The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is divided into three divisions based on scholarship allocation. Each division is made up of several conferences for regional league competition. Unless otherwise noted, changes in conference affiliation will occur on July 1 of the given year.
See main article: NCAA Division I and List of NCAA Division I institutions. Under NCAA regulations, all Division I conferences defined as "multisport conferences" must meet the following criteria:[1]
Schools in all divisions that sponsor athletic programs for only one sex/gender need only meet the sports sponsorship requirements for that sex/gender.[2]
Conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision must meet a more stringent set of NCAA requirements than other conferences. Among these additional NCAA regulations, institutions in the Football Bowl Subdivision must be "multisport conferences" and participate in conference play in at least six men's and eight women's sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, and at least two other women's team sports. Each school may count one men's and one women's sport not sponsored by its primary conference toward the above limits, as long as that sport competes in another Division I conference. The men's and women's sports so counted need not be the same sport.[3] [4]
| align=center | The American | 2013 | 13 | align=center | 22 | Irving, Texas | ||||
| ACC | 1953 | 18 | 28 | |||||||
| Big Ten B1G | 1896 | 18 | 28 | Rosemont, Illinois | ||||||
| Big 12 | 1996 | align=center | 16 | align=center | 25 | Irving, Texas | ||||
| align=center | CUSA | 1995 | align=center | 10 | align=center | 18 | Dallas, Texas | |||
| Ind. | N/A | 3 | 1 | N/A | ||||||
| MAC | 1946 | 12 | align=center | 22 | Cleveland, Ohio | |||||
| MW MWC | 1999 | align=center | 11 | 18 | ||||||
| Pac-12 | 1959 | 2 | 24 | |||||||
| SEC | 1932 | 16 | 21 | |||||||
| align=center | SBC | 1976 | align=center | 14 | align=center | 20 |
In addition to competing in football, multisport conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision must still meet the general NCAA Division I requirements regarding the minimum number of men's and women's sports (see above).[1]
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Full Members | Sports | Headquarters | Map | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Sky BSC | 1963 | 10 | 15 | ||||||
| Big South | 1983 | align=center | 9 | align=center | 19 | ||||
| CAA Football | align=center | 2007 | align=center | 16 | align=center | 1 | |||
| align=center | 2 | align=center | 1 | ||||||
| Ivy League | 1954 | 8 | 32 | ||||||
| MEAC | 1970 | 8 | 14 | ||||||
| MVFC | 1985 | align=center | 11 | 1 | |||||
| NEC | 1981 | 9 | align=center | 25 | |||||
| OVC | 1948 | align=center | 11 | align=center | 19 | ||||
| Patriot | 1986 | 10 | 24 | ||||||
| PFL | 1991 | 11 | 1 | ||||||
| SoCon | 1921 | 10 | align=center | 20 | |||||
| Southland SLC | 1963 | align=center | 12 | 18 | |||||
| SWAC | 1920 | align=center | 12 | 18 | |||||
| UAC | 2023 | align=center | 9 | 1 |
Multisport conferences that do not compete in football must still meet the general NCAA Division I requirements regarding the minimum number of men's and women's sports (see above).[1]
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sports | Headquarters | Map | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| America East AmEast | 1979 | 9 | 18 | ||||||
| ASUN | 1978 | align=center | 12 | align=center | 20 | ||||
| A-10 | 1975 | 15 | 22 | ||||||
| Big East | 1979 | 11 | 23 | ||||||
| Big West BWC | 1969 | 11 | align=center | 21 | |||||
| CAA | 1983 | align=center | 14 | align=center | 23 | ||||
| Horizon | 1979 | align=center | 11 | 19 | |||||
| align=center | 0 | ||||||||
| MAAC | 1980 | align=center | 13 | 25 | |||||
| MVC The Valley | 1907 | 12 | align=center | 18 | |||||
| MPSF | 1992 | 41 | align=center | 12 | |||||
| The Summit | 1982 | align=center | 9 | 19 | |||||
| WCC | 1952 | align=center | 9 | align=center | 16 | ||||
| WAC | 1962 | align=center | 11 | align=center | 19 |
See also: List of NCAA Division I ice hockey programs. Division I ice hockey has a different conference structure than the above multisport conferences. These schools have memberships in other conferences for other sports.
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members (Men/Women) | Headquarters | Map | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Hockey AHA | 1997 | 14 (11/6) | ||||
| CCHA | 2020 | 9 (9/none) | ||||
| ECAC | 1962 | 12 (12/12) | ||||
| Hockey East HEA | 1984 | 12 (11/10) | ||||
| 5 (5/none) | ||||||
| NEWHA | 2018 | 8 (none/8) | ||||
| NCHC | 2011 | 9 (9/none) | ||||
| WCHA | 1951 | 8 (none/8) |
This list includes conferences in sports that the NCAA does not fully split into divisions, such as men's volleyball and rifle. Sports in which the NCAA sponsors separate championships for men and women are officially treated by the NCAA as two separate sports.
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sport | Headquarters | Map | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Collegiate Fencing Conference | CCFC | 6 | ? | ||||
| CCSA | 2009 | 7 | ? | ||||
| CCSA | 2008 | 4 | |||||
| CWPA | 1970s | 26 | |||||
| EAGL | 1995 | 7 | ? | ||||
| EARC | ? | 18 | |||||
| EAWRC | ? | 18 | |||||
| EIGL | ? | 5 | 1 (gymnastics) | ||||
| EISA | ? | 15 | 1 (Skiing) | ? | |||
| EIVA | 1977 | 7 | 1 (men's volleyball) | ||||
| EIWA | 1905 | 17 | 1 (wrestling) | ? | |||
| Eastern Women's Fencing Conference | EWFC | 2000 | 7 | 1 (fencing) | ? | ||
| GCC | 2013 | 8 | 1 (water polo) | ? | |||
| GARC | 1998 | 9 | 1 (rifle) | ? | |||
| IFCSC | 1996? | 2 | 1 (fencing) | ? | |||
| Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association | MACFA | 1952 | 8 | 1 (fencing) | |||
| MAC | 1978 | 7 | 1 (rifle) | ? | |||
| Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference | MAWPC | 7 | 1 (Water Polo) | ? | |||
| MFC | 1968 | 6 | 1 (fencing) | University of Notre Dame (?) | |||
| MIC | ? | 6 | 1 (women's gymnastics) | UIC (?) | |||
| MIVA | 1961 | 9 | 1 (men's volleyball) | ||||
| NIWFA | 1929 | 10 | 1 (fencing) | ? | |||
| New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference | NEIFC | ? | 8 | 1 (fencing) | ? | ||
| Northeast Fencing Conference | NFC | 1992 | 8 | 1 (fencing) | ? | ||
| Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference | PCSC | 2002 | 9 (men) 15 (women) | 1 (swimming) | ? | ||
| PRC | 2013 | 6 | 1 (rifle) | ||||
| RMISA | 1950 | 6 | 1 (Skiing) | ? | |||
| WWPA | 1981 | 7 (men) 8 (women) | 1 (water polo) | ? |
See main article: NCAA Division II and List of NCAA Division II institutions. Among the NCAA regulations, Division II institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women (or four for men and six for women), with two team sports for each sex, and each playing season represented by each sex. Teams that consist of both men and women are counted as men's teams for sports sponsorship purposes.[5]
Conferences that sponsor football are highlighted in yellow.
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sports | Headquarters | Map | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCAA | 1938 | 12 | 13 | ||||
| CACC | 1961 | 13 | 16 | ||||
| CIAA | 1912 | 13 | 15 | ||||
| CC | 1930 | 15 | 25 | ||||
| ECC | 1989 | 9 | 18 | ||||
| GAC | 2011 | 12 | 16 | ||||
| GLIAC | 1972 | 11 | 21 | ||||
| GLVC | 1978 | 15 | 24 | ||||
| G-MAC | 2011 | 13 | 23 | ||||
| GNAC | 2001 | 10 | 15 | ||||
| GSC | 1970 | 12 | 17 | ||||
| 4 | |||||||
| LSC | 1931 | 17 | 18 | ||||
| MIAA | 1912 | 14 | 19 | ||||
| MEC | 2012 | 11 | 23 | ||||
| NE-10 | 1980 | 11 | 23 | ||||
| NSIC | 1932 | 15 | 18 | ||||
| PacWest | 1992 | 14 | 15 | ||||
| PBC | 1990 | 10 | 15 | ||||
| PSAC | 1951 | 17 | 23 | ||||
| RMAC | 1909 | 15 | 23 | ||||
| SAC | 1975 | 13 | 20 | ||||
| SIAC | 1913 | 15 | 14 | ||||
| SSC | 1975 | 11 | 18 |
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sport | Headquarters | Map | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian Swimming Conference | ASC | ? | 6 (men) 4 (women) | ? | |||
| players+ ECAC Division II Field Hockey League | ECAC | 2014 | 6 | ||||
| ECAC Division II Wrestling League | ECAC | 2015 | 7 | ||||
| NSISC | 1995 | 5 (men) 6 (women) | ? | ||||
| PCSC | 2003 | 9 (men) 15 (women) | ? |
These all-sports conferences sponsor sports which do not have D-II championships. One of these conferences will add a second such sport in 2025.
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sport | Headquarters | Map | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CC | 1930 | 8 | |||||
| CACC | 1961 | 6 | |||||
| CIAA | 1912 | 10 | |||||
| ECC | 1989 | 10 | |||||
| 4 | |||||||
| GLVC | 1978 | 7 | |||||
| 7 | |||||||
| NE-10 | 1980 | 6 | |||||
| SIAC | 1913 | 7 |
See main article: NCAA Division III and List of NCAA Division III institutions. Unlike the other two divisions, Division III institutions cannot offer athletic scholarships. Among the other NCAA Division III requirements, schools have sports sponsorship requirements set by the NCAA. All institutions, regardless of enrollment, must sponsor at least three team sports for each sex/gender, and each playing season represented by each sex/gender.[6]
A sports sponsorship rule unique to Division III is that the total number of sports that must be sponsored differs by a school's full-time undergraduate enrollment. Schools with an enrollment of 1,000 or fewer must sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women; those with larger enrollments must sponsor six men's and six women's sports. As in the other divisions, teams that include both men and women are treated as men's sports for the purpose of these regulations.[7]
Conferences that sponsor football highlighted in yellow.
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sports | Headquarters | Map | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMCC | 1997 | 9 | 16 | ||||
| ARC | 1922 | 9 | 22 | ||||
| ASC | 1996 | 6 | 16 | ||||
| AEC | 2018 | 7 | 20 | ||||
| Centennial | 1981 | 11 | 24 | ||||
| CUNYAC | 1987 | 8 | 16 | ||||
| C2C | 1989 | 6 | 19 | Fredericksburg, Virginia | |||
| CCIW | 1946 | 9 | 26 | ||||
| Collegiate Conference of the South[8] | CCS | 2022 | 9 | 14 | |||
| CNE | 1984 | 11 | 18 | ||||
| ECFC | 2009 | 4 | 1 | ||||
| E8 | 1964 | 12 | 22 | ||||
| GNAC | 1995 | 15 | 17 | ||||
| HCAC | 1987 | 10 | 16 | ||||
| 2 | |||||||
| Landmark | 2006 | 10 | 23 | ||||
| Liberty | 1995 | 12 | 26 | ||||
| LEC | 1986 | 9 | 21 | ||||
| MASCAC | 1971 | 8 | 16 | ||||
| MIAA | 1888 | 9 | 22 | ||||
| MAC | 1912 | 16 | 27 | ||||
| Midwest | 1921 | 9 | 20 | ||||
| MIAC | 1920 | 13 | 22 | ||||
| NESCAC | 1971 | 11 | 26 | ||||
| NEWMAC | 1998 | 12 | 20 | ||||
| NJAC | 1985 | 10 | 21 | ||||
| NAC | 1996 | 11 | 15 | ||||
| NCAC | 1983 | 9 | 23 | ||||
| NACC | 2006 | 14 | 19 | ||||
| NWC | 1926 | 9 | 20 | ||||
| OAC | 1902 | 10 | 23 | ||||
| ODAC | 1976 | 15 | 26 | ||||
| PAC | 1955 | 11 | 24 | ||||
| SLIAC | 1989 | 10 | 14 | ||||
| Skyline | 1989 | 12 | 17 | ||||
| SAA | 2012 | 7 | 21 | ||||
| SCIAC | 1915 | 9 | 21 | ||||
| SCAC | 1962 | 12 | 9 | ||||
| SUNYAC | 1958 | 10 | 20 | ||||
| United East | 2004 | 17 | 20 | ||||
| UAA | 1986 | 8 | 22 | ||||
| UMAC | 1972 | 8 | 16 | ||||
| USA South | 1965 | 10 | 14 | ||||
| WIAC | 1913 | 8 | 22 |
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sport | Headquarters | Map | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLC | 2022 | 6 | Men's lacrosse | ||||
| CVC | 2011 | 9 | |||||
| MCVL | 2014 | 10 | Men's volleyball | ||||
| MLC | 2009 | 8 | Men's lacrosse | ||||
| MWLC | 2010 | 10 | Women's Lacrosse | ||||
| NECC | 2007 | 9 | |||||
| NEHC | 2015 | 10 (men) 13 (women) | N/A | ||||
| NCHA | 1981 | 10 (men) 7 (women) | Ice hockey | ||||
| UVC | 2010 | 8 | Men's volleyball | ||||
| UCHC | 2016 | 12 (men) 13 (women) | Ice hockey |
These all-sports conferences sponsor sports which do not have D-III championships.
| Conference | Nickname | Founded | Members | Sport | Headquarters | Map | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMCC | 1997 | 8 | |||||
| CCIW | 1946 | 8 | |||||
| METS | ? | 14 (men) 17 (women) | 1 (swimming) | ? | |||
| WIAC | 1913 | 8 |
| Conference | Division | Founded | Folded | Fate | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| America Sky Conference | Division I | 2007 | 2014 | Men's golf conference absorbed by the Big Sky Conference.[9] | |||||||||||||
| Division III | 2017 | 2020 | Merged with the Capital Athletic Conference, with the merged conference renaming itself the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference shortly thereafter. | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 2001 | 2014 | Women's lacrosse conference that folded after the 2014 season due to fallout of the early-2010s conference realignment, specifically the 2013 announcement by the Big Ten that it would add men's and women's lacrosse for the 2014–15 school year (2015 season). Four of the seven final ALC members are full Big Ten members. Johns Hopkins went independent before joining Big Ten women's lacrosse in the 2017 season. The other two members became Big East affiliates. | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 1987 | 1991 | Merged with the Sun Belt Conference. The new conference used the Sun Belt name.[10] | ||||||||||||||
| Division III | 1997 | 2010 | Disbanded | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 2003 | 2024 | Founded in 1997 as the men's hockey league of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference; separated from the MAAC in 2003. Merged with College Hockey America to form the current Atlantic Hockey America. | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 2000 | 2012 | Disbanded | ||||||||||||||
| Division III | 1995 | 2007 | Disbanded | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 1987 | 1991 | Men's soccer-only conference disbanded after the all-sports conferences of all but two of its members began sponsoring the sport. | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 1907 | 1996 | Initially formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, before six schools split away to form the Big Six in 1928. Brought in four former Southwest Conference schools to grow into the Big 12 Conference. | ||||||||||||||
| University Division | 1931 | 1962 | Members split between the newly formed WAC and independent statuses. | ||||||||||||||
| Central Collegiate Hockey Association (original) | Division I | 1971 | 2013 | The decision of the Big Ten Conference to add men's ice hockey as a sponsored sport in the 2013–14 season, taking three of the most successful members of the then-11-member league, led to a major conference realignment that ultimately consumed the CCHA. Two members joined the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference, one member joined Hockey East, and the remaining five members joined or rejoined the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The CCHA would be revived in 2021 with eight members, four of which played in the final season of the original league; the current CCHA considers itself a continuation of the original. | |||||||||||||
| Central Intercollegiate Bowling Conference | Division III | 2019 | 2020 | Bowling-only league effectively absorbed by the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.[11] | |||||||||||||
| Division I | 1999 | 2024 | Founded as a men's-only league; added a women's division in 2002. The men's division disbanded in 2010 after steady losses of membership. The women's division merged with the Atlantic Hockey Association to form the current Atlantic Hockey America | ||||||||||||||
| Division III | 2015 | 2020 | Women's ice hockey-only conference. Disbanded after the 2019–20 season when the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), now known as the Conference of New England, took over operations.[12] At that time, all of the remaining members were full members of the CCC. | ||||||||||||||
| Division III | 1992 | 2023 | Merged with the United East Conference. The 'new' conference used the United East name.[13] | ||||||||||||||
| Division III | 1965 | 2022 | Football-only conference, absorbed by the Commonwealth Coast Conference (now the Conference of New England). Rebranded in 2017 from its original name, the New England Football Conference. | ||||||||||||||
| Continental Divide Conference | Division II | ??? | 1992 | Women's-only conference that merged with the men's-only Great Northwest Conference (not to be confused with the current Great Northwest Athletic Conference) to form the Pacific West Conference. | |||||||||||||
| Division II | 1994 | 2013 | Men's lacrosse conference disbanded when the South Atlantic Conference and Sunshine State Conference, home to all nine of the final conference members, began sponsoring the sport. | ||||||||||||||
| * || 1930 || 1942 || Disbanded after most of its members suspended athletics during World War II.|-| Dixie Conference || * | 1948 | 1954 | Disbanded | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 1958 | 1994 | Absorbed by the Mid-Continent Conference, now known as The Summit League. | ||||||||||||||
| * || 1929 || 1992 || Baseball-only conference absorbed by the Ivy League, disbanded when Army and Navy aligned their baseball teams with the bulk of their other teams in the Patriot League.|-| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League || * | 1901 | 1955 | Basketball-only conference absorbed by the Ivy League, which claims the EIBL as part of its own history. | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 1975 | 2019 | Wrestling-only league absorbed by the Mid-American Conference.[14] | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 1999 | 2014 | Men's lacrosse conference that disbanded after the 2014 season. The conference lost many members after the 2010 season when the original Big East launched a men's lacrosse league, and lost still more members with the Big Ten announcement. At the end of the final ECAC Lacrosse season, only one member had not announced a new lacrosse affiliation for the 2014–15 school year; that school would later join Southern Conference men's lacrosse. | ||||||||||||||
| Division II | 2012 | 2016 | Disbanded. Six members began play in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, leaving three members to become independents. | ||||||||||||||
| Division III | 1971 | 2016 | Ice hockey-only conference. Disbanded | ||||||||||||||
| Division III | 1984 | 2016 | Ice hockey-only conference. Disbanded | ||||||||||||||
| Division III | 1992 | 2003 | Disbanded | ||||||||||||||
| Division II | 2006 | 2012 | Football-only conference, effectively absorbed by the Great Lakes Valley Conference. | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 1991 | 1995 | Merged with the Metro Conference to form Conference USA. | ||||||||||||||
| Great Northwest Conference | Division II | ??? | 1992 | The second part of the merger that created the current Pacific West Conference. | |||||||||||||
| Division III | 1999 | 2016 | Ended sponsorship of men's sports in 2012; remained a women-only league until disbanding entirely. One media outlet specializing in D-III sports coverage considered the Collegiate Conference of the South, formed in 2022 by an amicable split of the USA South Athletic Conference, a spiritual successor, noting that seven of the nine charter CCS members had been Great South members in the last season that it sponsored men's sports.[15] | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 2004 | 2013 | Disbanded after all but one of its members joined more established conferences during the early-2010s conference realignment. The men's golf history and Internet presence of the Great West were maintained by the America Sky Conference (above) before the latter conference's absorption by the Big Sky. | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 1985 | 1988 | Ice hockey-only conference formed by four Western schools, but had one of its members drop hockey after its first season. After failing to attract additional members in 1988, the league folded when one of the remaining members shut down its entire athletic program. | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 1993 | 2010 | Members joined the ECAC Lacrosse League (see above). | ||||||||||||||
| College Division | 1949 | 1957 | Disbanded | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 1984 | 1987 | Effectively absorbed by the Southland Conference. | ||||||||||||||
| Division II | 1999 | 2019 | In August 2017, eight of the nine members announced a mass exodus to the Lone Star Conference (LSC)—a conference with which the Heartland Conference had recently discussed a potential merger[16] — effective in 2019.[17] One of the eight schools changed course and instead opted to become a de facto member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association in 2019,[18] joining the remaining Heartland member in that status.[19] | ||||||||||||||
| Division I | 1983 | 1990 | Women's-only conference absorbed by the Western Athletic Conference. | ||||||||||||||
| Division II | 1950 | 1978 | Disbanded | ||||||||||||||
| 1922 | 1950 | Disbanded | |||||||||||||||
| Unknown | 1922 | 1950 | Split into two conferences, the Indiana Collegiate Conference was made of the larger schools; the Hoosier Collegiate Conference was made of the small, private schools | ||||||||||||||
| University Division | 1908 | 1970 | Previously known as Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, disbanded. | ||||||||||||||
| * || 1892 || 1893 || Disbanded, precursor to the Big Ten Conference.|-| Lake Michigan Conference || Division III || 1974 || 2007 || Merged with the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference to form the Northern Athletics Conference, now known as the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.|-| Metro Conference || Division I || 1975 || 1995 || Merged with the Great Midwest Conference to form Conference USA.|-| Metropolitan Collegiate Conference || University Division || 1965 || 1969 || Disbanded|-| Metropolitan New York Conference || University Division || 1933 || 1963 || Disbanded|-| Mid-Continent Athletic Association || Division II, later Division I || 1978 || 1981 || Football-only conference absorbed by the Association of Mid-Continent Universities in 1982. Effectively one of the precursors to the current Missouri Valley Football Conference.|-| Midwest Athletic Conference for Women || Division III || 1977 || 1994 || Merged with the men's Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference, forming the current Midwest Conference.|-| Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association || Division III || 1998 || 2013 || Absorbed by the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association.|-| Midwestern Conference || University Division || 1970 || 1972 || The five member schools were unable to find the 6th member required for NCAA recognition.|-| Mountain States Conference (aka Skyline Conference) || University Division || 1938 || 1962 || Disbanded, members split between the newly formed WAC and independent statuses.|-| Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference || Division I || 2013 || 2023 || Women's gymnastics conference; disbanded after the Mountain West Conference began sponsoring women's gymnastics.|-| Mountain West Athletic Conference || Division I || 1982 || 1988 || Women's-only conference (not to be confused with the modern Mountain West Conference) absorbed by the Big Sky Conference.|-| National Lacrosse Conference || Division I || 2008 || 2012 || Disbanded after the Atlantic Sun Conference and Big South Conference began sponsoring women's lacrosse.|-| New England Collegiate Conference || Division III || 2007 || 2023 || Disbanded as an all-sports conference after steady losses of membership, both by schools closing and moves to other conferences. Remains in operation for men's volleyball and the non-NCAA esports.|-| New England Conference || * || 1938 || 1947 || Disbanded; the final four members joined two other schools to form the Yankee Conference under a new charter. Effectively the earliest ancestor of CAA Football, a conference operated by the Coastal Athletic Association but a separate legal entity, although CAA Football does not claim the NEC's history.|-| New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance || Division III || 1998 || 2012 || Disbanded|-| New South Women's Athletic Conference || Division I || 1985 || 1991 || Women's-only conference initially known as the New South Conference; absorbed by the Trans America Athletic Conference, now known as the Atlantic Sun Conference.|-| North Central Conference || Division II || 1922 || 2008 || Disbanded|-| North East Collegiate Volleyball Association || Division III || 1995 || 2011 || Men's volleyball conference disbanded in 2011 due to the 2012 establishment of the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship. Most of the all-sports conferences that were home to NECVA members began sponsoring men's volleyball at that time.|-| Northeast Women's Hockey League || Division III || 2017 || 2023 || Women's ice hockey only conference. It was absorbed by SUNYAC.|-| North Star Conference || Division I || 1983 || 1992 || Women's-only conference effectively absorbed by the Mid-Continent Conference (now The Summit League).|-| Northern California Athletic Conference || Division II || 1925 || 1996 || Football-only conference, dissolved when most members decided to drop football.|-| Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference || Division III || 1969 || 2007 || Merged with the Lake Michigan Conference to form the Northern Athletics Conference, now known as the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.|-| Northern Pacific Conference || Division I || 1982 || 1986 || Women's-only conference. Disbanded when the Pac-10, home to five of the seven final conference members, began sponsoring women's sports.|-| Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference || Division I || 1982 || 2015 || Field hockey-only conference that folded after the 2014 season. After a period in which the conference expanded to span both coasts, most of the eastern teams left over time. Four of the six final members, all from California (and also the league's founding members), became America East affiliates. The remaining two members became independents; one is now a field hockey member of the Big East and the other is now a MAC field hockey member.|-| Northern Sun Conference || Division II || 1979 || 1992 || Women's-only conference that merged with the men's Northern Intercollegiate Conference, forming the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.|-| Ohio River Lacrosse Conference || Division III || 2014 || 2018 || Men's and women's lacrosse-only conference. Disbanded after the 2017–18 season. |-| Pacific Coast Conference || University Division || 1915 || 1959 || Forerunner to the Pac-12, disbanded due to scandal and infighting. The Pac-12 considers its history to have started with the formation of the PCC.|-| Pacific Coast Softball Conference || Division I || 2002 || 2013 || Softball-only; disbanded due to fallout from the early-2010s conference realignment. After the 2012 season, it lost five members when the Big Sky added the sport and a sixth to the WAC. After the 2013 season, the final seven members left when the West Coast Conference began sponsoring the sport (five were already WCC members, and the other two joined the WAC in softball).|-| Pilgrim Lacrosse League || Division III || 1986 || 2014 || Absorbed by the NEWMAC.|-| Southeast Team Handball Conference || Division I (de facto) || 1997 || 2006 || Women-only team handball conference. Disbanded when the sport was dropped from the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.|-| Southland Bowling League || Division I || 2015 || 2023 || Bowling-only league founded by, but independent of, the Southland Conference.[20] Merged into Conference USA; one of the final members was already a full CUSA member, another became a full CUSA member in 2023, and the others became CUSA associates.[21] |-| Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association || * || 1894 || 1941 || Disbanded with the onset of American involvement in World War II.|-| Southwest Conference || Division I || 1914 || 1996 || Disbanded. 4 members left to join the Big Eight Conference in forming the Big 12. 3 members left to join the WAC. 1 member left to join CUSA.|-| United Soccer Conference || Division I || 2005 || 2009 || Women's soccer-only, absorbed by the Great West Conference.|-| West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference || Division II || 1924 || 2013 || Disbanded after the conference's football schools announced a split from the non-football schools. Ultimately, nine of the final schools became charter members of the Mountain East Conference, three joined the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, two joined the PSAC, and one went independent.|-| Western Collegiate Athletic Association || Division I || 1981 || 1986 || Women's-only conference; known in its final season of 1985–86 as the Pacific West Conference (not to be confused with the current NCAA Division II conference). Disbanded when the Pac-10, home to the final five conference members, began sponsoring women's sports.|-| Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association || Division II || 2010 || 2015 || Lacrosse-only conference absorbed by the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference; all final teams are members of the RMAC, including one affiliate. The RMAC had absorbed the women's side of the WILA in 2013; five of the members were RMAC members including one affiliate, one additional women's member became an independent.|-| Western Wrestling Conference || Division I || 2006 || 2015 || Wrestling-only conference effectively absorbed by the Big 12 Conference, with all but one of its final members immediately becoming single-sport Big 12 associates and the remaining member joining Big 12 wrestling in 2017.|-| Yankee Conference || Division I || 1947 || 1997 || Football-only conference from 1975 until its absorption by the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1997. Also an effective ancestor of CAA Football, and officially recognized by CAA Football as its earliest predecessor.|}
In addition to the above, two single-sport conferences that currently participate in NCAA National Collegiate sports (those whose championship events are open to members of more than one NCAA division) and previously operated both men's and women's divisions now operate as women-only leagues.
See also
References |