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 the University of St. Thomas), Des Moines University, Creighton University, North Dakota Agricultural College (now North Dakota State University), the University of North Dakota, Morningside College (now Morningside University), the 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 in the Missouri Valley Conference; in FCS football, it competes in 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 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 that the conference would cease operations on July 1, 2008.

Chronological timeline

Member schools

Final members

The NCC had seven full members in the conference's final season, one was a private school:

Final affiliate members

The NCC had two affiliate members for football only in the conference's final season, both of which are public schools.

Former members

The NCC had nine other full members during the conference's tenure, two were private schools:

Membership timeline

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, and five still do. In men's hockey, after a major conference realignment that took effect in 2013, Minnesota–Duluth, Nebraska–Omaha, North Dakota, and St. Cloud State field teams in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, while Minnesota State–Mankato is a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). Before the realignment, all of these schools had been members of the WCHA for men's hockey. All of these schools, except for Omaha, have women's teams in the WCHA (Omaha women's hockey is a club sport). The women's side of the WCHA was not affected by this realignment.

Conference championships

Men's basketball

The NCC Tournament was held from 1991–1994, then it was brought back and used from 2001-2008.

Women's basketball

Football

Volleyball

Softball

Baseball

Women's soccer

Associate members

Conference football stadiums