Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference

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ConferenceMCLA
Founded1976
CommissionerJohn Robinette
Sports fielded
Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference
ConferenceMCLA
Founded1976
CommissionerJohn Robinette
Sports fielded
No. of teams18
HeadquartersDurango, Colorado
RegionMountain
Official websitehttp://mcla.us/RMLC/

The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference (RMLC) is one of ten conferences in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association. Currently the RMLC consists of 18 teams encompassing four Rocky Mountain states; Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming. It is divided into two divisions, Division I and Division II. Division II is separated further by region; Northwest and Southeast[1]

The RMLC, first known as the RMLA, was formed in 1976 with founding members Colorado State University, University of Colorado, Regis University, Air Force Academy, University of Denver, and Colorado School of Mines. In 1997, the Conference changed names to the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Lacrosse League (RMILL) and went to a club-only league as a member of the US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates (USLIA), which reorganized into the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) in 2006.

The RMLC has been the home conference of the MCLA Division I National Champions in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2012 and 2013 (Colorado State University);[2] in 1997, 2000, 2007, 2011 (Brigham Young University);[3] and in 2014 (University of Colorado). In Division II, Westminster College were National Champions in 2008,[4] and the University of Utah won in 2022.[5]

In 2017, Utah announced that they were going to elevate their program to play as an NCAA Division 1 Independent, turning them from a club team to an NCAA team.[6] After the 2018 season, they left the conference. In 2019, the RMLC announced that the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma would join the conference at the Division 1 level starting in the 2020 season.[7] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their first game in the conference had to be pushed back to 2021. In 2021, it was revealed that Oklahoma would leave the conference to go back to the Lone Star Alliance.[8] With the news, Oklahoma would leave the conference without playing a single game in the conference.

A game between Montana State and Colorado-Denver in 2017

Teams

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Team Nickname Primary conference
Division I
Brigham Young University Provo, Utah 1875 Private (LDS) 34,802 Cougars Big 12 (Division I)
University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, Colorado 1876 Public 37,956 Buffaloes Big 12 (Division I)
Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 1870 Public 32,777 Rams Mountain West (Division I)
University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah 1850 Public 34,464 Utes Big 12 (Division I)
Utah Tech University St. George, Utah 1911 Public 12,266 Trailblazers WAC (Division I)
Utah Valley University Orem, Utah 1941 Public 41,262 Wolverines WAC (Division I)
Division II
United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, Colorado 1954 Public 4,181 Falcons Mountain West (Division I)
Colorado School of Mines Golden, Colorado 1873 Public 7,172 Orediggers Rocky Mountain (Division II)
University of Denver Denver, Colorado 1864 Private 14,130 Pioneers Summit (Division I)
Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, Colorado 1965 Public 17,678 Roadrunners Rocky Mountain (Division II)
Montana State University Bozeman, Montana 1893 Public 16,841 Bobcats Big Sky (Division I)
Southern Utah University Cedar City, Utah 1897 Public 13,611 Thunderbirds WAC (Division I)
Utah State University Logan, Utah 1888 Public 27,426 Aggies Mountain West (Division I)
University of Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming 1886 Public 11,479 Cowboys Mountain West (Division I)
Division III
Fort Lewis College Durango, Colorado 1911 Public 3,550 Skyhawks Rocky Mountain (Division II)
University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico 1889 Public 21,738 Lobos Mountain West (Division I)
University of Northern Colorado Greeley, Colorado 1889 Public 8,869 Bears Big Sky (Division I)
Western Colorado University Gunnison, Colorado 1901 Public 3,692 Mountaineers Rocky Mountain (Division II)

Former teams

Conference Championships

References

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