Ithaca College Athletics

Ithaca College's 27 varsity teams compete at the Division III level of the NCAA.

Beginning on July 1, 2017, Ithaca College officially became the 11th full-time member of the Liberty League. The Bombers competed in their first season as an affiliate of the Liberty League during the 2017-18 academic year. The Liberty League sponsors 10 other full-time members, as well as seven associate members, while it hosts 28 championships in 26 different sports. 

The move to the Liberty League brings Ithaca College back together with many of its traditional rivals from its time as a member of the Independent College Athletic Conference (ICAC). Among the league's 10 other full-time members are former ICAC rivals in Clarkson University, Hobart College, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), St. Lawrence University, and Union College. The remaining full-time membership includes Bard College, University of Rochester, Skidmore College, Vassar College, and William Smith College. Associate members of the Liberty League include: Buffalo State College, Denison University, Haverford College, Mount Holyoke College, New York University, Springfield College, St. John Fisher University and Wellesley College. 

The member institutions of the Liberty League place the highest priority on the overall quality of the educational experience and on the successful completion of its student-athletes’ academic programs. The member institutions seek to establish and maintain an environment in which a student-athlete’s athletic activities are conducted as an integral part of the educational experience. Originally founded as the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association in 1995, the conference was renamed the Liberty League during the summer of 2004. Founding members of the league included: Clarkson, Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith, Rochester, RPI, St. Lawrence, Skidmore, and Union. Vassar joined the Liberty League during the 2000-01 academic year, while Bard and RIT joined prior to the 2011-12 academic year, following the departure of Hamilton in 2010-11.

Prior to joining the Liberty League, the Bombers were charter members of the Empire 8, along with Alfred University, Elmira College, Hartwick College, Nazareth University, St. John Fisher University and Utica University. Stevens Institute of Technology joined the conference as a full member for the 2007-08 season; Houghton College joined the conference for the 2012-13 season. The Empire 8, which evolved from the Independent College Athletic Conference and Empire Athletic Association (EAA), began as an all-sports conference in 1999.

The wrestling team is a member of the SUNYAC, which they joined in 2023-24. Wrestling had been a member of the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference since 1991-92. Ithaca's gymnastics team competes as members of the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association. Men's rowing is also a member of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association.

Liberty League Official Site

6/27/24