List of NCAA Division I institutions
In the 2016–17 school year, there are 351 American colleges and universities classified as Division I for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition. 49 of the 50 states (all except Alaska) are represented. Schools that are in transition to or from Division I are listed below the main listing. This list does not include affiliate members that play Division II or III in most sports.
Division I Institutions
Full Member Institutions
In transition
These schools are in transition to Division I. They are considered by the NCAA to be Division I schools, but they are full members only for scheduling purposes.
| School | Team | City | State | Type | Primary Conference | Making Transition | Full Membership |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abilene Christian University | Wildcats | Abilene | Texas | Private/ Churches of Christ | Southland Conference[A 41] | From DII to DI | July, 2017[5] |
| Grand Canyon University | Antelopes | Phoenix | Arizona | For Profit/Christian | Western Athletic Conference[A 42] | From DII to DI | July, 2017[6] |
| University of the Incarnate Word | Cardinals | San Antonio | Texas | Private/Catholic | Southland Conference[A 41] | From DII to DI | July, 2017[7] |
| University of Massachusetts Lowell | River Hawks | Lowell | Massachusetts | State | America East Conference[A 43] | From DII to DI | July, 2017[8] |
Notes
- ^ The formal nickname for women's teams is "Razorbacks", and the university consistently refers to the women's teams as the Razorbacks or Razorback women. The terms "Lady Razorbacks" and "Lady'Backs" have been abandoned by the university.
- ^ Although the school now prefers to use "Little Rock" for its athletic programs, and the NCAA has also adopted this usage, national media have yet to fully recognize this change.
- ^ The Long Beach State baseball team is unofficially called "Dirtbags", and the school recognizes the nickname.
- ^ The school is increasingly branding its athletic program as simply "Charleston". The NCAA and national sports media are inconsistent, using "Charleston" for basketball but "College of Charleston" for other sports.
- ^ Charleston Southern's women's golf team is known as the Lady Bucs
- ^ With the school currently mired in financial difficulties beyond those of the State of Illinois and with the needs of the athletic program to maintain its viability within the Western Athletic Conference and the NCAA's Division I, in April 2016, the Chicago State University Budget Committee recommended that the Athletic Department "... study the benefits of being Division 1 or another division."[2]
- ^ The women's basketball team is now the only EKU team using "Lady Colonels". All other women's teams use "Colonels".
- ^ The women's gymnastics team is known as "Gym Dogs".
- ^ Most of the university is in Cambridge, but some academic buildings and athletic facilities, including the football stadium, lie in Boston.
- ^ In July 2013, all Hawaiʻi men's teams adopted the nickname of "Rainbow Warriors". This reversed a 2000 policy that resulted in different men's teams using "Rainbow Warriors", "Warriors", and "Rainbows". All women's teams continue to use "Rainbow Wahine".
- ^ Although UIC is the school's preferred athletic name, national sports media generally use "Illinois-Chicago" in score listings and on first reference.
- ^ The use of "Tigers" or "Lady Tigers" depends on whether a given sport is sponsored for both men and women at the varsity level. In sports that are sponsored for both sexes, women's teams are known as "Lady Tigers". Sports that are sponsored only for one sex use "Tigers".
- ^ National sports media generally use "Loyola-Chicago", "Loyola (Chicago)", or "Loyola (Illinois)" to distinguish this school from others with the Loyola name.
- ^ While national media generally use "Massachusetts", the shortened "UMass" is in wide usage, especially in Massachusetts itself.
- ^ National media sometimes use "Miami (Florida)" or "Miami (FL)" to distinguish it from Miami University in Ohio.
- ^ National media usually use "Miami (Ohio)" or "Miami (OH)" to distinguish it from the University of Miami in Florida.
- ^ National media generally use "Mississippi" in score listings and on first reference, but will frequently use "Ole Miss" on later reference. The school athletic department prefers "Ole Miss".
- ^ The women's basketball team is known as the "Lady Griz", but all other women's teams use the "Grizzlies" nickname.
- ^ The baseball team is nicknamed "Thoroughbreds" instead of "Racers".
- ^ The school has rebranded its athletic program as "Omaha". its all-sports league, The Summit League, has followed this usage since UNO became a member in 2012. UNO's ice hockey league, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, used "Nebraska-Omaha" in the league's inaugural season in 2013–14, but now uses "Omaha". The NCAA also officially uses "Omaha". National media, however, still tend to use "Nebraska-Omaha".
- ^ The men's basketball team is nicknamed "Runnin' Rebels"; the women's basketball team is "Lady Rebels"; all other teams, whether men's or women's, are simply "Rebels".
- ^ From November 9, 2011 through November 18, 2015, North Dakota had no athletic nickname. In 2011, the state's governor Jack Dalrymple signed a bill into law that allowed the school to drop its former nickname of Fighting Sioux, ending a long-standing controversy over its use. Under the law, UND was not allowed adopt a new nickname until after January 2015.[3] On November 18, 2015, the school announced Fighting Hawks was the new nickname chosen by the students/alumni.[4]
- ^ The Penn State women's basketball team is nicknamed "Lady Lions", but all other women's teams use "Nittany Lions".
- ^ The school also widely uses its historic short form of "Pitt".
- ^ In 2013, the school changed its athletic brand to "St. Francis Brooklyn" in an attempt to distinguish itself from other schools of that name, notably the fellow Northeast Conference member in Pennsylvania. National media usually use "St. Francis (New York)" instead.
- ^ National media usually use "St. Francis (Pennsylvania)" to distinguish it from other schools of that name, notably the fellow Northeast Conference school of the same name in Brooklyn.
- ^ Other schools in the U.S. have this name, but national media do not add a location identifier to it, since it is the only "St. John's" whose athletic teams compete in NCAA Division I.
- ^ Although there are other schools with this name in the U.S., none of the others are members of NCAA Division I. Therefore, national media refer to it as "Saint Joseph's" (preferred usage) or "St. Joseph's", without a regional identifier, or just St. Joe's/Saint Joe's.
- ^ Although the school prefers to use "USC Upstate", national media often use "South Carolina Upstate".
- ^ The school accepts either "Southern California" or "USC" for athletics purposes; national news media generally use "USC".
- ^ Historically, USC women's teams were known as the "Women of Troy". The school now accepts either "Trojans" or "Women of Troy" for use with women's teams.
- ^ Although the school prefers to use "SIUE", national media often use "SIU Edwardsvile".
- ^ Since the 2015–16 school year, the former women's nickname of "Lady Volunteers" is now used only for the basketball team. The short nickname of "Vols" (or, for women's basketball, "Lady Vols") is considered acceptable by the university, and the shortened form is widely popular in Tennessee and in much wider usage among national media than the longer form.
- ^ Texas–Pan American merged with the University of Texas at Brownsville in July 2015 to create the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). Nearly a year before the merger took full effect, the University of Texas System announced that UTRGV would inherit the UTPA athletic program. The new nickname of Vaqueros was announced in November 2014. Although the choice came under fire from several quarters, in February 2015 the school unveiled the new Vaqueros graphics and plans for implementing the changes before the start of the 2015–16 school year.
- ^ The women's basketball team is known as "Lady Raiders". All other women's teams use "Red Raiders".
- ^ The academy now uses "Army West Point" for marketing purposes, though national media simply use "Army".
- ^ The men's basketball team is nicknamed "Runnin' Utes", and the women's gymnastics team is nicknamed "Red Rocks".
- ^ The school's formal name is Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, but it uses "Virginia Tech" in all but the most formal contexts.
- ^ The school prefers "Green Bay" for its athletic program, and accepts "GB". National sports media were slow to adopt this, generally using "Wisconsin-Green Bay", but the school's preferred usage has become generally accepted since 2011.
- ^ The school officially uses "Milwaukee" for its athletic program, and accepts "UWM". As with Green Bay, national media were slow to accept this, preferring "Wisconsin–Milwaukee", but "Milwaukee" is now seeing wide media use.
- ^ a b Joined the Southland Conference in July, 2013.
- ^ Joined the WAC in July, 2013.
- ^ Joined the America East Conference in July 2013.
See also
- List of non-Division I Schools competing in NCAA Division I sports
- List of NCAA Division II institutions
- List of NCAA Division III institutions
- List of NAIA institutions
- List of USCAA institutions
- List of NCCAA institutions
- List of NCAA Division I athletic directors
- List of NCAA Division I baseball programs
- List of NCAA Division I men's basketball programs
- List of NCAA Division I FBS football programs
- List of NCAA Division I FCS football programs
- List of NCAA Division I non-football programs
- List of NCAA Division I ice hockey programs
- List of NCAA Division I men's soccer programs
- List of NCAA Division I softball programs
- List of NCAA Division I lacrosse programs
- List of NCAA Division I wrestling programs
- List of NCAA fencing schools
- List of NCAA men's volleyball schools
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball alignment history
- NCAA Men's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision alignment history
- NCAA Men's Division I Football Championship Subdivision alignment history
References
- ^ a b "Division I Members". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
- ^ "University Budget Committee minutes" (PDF). Chicago State University. April 26, 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ^ "Governor signs Fighting Sioux name bill". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 9, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
- ^ "Fighting Hawks selected as new nickname for the University of North Dakota". North Dakota Fighting Hawks. November 18, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ http://www.acuoptimist.com/2012/08/cats-prepare-for-div-i-competition/
- ^ http://www.gcu.edu/News/News-2012/Grand-Canyon-University-Accepts-Invitation-to-Western-Athletic-Conference.php
- ^ http://www.uiw.edu/news/2012/08/uiw-to-join-southland-conference/
- ^ http://www.uml.edu/News/press-releases/2013/AmericaEast021413.aspx
| NCAA |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Division I |
| |
| Division II |
| |
| Division III |
| |
| Single-division or National Collegiate sports and championships |
| |
| Related topics | ||
