The following American colleges and universities are classified as Division I for NCAA competition.
Notes:
1 The formal nickname for women's teams is "Lady Razorbacks". However, the school uses "Lady'Backs" as its official short form, and the short form, more often rendered outside the university as "Ladybacks", is in much wider use than the formal name.
1 The Long Beach State baseball team is unofficially called "Dirtbags", and the school recognizes the nickname.
2 The school accepts either "Southern California" or "USC" for athletics purposes; national news media generally use "USC".
3 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.
| Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens | University of Delaware | Newark | Colonial Athletic Association |
| Delaware State Hornets and Lady Hornets | Delaware State University | Dover | Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference |
1 National media sometimes use "Miami (Florida)" or "Miami (FL)" to distinguish it from Miami University in Ohio.
1 The women's gymnastics team is known as "Gym Dogs".
| Hawaiʻi Rainbow Warriors1 and Rainbow Wahine | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa | Honolulu | Western Athletic Conference2 |
1 In 2000, all teams at the university were allowed to choose their own nicknames. Different men's teams are known as "Rainbow Warriors", "Warriors", and "Rainbows"; all women's teams use "Rainbow Wahine".
2In July 2012, Hawaiʻi will join the Big West Conference, with the football program joining the Mountain West Conference.
1 National sports media generally use "Loyola-Chicago", "Loyola (Chicago)", or "Loyola (Illinois)" to distinguish this school from others with the Loyola name.
2 Although this is the school's preferred athletic name, national sports media generally use "Illinois-Chicago" in score listings and on first reference.
1 The women's gymnastics team is nicknamed "GymKats".
2 The baseball team is nicknamed "Thoroughbreds" instead of "Racers". 3 Transitioning to Division 1 in 2012
| Maine Black Bears | University of Maine | Orono | America East Conference |
1 Most of the university is in Cambridge, but some academic buildings and athletic facilities, including the football stadium, lie in Boston.
2 While national media generally use "Massachusetts", the shortened "UMass" is in wide usage, especially in Massachusetts itself.
| Minnesota Golden Gophers | University of Minnesota Twin Cities | Minneapolis and St. Paul | Big Ten Conference |
1 Alcorn State uses no nickname for its women's teams at all, referring to them solely as "Alcorn".
2 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".
1 Missouri will join the Southeastern Conference in July 2012, although it is unclear whether it will be able to immediately compete in the SEC due to conference realignment complications .
| Montana Grizzlies1 | University of Montana | Missoula | Big Sky Conference |
| Montana State Bobcats | Montana State University | Bozeman | Big Sky Conference |
1 The women's basketball team is known as the "Lady Griz", but all other women's teams use the "Grizzlies" nickname.
1Joining The Summit League in 2012.
| Nevada Wolf Pack | University of Nevada, Reno | Reno | Western Athletic Conference, moving to Mountain West Conference in 2012 |
| UNLV Rebels | University of Nevada, Las Vegas | Paradise | Mountain West Conference |
| Dartmouth Big Green | Dartmouth College | Hanover | Ivy League |
| New Hampshire Wildcats | University of New Hampshire | Durham | America East Conference |
| New Mexico Lobos | University of New Mexico | Albuquerque | Mountain West Conference |
| New Mexico State Aggies | New Mexico State University | Las Cruces | Western Athletic Conference |
1 National media usually use "St. Francis (New York)" to distinguish it from other schools of that name, notably the school of the same name in Pennsylvania.
2 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.
3 Syracuse has announced it will leave the Big East for the ACC. The Big East is currently holding the school to the 27-month notice period required by league bylaws. Barring negotiations, the move would not take place until July 2014.
| North Dakota1 | University of North Dakota | Grand Forks | Great West Conference2 |
| North Dakota State Bison | North Dakota State University | Fargo | The Summit League |
1 As of November 9, 2011, North Dakota has no athletic nickname. On that day, 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 cannot adopt a new nickname until January 2015.[1]
2 Will become a member of the Big Sky Conference in 2012.
1 National media usually use "Miami (Ohio)" or "Miami (OH)" to distinguish it from the University of Miami in Florida.
1 Oral Roberts will join the Southland Conference in July 2012.
1 The Penn State women's basketball team is nicknamed "Lady Lions", but all other women's teams use "Nittany Lions".
2 The school also widely uses its historic short form of "Pitt".
3 Pitt has announced it will leave the Big East for the ACC. The Big East is currently holding the school to the 27-month notice period required by league bylaws. Barring negotiations, the move would not take place until July 2014.
4 National media usually use "St. Francis (Pennsylvania)" to distinguish it from other schools of that name, notably the Division I school of the same name in New York.
5 Although there are other schools with this name in the U.S., none of the others are members of 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.
1 Although the school prefers to use "USC Upstate", national media often use "South Carolina Upstate".
| South Dakota Coyotes | University of South Dakota | Vermillion | The Summit League |
| South Dakota State Jackrabbits | South Dakota State University | Brookings | The Summit League |
1Belmont will join the Ohio Valley Conference in July 2012.
2 The formal nickname for women's teams is "Lady Volunteers". However, the school considers the use of "Lady Vols" acceptable, and the shortened form is widely popular in Tennessee and in much wider usage among national media than the longer form.
1 Will become a member of the Southland Conference in 2013.
2 Will become a member of the Big 12 Conference in 2012.
3 Will become a member of the Southeastern Conference in 2012.
4 Will become a member of the Western Athletic Conference in 2012[2]
5 The women's basketball team is known as "Lady Raiders". All other women's teams use "Red Raiders".
1 Will become a member of the Big Sky Conference in 2012.
2 The men's basketball team is nicknamed "Runnin' Utes", and the women's gymnastics team is nicknamed "Red Rocks".
| Vermont Catamounts | University of Vermont | Burlington | America East Conference |
| Marshall Thundering Herd | Marshall University | Huntington | Conference USA |
| West Virginia Mountaineers | West Virginia University | Morgantown | Big East Conference1 |
1 West Virginia has announced it will leave the Big East for the Big 12. WVU has sued to overturn the Big East's 27-month notice requirement for departure; the Big East has sued in a different court to enforce that requirement. Unless WVU is successful in its suit, or a settlement is reached, the move would not take place until July 2014.
1The 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 as of 2011.
2The 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.
| Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls | University of Wyoming | Laramie | Mountain West Conference |
The following schools have begun the process to reclassify to Division I, but are not yet recognized as full Division I members.
| Team Name | Official Name | Location | Full Membership |
| Bryant Bulldogs | Bryant University | Smithfield, Rhode Island | 2012-13 |
| Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks | University of Nebraska-Omaha | Omaha, Nebraska | 2018-19 |
| North Dakota Fighting Sioux | University of North Dakota | Grand Forks, North Dakota | 2012-13 |
| Presbyterian Blue Hose | Presbyterian College | Clinton, South Carolina | 2014-15 |
| Seattle Redhawks | Seattle University | Seattle, Washington | 2012-13 |
| South Dakota Coyotes | University of South Dakota | Vermillion, South Dakota | 2012-13 |
| SIU-Edwardsville Cougars | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | Edwardsville, Illinois | 2012-13 |
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