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
Headquarters Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Website http://northcentral.prestosports.com
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 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, 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 would cease operations on July 1, 2008.[1]

Member schools

Charter members

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

Institution Location Nickname Founded Type Enrollment Joined Left Current Conference
Creighton University Omaha, Nebraska Bluejays 1878 Private
(Catholic)
6,716 1921 1928 Big East
Des Moines University Des Moines, Iowa Tigers 1864 Private
(Baptist)
330[5] 1921 1926 Closed in 1929
Morningside College Sioux City, Iowa Mustangs 1894 Private
(Methodist)
1,149 1921 2002 GPAC (NAIA)
Nebraska Wesleyan University Lincoln, Nebraska Prairie Wolves 1887 Private
(Methodist)
1,601 1921 1926 GPAC (NAIA)
University of North Dakota Grand Forks, North Dakota Fighting Sioux 1883 Public 13,817 1921 2008 Big Sky
North Dakota State University Fargo, North Dakota Bison 1890 Public 13,229 1921 2004 Summit (all-sports)
MVFC (football)
University of St. Thomas St. Paul, Minnesota Tommies 1885 Private
(Catholic)
10,534 1921 1928 MIAC
University of South Dakota Vermillion, South Dakota Coyotes 1862 Public 8,641 1921 2008 Summit (all-sports)
MVFC (football)
South Dakota State University Brookings, South Dakota Jackrabbits 1881 Public 12,816 1921 2004 Summit (all-sports)
MVFC (football)

Additional members

Institution Location Nickname Founded Type Enrollment Joined Left Current Conference
Augustana College Sioux Falls, South Dakota Vikings 1860 Private
(Lutheran)
1,650 1941 2008 NSIC
University of Minnesota Duluth Duluth, Minnesota Bulldogs 1902, 1947 Public 10,497 2004 2008 NSIC
Minnesota State University, Mankato Mankato, Minnesota Mavericks 1868 Public 15,649 1968,
1981
1976,
2008
NSIC
University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, Nebraska Mavericks 1908 Public 14,093 1934
1976
1946
2008
Summit
University of Northern Colorado Greeley, Colorado Bears 1889 Public 12,392 1978 2003 Big Sky
University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, Iowa Panthers 1876 Public 14,070 1934 1978 Missouri Valley
St. Cloud State University St. Cloud, Minnesota Huskies 1869 Public 17,231 1981 2008 NSIC

Membership timeline

Western Washington University Central Washington University University of Minnesota Duluth St. Cloud State University of Northern Colorado Minnesota State University, Mankato Augustana University University of Nebraska Omaha University of Nebraska Omaha University of Northern Iowa South Dakota State University University of South Dakota University of St. Thomas North Dakota State University University of North Dakota Nebraska Wesleyan University Morningside College Des Moines College Creighton University

Membership evolution

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.

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 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
South Dakota State Coughlin-Alumni Stadium 16,000
Western Washington Civic Stadium 5,000

References

  1. "Thomas: NCC will fold in summer 2008". Forum Communications Co. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
  2. "USD to Move Athletic Programs to Division I". University of South Dakota. 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  3. "Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Expands to 14 Teams" (PDF). Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
  4. "MIAA CEO Council ratifies decision to add Nebraska-Omaha". Mid–America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
  5. http://www.lostcolleges.com/#!des-moines-college/c119j
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.