Conference of New England

Conference of New England

Association	NCAA
Founded	1984
Commissioner	Patrick Colbert (since 2023)
Sports fielded	20 men's: 10 women's: 10
Division	Division III
No. of teams	11
Headquarters	Biddeford, Maine, U.S.
Region	New England
Official website	cnesports.org
Locations

The Conference of New England (CNE), formerly known as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in New England in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

The CCC and Commonwealth Coast Football unveiled a new family of logos during a June 2019 visual rebrand.^[1]

100km
62miles

Saint Joseph

New England College

Colby–Sawyer

Maine Maritime

Johnson & Wales

Hartford

Suffolk

Husson

Western New England

Wentworth

Univ. of New England

Roger Williams

Nichols

Gordon

Endicott

Curry

  

Location of current members:
full member
associate member
future associate member

On June 21, 2022, the University of Hartford announced that it would join the CCC, starting the 2023–24 academic year;^[2] while Salve Regina announced it would leave both the CCC and CCC Football to join the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), once concluding the 2022–23 school year.^[3]

On December 8, 2022, Johnson & Wales (RI) announced it would join the CCC as soon as the 2024–25 academic year.^[4]

In 2023, two schools announced they would be reinstating their varsity football programs and joining the CCC for football, starting the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year); first Maine Maritime Academy on January 9,^[5] then New England College followed suit on November 14.^[6]

On August 1st, 2024, 40 years after it was founded, the conference announced that it would be rebranding as the Conference of New England (CNE), effective with the 2024-25 season.^[7]

• 1984 – On 1984, the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) was founded. Charter members included Anna Maria College, Curry College, Emerson College, Hellenic College, Salve Regina College (now Salve Regina University), the United States Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard) and Wentworth Institute of Technology (Wentworth Tech); beginning the 1984–85 academic year.
• 1985 – Hellenic left the CCC when the school dropped its athletic program after lasting only one season after the 1984–85 academic year.
• 1985 – Roger Williams College (now Roger Williams University) joined the CCC in the 1985–86 academic year.
• 1986 – The CCC was granted membership within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III ranks in the 1986–87 academic year.
• 1987 – The U.S. Coast Guard left the CCC to join the Constitution Athletic Conference after the 1986–87 academic year.
• 1987 – Gordon College joined the CCC in the 1987–88 academic year.
• 1988 – Regis College joined the CCC in the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1989 – Emerson left the CCC to become an NCAA D-III Independent after the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1989 – New England College of New Hampshire joined the CCC in the 1989–90 academic year.
• 1992 – Eastern Nazarene College joined the CCC in the 1992–93 academic year.
• 1995 – Colby–Sawyer College and Nichols College joined the CCC in the 1995–96 academic year.
• 1999 – Endicott College and the University of New England of Maine joined the CCC in the 1999–2000 academic year.
• 2007 – Western New England University joined the CCC in the 2007–08 academic year.
• 2011 – Four member schools left the CCC to join their respective new home primary conferences: Anna Maria to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), Regis (Mass.) to the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC), and Colby–Sawyer and New England (N.H.) to the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), all effective after the 2010–11 academic year.
• 2016 – Becker College, Johnson and Wales University, Providence and Suffolk University joined the CCC as associate members for men's ice hockey in the 2016–17 academic year.
• 2017 – The CCC added football as a sponsored sport, although not directly as it absorbed the former and defunct New England Football Conference and rebranded as Commonwealth Coast Football (CCC Football) in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).
• 2017 – Becker added football to join CCC Football in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).
• 2018 – Eastern Nazarene left the CCC to join the NECC after the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2018 – Johnson & Wales and Suffolk left the CCC as associate members for men's ice hockey after the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2019 – Husson University joined CCC Football in the 2019 fall season (2019–20 academic year).
• 2020 – Suffolk returned to the CCC, but with full membership status in the 2020–21 academic year.
• 2022 – Due to changes in NCAA legislation regarding the number of member schools required for an automatic qualifier (AQ), football was fully incorporated into the CCC multi-sport conference, eliminating the need for the single-sport Commonwealth Coast Football league, beginning the 2022–23 academic year.
• 2023 – Salve Regina left the CCC (and CCC Football) to join the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) after the 2022–23 academic year.
• 2023 – The University of Hartford joined the CCC in the 2023–24 academic year.
• 2023 – Johnson & Wales (RI) will join the CCC as soon as the 2025–26 academic year.^[8]
• 2023 – Maine Maritime Academy and New England College will reinstate their varsity football programs and joining the CCC for football, beginning the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year).
• 2024 – Colby–Sawyer College and the University of Saint Joseph of Connecticut will join the CCC as associate members for men's tennis by the 2025 spring season (2024–25 academic year).
• 2024 – The CCC rebranded as the Conference of New England, effective with the 2024–25 academic year.

The CNE currently has 11 full members, all private schools.

Notes

The CNE currently has three associate members, all private schools:

The CNE will have two future associate members, all but one are private schools:

The CNE had nine former full members, with all but one being private schools.

Notes

The CNE had three former associate members, all were private schools:

Notes

The CNE sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in 20 sports. The conference started sponsoring football in the 2017-18 season, absorbing the former football-only New England Football Conference. From 2017 to 2021 football was operated as a single-sport conference branded Commonwealth Coast Football.^[9] Due to changes in NCAA legislation regarding the number of members required for a for a conference to receive and automatic qualifier (AQ), football was fully incorporated into the multi-sport conference in 2022, eliminating the need for the football-only league. Women's ice hockey was added as a conference sport in 2020-21 when the CNE took over operations of the Colonial Hockey Conference.^[10]

Championship sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross country	Y	Y
Field hockey		Y
Football	Y
Golf	Y
Ice hockey	Y	Y
Lacrosse	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track and field	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y

Sports sponsorship

School	MXC	WXC	FH	FB	MSOC	WSOC	WTEN	WVB	MBB	MIH	WIH	WBB	BASE	GOLF	MLAX	WLAX	SOFT	MTEN	M T&F	W T&F
Curry	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y
Endicott	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y
Gordon	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Hartford	Y	Y			Y	Y		Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y
Nichols	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Roger Williams	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Suffolk	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y
U. of New England	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y			Y
Wentworth	Y	Y			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Western New England	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y

• Official website