| Northern California Athletic Conference | |
| Dissolved: | [1] |
| Conference: | NCAA |
| Division: | Division II |
| Teams: | 16 (total) |
| Region: | West Coast |
| Formerly: | Far Western Conference (1925–1982) |
The Northern California Athletic Conference (NCAC) was an NCAA Division II college athletic association that sponsored American football that was founded in 1925. It disbanded in 1998 after the majority of its member schools were forced to drop football.
The NCAC was founded as the Far Western Conference (FWC) in 1925 by its charter member schools: Fresno State, Saint Mary's, UC Davis, Nevada, San Jose State and College of the Pacific.[2]
Nevada's departure from the conference in 1940 left the conference with only four members: Chico State, Fresno State, College of the Pacific and UC Davis.[3] The conference looked to four nominees in Humboldt State (joined in 1940), San Francisco State, Santa Barbara State College (later UC Santa Barbara) and California Poly of San Luis Obispo.[4]
Shortly after World War II, the remaining members, with the exception of UC Davis, Chico State and Humboldt State, would leave for other conferences, to be replaced over the years by San Francisco State (joined in 1946), Southern Oregon (1947), Sacramento State (1953), Hayward State (1961) and Sonoma State (1966). During the 1990s, each of the universities associated with the California State system chose to disband their football teams in order to comply with Title IX, with the exception of Humboldt State, which added two women's sports to achieve compliance, Sacramento State,[1] and Cal Poly.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal State Hayward | Hayward, CA | 1956 | Pioneers | 1961 | 1998 | CCAA | |
| Chico State | Chico, CA | 1887 | Wildcats | 1928 | 1998 | CCAA | |
| Fresno State | Fresno, CA | 1911 | Bulldogs | 1925 | 1940 | Mountain West | |
| Humboldt State | Arcata, CA | 1913 | Lumberjacks | 1940 | 1998 | CCAA | |
| Nevada | Reno, NV | 1874 | Wolf Pack | 1925 1953 | 1940 1969 | Mountain West | |
| Notre Dame (CA) | Belmont, CA | 1851 | Argonauts | 1988 | 1998 | Discontinued athletics | |
| Pacific (CA) | Stockton, CA | 1911 | Tigers | 1925 | 1942 | West Coast | |
| Sacramento State | Sacramento, CA | 1947 | Hornets | 1953 | 1985 | Big Sky | |
| St. Ignatius | San Francisco, CA | 1855 | Dons | 1927 | 1929 | West Coast | |
| Saint Mary's | Moraga, CA | 1863 | Gaels | 1925 | 1927 | West Coast | |
| San Francisco State | San Francisco, CA | 1899 | Gators | 1946 1953 | 1951 1998 | CCAA | |
| San Jose State | San Jose, CA | 1857 | Spartans | 1929 | 1935 | Mountain West | |
| Sonoma State | Rohnert Park, CA | 1960 | Cossacks (now Seawolves) | 1966 1982 | 1974 1998 | CCAA | |
| Southern Oregon | Ashland, OR | 1872 | Raiders | 1947 | 1953 | Cascade Collegiate | |
| Stanislaus State | Turlock, CA | 1957 | Warriors | 1975 | 1998 | CCAA | |
| UC Davis | Davis, CA | 1905 | Aggies | 1925 | 1998 | Big West |
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:line value:black id:bg value:white
PlotData= width:20 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1925 till:1993 text:UC Davis (1925–1998) bar:1 color:Fullxf from:1993 till:1998 bar:2 color:Full from:1925 till:1927 text:Saint Mary's (CA) (1925–1927) bar:2 color:AssocF from:1927 till:1929 bar:3 color:Full from:1925 till:1940 text:Nevada (1925–1940, 1953–1969) bar:3 color:FullxF from:1953 till:1954 text:Nevada bar:3 color:Full from:1954 till:1969 bar:4 color:Full from:1925 till:1942 text:Pacific (CA) (1925–1942) bar:4 color:AssocF from:1942 till:1943 bar:5 color:Full from:1925 till:1940 text:Fresno State (1925–1940) bar:6 color:Full from:1927 till:1929 text:St. Ignatius (1927–1929) bar:7 color:FullxF from:1928 till:1929 text:Chico State (1928–1998) bar:7 color:Full from:1929 till:1997 bar:7 color:Fullxf from:1997 till:1998 bar:8 color:Full from:1929 till:1935 text:San Jose State (1929–1935) bar:9 color:Full from:1940 till:1997 text:Humboldt State (1940–1998) bar:9 color:Fullxf from:1997 till:1998 bar:10 color:Full from:1946 till:1951 text:San Francisco State (1946–1951, 1953–1998) bar:10 color:AssocF from:1951 till:1953 bar:10 color:Full from:1953 till:1995 bar:10 color:Fullxf from:1995 till:1998 bar:11 color:Full from:1947 till:1953 text:Southern Oregon (1947–1953) bar:11 color:AssocF from:1953 till:1955 bar:12 color:FullxF from:1953 till:1954 text:Sacramento State (1953–1985) bar:12 color:Full from:1954 till:1985 bar:13 color:FullxF from:1964 till:1965 text:Cal State Hayward (1964–1998) bar:13 color:Full from:1965 till:1994 bar:13 color:Fullxf from:1994 till:1998 bar:14 color:FullxF from:1966 till:1970 text:Sonoma State (1966–1974, 1982–1998) bar:14 color:Full from:1970 till:1972 bar:14 color:FullxF from:1972 till:1974 bar:14 color:FullxF from:1982 till:1983 bar:14 color:Full from:1983 till:1997 bar:14 color:Fullxf from:1997 till:1998 bar:15 color:FullxF from:1975 till:1998 text:Stanislaus State (1975–1998) bar:16 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1998 text:Notre Dame (CA) (1988–1998)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1925