonPioneers1867Private/Non-sectarian3,4331931,
19491
Linfield CollegeMcMinnville, OregonWildcats1849Private/Baptist2,6641926
Pacific UniversityForest Grove, OregonBoxers1849Private/United Church of Christ3,3021926
Pacific Lutheran UniversityParkland, WashingtonLutes1890Private/Lutheran3,4611965
University of Puget SoundTacoma, WashingtonLoggers1888Private/Non-sectarian2,6001926,
19962
Whitman CollegeWalla Walla, WashingtonBlues1859Private/Non-sectarian1,4751926
Whitworth UniversitySpokane, WashingtonPirates1890Private/Presbyterian2,8861970,
19883
Willamette UniversitySalem, OregonBearcats1842Private/Non-sectarian2,8151926

;Notes
  1. - Lewis & Clark left the NWC after the 1937–38 season, and later re-joined back in the 1949–50 season.
  2. - Puget Sound left the NWC after the 1947–48 season, and later re-joined back in the 1996–97 season.
  3. - Whitworth left the NWC after the 1983–84 season, and later re-joined back in the 1988–89 season.

    Former members

Former associate members

Membership timeline


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TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
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Colors =
id:barcolor value:rgb

id:line value:black

id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
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bar:1 color:Full from:1926 till:1943 text:College of Idaho
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946
bar:1 color:Full from:1946 till:1978
bar:2 color:Full from:1926 till:1937 text:Linfield
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1937 till:1938
bar:2 color:Full from:1938 till:1943
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946
bar:2 color:Full from:1946 till:1985
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1997
bar:2 color:Full from:1997 till:end
bar:3 color:Full from:1926 till:1943 text:Pacific
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946
bar:3 color:Full from:1946 till:1985
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1985 till:2010
bar:3 color:Full from:2010 till:end
bar:4 color:Full from:1926 till:1943 text:Puget Sound
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946
bar:4 color:Full from:1946 till:1948
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1996 till:1997 text:
bar:4 color:Full from:1997 till:end
bar:5 color:Full from:1926 till:end text:Whitman
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946
bar:5 color:Full from:1946 till:1977
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1977 till:end
bar:6 color:Full from:1926 till:end text:Willamette
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946
bar:6 color:Full from:1946 till:1985
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1997
bar:6 color:Full from:1997 till:end
bar:7 color:Full from:1931 till:1938 text:Lewis & Clark
bar:7 color:AssocF from:1946 till:1949
bar:7 color:Full from:1949 till:1985 text:
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1997
bar:7 color:Full from:1997 till:end
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1965 till:1966 text:Pacific Lutheran
bar:8 color:Full from:1966 till:1985
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1997
bar:8 color:Full from:1997 till:end
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1970 till:1972 text:Whitworth
bar:9 color:Full from:1972 till:1984
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1997 text:
bar:9 color:Full from:1997 till:end
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2014 text:George Fox
bar:10 color:Full from:2014 till:end
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1997 till:1999 text:Seattle
bar:12 color:AssocF from:2006 till:2010 text:Menlo
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1926

Sports sponsored

The Northwest Conference sponsors championships in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

All Sports Trophy

Each year the NWC awards one of its member institutions the NWC All Sports Trophy. In each sport the Conference Champion is awarded 18 points, second place is awarded 16 points, and so on. The school with the most points at the conclusion of the academic year wins the trophy. Football, women's volleyball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's golf, men's baseball, women's softball, and men's and women's track and field are the 18 sports in which points are awarded.
Most recently, Whitworth won the NWC All Sports Trophy for 2017-18, their twelfth overall and eleventh in a row. Pacific Lutheran has won the award 15 times, more than any other school. Linfield has won the trophy three times while Puget Sound has won it twice.

National championships

† - Whitworth was not a member of the NWC until 1970.

Football champions