North Central Conference

North Central Conference (NCC)
Established	1922
Dissolved	2008
Association	NCAA
Division	Division II
Members	8
Sports fielded	18 (men's: 9; women's: 9)
Region	Midwest, Washington
Headquarters	Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Locations

The North Central Conference (NCC), also known as North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, was a college athletic conference which operated in the north central United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division II.

History

The NCC was formed in 1922. Charter members of the NCC were South Dakota State College (now South Dakota State University), College of St. Thomas (now University of St. Thomas), Des Moines University, Creighton University, North Dakota Agricultural College (now North Dakota State University), University of North Dakota, Morningside College, University of South Dakota, and Nebraska Wesleyan University.

The University of Northern Iowa was a member of the NCC from 1934 until 1978. UNI currently competes in Division I-AA in the Missouri Valley Conference and the Missouri Valley Football Conference. In 2002 Morningside College left the NCC to join the NAIA. The University of Northern Colorado left the conference in 2003, followed in 2004 by North Dakota State University and South Dakota State University. These three schools are all transitioned their athletics programs from Division II to Division I; they became founding members of the Division I FCS Great West Football Conference, which started play in the fall of 2004. Since that time, Northern Colorado moved on to the Big Sky Conference in all sports in 2006. In the fall of 2006, North Dakota State and South Dakota State were admitted to The Summit League, they have also moved on to rejoin old conference mate Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

It was announced on November 29, 2006 that the 2007-08 athletic season would be the final season for the NCC, and would cease operations on July 1, 2008.

• University of North Dakota announced in the summer of 2006 that they will reclassify their athletic programs to Division I, and left the North Central Conference after the 2007-08 academic year.
• University of South Dakota announced on November 29, 2006, that they will reclassify their athletic programs to Division I. Like North Dakota, they left the North Central Conference after the 2007-08 academic year.
• Augustana College, University of Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State University, Mankato and St. Cloud State University were admitted to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference beginning July 1, 2008.
• The University of Nebraska at Omaha joined the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association starting July 1, 2008.
• The Central Washington University and Western Washington University football teams joined with Dixie State College of Utah, Humboldt State University, and Western Oregon University to reform the Great Northwest Athletic Conference football division.

Member schools

Charter members

The North Central Conference began in 1921 with nine charter members:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Current Conference
Creighton University	Omaha, Nebraska	1878	Private/Catholic	6,716	1921	1928	Missouri Valley Conference
Des Moines University	Des Moines, Iowa	1864	Private/Baptist	n/a	1921	1926	n/a*
Morningside College	Sioux City, Iowa	1894	Private/Methodist	1,149	1921	2002	Great Plains Athletic Conference
Nebraska Wesleyan University	Lincoln, Nebraska	1887	Private/Methodist	1,601	1921	1927	Great Plains Athletic Conference
University of North Dakota	Grand Forks, North Dakota	1883	Public	13,817	1921	2008	Big Sky Conference
North Dakota State University	Fargo, North Dakota	1890	Public	13,229	1921	2004	The Summit League, Missouri Valley Football Conference
University of St. Thomas	St. Paul, Minnesota	1885	Private/Catholic	10,534	1921	1928	Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
University of South Dakota	Vermillion, South Dakota	1862	Public	8,641	1921	2008	The Summit League, Missouri Valley Football Conference
South Dakota State University	Brookings, South Dakota	1881	Public	12,816	1921	2004	The Summit League, Missouri Valley Football Conference

* Des Moines University closed in 1929.

Additional members

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Current Conference
Augustana College	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	1860	Private/Lutheran (ELCA)	1,650	1941	2008	Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
University of Minnesota Duluth	Duluth, Minnesota	1902, 1947	Public	10,497	2004	2008	Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
Minnesota State University, Mankato	Mankato, Minnesota	1868	Public	15,649	1968 1981	1976 2008	Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
University of Nebraska at Omaha	Omaha, Nebraska	1908	Public	14,093	1934 1976	1946 2008	Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association
University of Northern Colorado	Greeley, Colorado	1889	Public	12,392	1978	2003	Big Sky Conference
University of Northern Iowa	Cedar Falls, Iowa	1876	Public	14,070	1934	1978	Missouri Valley Conference
St. Cloud State University	St. Cloud, Minnesota	1869	Public	17,231	1981	2008	Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference

Membership time line

Sports

The NCC sponsored baseball, men's and women's basketball, football, cross-country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and wrestling.

Six of the seven members of the NCC sponsored Division I ice hockey. University of North Dakota, University of Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State University, Mankato, University of Nebraska at Omaha, and St. Cloud State University are members of the WCHA.

Associate members

Football - Western Washington University, Central Washington University

Women's Swimming and Diving - Colorado Mines, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Metro State (CO)

Men's Swimming and Diving - Colorado Mines, Metro State (CO)

Men's Tennis - Winona State

Conference football stadiums

School	Football Stadium	Stadium capacity
Augustana	Howard Wood Field	10,000
Central Washington	Tomlinson Stadium	4,000
Minnesota Duluth	Griggs Field at James S. Malosky Stadium	4,000
Minnesota State, Mankato	Blakeslee Stadium	7,500
Nebraska-Omaha	Al F. Caniglia Field	9,500
North Dakota	Alerus Center	13,500
North Dakota State	Fargodome	19,000
St. Cloud State	Husky Stadium	4,198
South Dakota	DakotaDome	10,000
Western Washington	Civic Stadium	5,000

External links

• Official site