The National Collegiate Athletic Association is the governing body of American amateur collegiate athletics, with its head offices in Springfield, IL. Division I is a title referring to a status as a large, major university competing at the highest level of amateur athletics. There is also a Division II, III, and IV.
Division I is divided into numerous conferences, which often realign or expand, although no conference realignment has occurred since 1991 when the Atlantic Conference added Havana and Delaware.
Current Division I Conferences
Pacific Coast Conference (PCC)
The PCC is one of the older conferences in the country, although it has experienced numerous additions and subtractions over the years. It has held its current 12-team form since 1988, when USC returned to the conference after 53 years as an independent. The PCC name was created in 1988 with the formation of the championship game.
The PCC is one of several conferences that has two six-team divisions that play a conference championship game. The divisions are as follows:
Northwest Division
- Pacifica Orcas (Sahalee, PC)
- Pacifica State Ravens (Firchdale, PC)
- Washington Huskies (Puyallup, WA)
- Washington State Cougars (Coeur d'Alene, WA)
- Oregon Ducks (Eugene, OR)
- Oregon State Beavers (Salem, OR)
Pacific Division
- California-Berkeley (Cal) Golden Bears (Berkeley, CA)
- Stanford Indians (Palo Alto, CA)
- Southern California Trojans (Los Angeles, CA)
- California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins (Los Angeles, CA)
- California-San Diego (San Diego/UCSD/SD) Tritons (San Diego, CA)
- Peninsula Raptors (Santa Helena, PN)
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference followed the lead of the PCC in 1990 by adding Texas and Texas A&M to the fold as the Lone Star Conference began dissolving. These two schools brought the Southern Conference up to twelve teams from the 10-team format it had held for decades, resulting in the need to establish divisions and rotate a title game every other year between Dallas and Atlanta starting in 1990
East Division
- Mississippi Falcons (Oxford, MS)
- Mississippi State Bulldogs (Starkville, MS)
- Tennessee Volunteers (Knoxville, TN)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (Tuscaloosa, AB)
- Kentucky Wildcats (Lexington, KY)
- Georgia Bulldogs (Athens, GA)
West Division
- Texas Longhorns (Sutton, TX)
- Arkansas Razorbacks (Fayetteville, AR)
- Louisiana Pelicans (Lafayette, LA)
- Louisiana State Tigers (Baton Rouge, LA)
- Arkansas State Indians (Jonesboro, AR)
- Texas A&M Aggies (Avery, TX)
Atlantic Conference
The Atlantic Conference is another twelve-team conference along the Atlantic Coast and in the Caribbean. The conference expanded in 1991 by adding the University of Havana and West Virginia to the fold, enabling them to stage a championship game and form divisions. Prior to this expansion, the conference had not expanded since 1956.
North Division
- Virginia Cavaliers (Charlottesville, VA)
- West Virginia Mountaineers (Wheeling, VA)
- Virginia Tech Hokies (Blacksburg, VA)
- North Carolina Tar Heels (Chapel Hill, NC)
- Maryland Terrapins (College Park, MD)
- North Carolina State Wolves (Patton, NC)
South Division
- Florida State Seminoles (Tallahassee, FL)
- Cuba Spaniards (Santiago, CU)
- South Carolina Gamecocks (Columbia, SC)
- Clemson Tigers (Clemson, SC)
- Florida Gators (Gainesville, FL)
- Havana Caribs (Havana, CU)
Lakes Conference
The modern Lakes Conference was formed with the defection of Missouri from the Central Conference in 1990, allowing the formerly 11-team Great Lakes Conference to stage a championship game and play with divisions. The championship game rotates between Yorktown, HR and Chicago, IL. The division names were based upon the crowns and crests of waves on a lake, similar to the conference's logo.
Crown Division
- Huron Highlanders (Eubank, HR)
- Huron State Warriors (Hamilton, HR)
- Michigan Wolverines (Ann Arbor, MI)
- Michigan State Spartans (Lansing, MI)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (Columbus, OH)
- Wisconsin Badgers (Madison, WI)
Crest Division
- Iowa Hawkeyes (Iowa City, IA)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (South Bend, IN)
- Indiana Hoosiers (Bloomington, IN)
- Illinois Fighting Illini (Champaign, IL)
- Chicago Maroons (Chicago, IL)
- Minnesota Golden Gophers (Minneapolis, MN)
Central Conference
The Heartlands Conference changed its name after the addition of New Mexico and New Mexico State in 1973 and expanded to eleven members with the addition of Texas Tech in 1990, after the dissolution of the Lone Star Conference. Starting in 2011, the league includes Kansas State, giving the league two 12-team divisions with a championship game played in St. Louis. In 2015, the site of the championship was moved to Aurora, CO.
South Division
- Sequoyah Braves (Norman, SE)
- Nebraska Cornhuskers (Lancaster, NE)
- Kansas Jayhawks (Brownsville, KS)
- Kansas State Wildcats (Manhattan, KS)
- Missouri Tigers (Columbia, MO)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (Lubbock, TX)
North Division
- Kahokia Thundering Herd (West Winnipeg, KH)
- Dakota Fighting Sioux (Fargo, DK)
- Montana Grizzlies (Missoula, MT)
- Colorado Buffaloes (Boulder, CO)
- New Mexico Coyotes (Albuquerque, NM)
- New Mexico State Sun Devils (Tempe, NM)
Northeastern Conference (NEC)
This formerly 11-team conference lost West Virginia to the Atlantic Conference in the early 1990's realignment, and today plays a full-round robin in all sports and does not stage a conference championship game. It is considered one of the most competitive conferences in the country in football, basketball and hockey - for this reason, it is sometimes called the Cannibal Conference.
- Massachusetts Minutemen (Amherst, MA)
- Boston College Eagles (Boston, MA)
- Nova Scotia Sea Lions (Fort Edward, NS)
- Western New York Chargers (Rochester, NY)
- Penn State Nittany Lions (University Park, PA)
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Piscataway, NJ)
- Pittsburgh Panthers (Pittsburgh, PA)
- Syracuse Orange (Syracuse, NY)
- Connecticut Huskies (Stamford, CN)
- Eastern New York Flying Dutchmen (Albany, NY)
Mountain Conference
Sometimes referred to as a "second-tier" conference, the Mountain Conference still has several strong teams in several sports. It is currently an 11-team league, after adding the Boise State Broncos to the fold in 1994 and adding Montana State in 2011 to offset the loss of Kansas State to the Central Conference. They also absorbed TCU and West Texas in 1990 when the Lone Star Conference collapsed. In 2012, they will add the Las Cruces Aggies as their 12th team and go to divisional play.
West Division
- Brigham Young Cougars (Provo, DS)
- Las Cruces Aggies (Las Cruces, NM)
- Tucson Wildcats (Tucson, NM)
- Deseret Honeybees (Smithtown, DS)
- Deseret State Navajos (Carroll, DS)
- Nevada Mustangs (Reno, NV)
East Division
- Texas Christian Horned Frogs (Arlington, TX)
- Colorado State Rams (Ft. Collins, CO)
- Boise State Broncos (Boise, OR)
- West Texas Wranglers (El Paso, TX)
- Montana State Bobcats (Medicine Hat, MT)
- Sequoyah State Cowboys (Stuartsburg, SE)
Caribbean League
The Caribbean League is a conference comprised of schools in Cuba, Florida and Puerto Rico - currently, it is a twelve-team league with an East and West division. In 1991, the University of Havana, long the flagship institution of the conference, left for the Atlantic Conference, leading the League to add Southern Florida University to the fold.
West Division
- Miami Hurricanes (Coral Gables, FL)
- West Florida Knights (Tampa, FL)
- Western Cuba Sugarcanes (Salinas, CU)
- Central Florida Swamp Foxes (Orlando, FL)
- South Florida Glades (Belle Glades, FL)
- Matanzas State Voyagers (Matanzas, CU)
East Division
- Port Liberty State (PLSU) Smugglers (Port Liberty, CU)
- Central Cuba Mavericks (Gethsemane, CU)
- Eastern Cuba Pirates (Kilkenny, CU)
- San Juan Tigercats (San Juan, PR)
- Puerto Rico Rumrunners (Rio Piedras, PR)
- Puerto Rico State Sea Warriors (El Viejo, PR)
Big-12 Conference
The former Big-8 expanded in 1990 by adding multiple schools as the Lone Star Conference dissolved.
Red Division
- Auburn Tigers (Auburn, AL)
- Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (Murfreesboro, TN)
- Tulsa Stampede (Tulsa, SE)
- Baylor Bears (Waco, TX)
- Houston Cougars (Houston, TX)
- Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (Batchford, MS)
Blue Division
- Southern Methodist Mustangs (Dallas, TX)
- Central Texas Rebels (San Antonio, TX)
- Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (Ruston, LA)
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Atlanta, GA)
- Louisville Cardinals (Louisville, KY)
- Memphis Tigers (Memphis, TN)
Ivy League
- Harvard Crimson
- Yale Bulldogs
- Cornell Big Red
- Dartmouth Big Green
- Columbia Lions
- Brown Bears
- Pennsylvania Quakers
- Princeton Tigers
Midwestern Conference (MWC)
East Division
- Akron Zips
- Eastern Michigan Eagles
- Central Michigan Chippewas
- Western Michigan Broncos
- Ohio Bobcats
- Miami (OH) Redhawks (Oxford, OH)
West Division
- Kent State Golden Flashes (Kent, OH)
- Cincinnati Bearcats (Cincinnati, OH)
- Northern Illinois Huskies
- Illinois State Cardinals
- Purdue Boilermakers (West Lafayette, IN)
- Iowa State Cyclones (Ames, IA)
East Coast Conference
- Yorktown Royals (Yorktown, HR)
- Western Huron Senators (Hale, HR)
- Mississauga State Chieftains (Mississauga, HR)
- Buffalo Bulls (Buffalo, NY)
- Temple Owls (Philadelphia, PA)
- George Mason Patriots (Fairfax, VA)
- Virginia Commonwealth Rams (Richmond, VA)
- Delaware Blue Hens (Newark, DE)
- Navy Midshipmen (Annapolis, MD)
- Army Black Knights (West Point, NY)
Great Western Conference (WAC)
The Western Athletic Conference is based entirely in the states of California and Peninsula, encompassing universities within those states.
- Fresno State Bulldogs (Fresno, CA)
- Sacramento State Hornets (Sacramento, CA)
- San Jose State Spartans (San Jose, CA)
- San Joaquin State Sharks (San Joaquin, PN)
- San Francisco State Gators (San Francisco, CA)
- San Diego State Black Bears (San Diego, CA)
- UC-Davis Aggies (Davis, CA)
- UC-Irvine Anteaters (Irvine, CA)
Lone Star Conference (defunct)
The Lone Star Conference was a ten-team league based entirely out of Texas that collapsed in 1990 with the defection of lynchpin University of Texas to the Southern Conference. The schools dispersed amongst a number of different conferences accordingly.
- Texas Longhorns (to SouthCo)
- Texas A&M Aggies (to SouthCo)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (to Central)
- Texas Christian Horned Frogs (to Mountain)
- West Texas Wranglers (to Mountain)
- Baylor Bears (to Big-12)
- Houston Cougars (to Big-12)
- Central Texas Rebels (to Big-12)
- Southern Methodist Mustangs (to Big-12)
- North Texas Mean Green (to Division-II)