North Central Conference

History

• The University of North Dakota and the University of South Dakota both announced in 2006 that they would reclassify its athletic programs to Division I, and both left the North Central Conference after the 2007–08 academic year. Both have since joined North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and Northern Iowa as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference in football, and the Summit League in other sports together with NDSU, SDSU and UNO.
• Augustana College, the 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 Athletics Association starting July 1, 2008. UNO has since moved to Division I and is now in The Summit League with many of its former conference members.
• Central Washington University and Western Washington University, both football-only affiliates of the NCC, joined up with football independents Western Oregon, Humboldt State, and Dixie State and restarted football in their full-time home of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Central Washington has since moved their program to the Lone Star Conference, while Western Washington ceased sponsoring football after the 2008 season.

  Chronological timeline

• In 1922, the North Central Conference was founded with nine charter members: College of St. Thomas, Creighton University, Des Moines University, Morningside College, Nebraska Wesleyan University, North Dakota Agricultural College, University of North Dakota, South Dakota State College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts, and the University of South Dakota. St. Thomas left after the 1922 season.
• In 1926, Des Moines University left the NCC, and the school eventually would close its doors in 1929. Nebraska Wesleyan also left, joining the Nebraska Conference. St. Thomas rejoined the conference after a brief stint as an independent.
• In 1928, Creighton University and the College of St. Thomas left the NCC. St. Thomas became a full member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference while Creighton left to join the Missouri Valley Conference. The NCC was left with five members.
• In 1934, Iowa State Teachers College joined the NCC from the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Also, Omaha University joined the NCC to bring membership back up to seven schools.
• In 1942, Augustana College left the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference to join the North Central Conference as its eighth member.
• In 1946, Omaha University left the NCC to join the Central Intercollegiate Conference. The NCC was left with seven members.
• In 1960, North Dakota Agricultural College was renamed North Dakota State University.
• In 1961, the Iowa State Teachers College was renamed the State College of Iowa.
• In 1964, South Dakota State College was renamed South Dakota State University.
• In 1967, State College of Iowa was renamed to the University of Northern Iowa.
• In 1968, Mankato State College joined the NCC from the Northern Intercollegiate Conference, bringing league membership up to eight teams.
• In 1975, Mankato State College was renamed Mankato State University.
• In 1976, the University of Nebraska at Omaha rejoined the NCC, while Mankato State University left the NCC due to not fielding a team in the 1976 season. Membership in the NCC remained at eight schools.
• In 1978, the University of Northern Colorado left the Great Plains Athletic Conference to join the North Central Conference. In the same year, the University of Northern Iowa left the NCC to move to the Association of Mid-Continent Universities. Membership remained at eight schools.
• In 1981, Mankato State University and St. Cloud State University joined the NCC from the Northern Intercollegiate Conference, giving the NCC its largest membership total in history at 10 schools and it would remain at this level for the next 21 years. Membership at this time included: Augustana, Mankato State, Morningside, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, South Dakota, South Dakota State, and St. Cloud State.
• In 1998, Mankato State University was officially renamed to Minnesota State University, Mankato.
• In 2002, Morningside College, one of the North Central Conference's charter members, left the league and moved out of NCAA Division II to the NAIA level. The NCC was left with nine members.
• In 2003, the University of Northern Colorado moved up to NCAA Division I, leaving the NCC with eight members.
• In 2004, charter members North Dakota State and South Dakota State also announced plans to move to Division I and leave the NCC. SDSU, NDSU and Northern Colorado founded the FCS Great West Football Conference. The University of Minnesota-Duluth left the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference to join the NCC as its seventh member.
• In 2006, Central Washington University and Western Washington University of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference joined the North Central Conference as affiliate members in the sport of football only to give the conference nine football schools.
• In 2008, the two remaining charter members of the NCC, the University of South Dakota and the University of North Dakota, announced plans to leave the conference and move up to Division I. This move led to the rest of the league members making a move. Central Washington and Western Washington joined up with other schools in the Pacific Northwest to form a football league in the GNAC. Augustana, Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State and St. Cloud State remained in NCAA Division II by joining the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Finally, Nebraska-Omaha also remained in Division II by joining the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association before moving to Division I a year later. These moves resulted in the dissolution of the North Central Conference after having existed for 86 years.

  Member schools

Final members

Final affiliate members

Former members