Little Three
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The Little Three are three colleges in the New England region of the United States with a notable athletic rivalry. It is believed to be America’s oldest, continuous intercollegiate athletic conference without a membership change. The Little Three are the NESCAC schools of Amherst College, Wesleyan University, and Williams College.
The rivalry is so long-standing that it is difficult to tell when the "Little Three" came into existence. A forerunner of the present group was the New England Intercollegiate Triangular League, founded in 1882. Its members were Amherst, Dartmouth College and Williams. This group lasted until 1899, when Dartmouth withdrew. The three schools first formally banded together in 1899 as the Triangular League. The Triangular League broke up in 1902 over an argument concerning the eligibility of college baseball players who received pay during summer league play. Although it lasted only three years, the Triangular League served to cement the rivalries that had been building in the 1880s and 1890s.
As a result of the ill feelings, Amherst and Williams did not meet from 1902 to 1904, and Wesleyan and Amherst severed relations from 1902 to 1909. During this time, however, Wesleyan and Williams continued to meet in all sports. In 1905, when Amherst and Williams resumed their football games, the Williams Athletic Council voted to consider the games against Amherst and Wesleyan as championship contests. When Amherst and Wesleyan resumed competition in 1910, the Little Three as we know it today began in earnest. Once referred to as "The Triumvirate," the exact origin of the term "Little Three" is not known.
Little Three champions are declared each year in all sports for which all three colleges field varsity sports teams. The exceptions are indoor track as the schedule does not call for the three colleges coming together in a separate event, and crew. Amherst fields a club program in crew but its nature is such that a Little Three title is awarded to the winner of the varsity heavyweight eight event for men and women.