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.
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.[1]
In 1922, the North Central Conference (also known as the North Central Intercollegiate 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.
In 1926, Des Moines University left the NCC, which the school eventually would later close its doors in 1929. Nebraska Wesleyan also left, joining the Nebraska Conference. The North Central Conference was left with seven members.
In 1928, Creighton University and the College of St. Thomas (now University 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 is 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 joins the NCC from the Northern Intercollegiate Conference, bringing league membership up to eight teams.
In 1975, Mankato State College is renamed Mankato State University.
In 1976, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (Omaha University was renamed to UNO in 1968) rejoined the NCC, while Mankato State University leaves the NCC due to not fielding a team in the 1976 season. Membership in the NCC remains at eight schools.
In 1978, the University of Northern Colorado left the Great Plains Athletic Conference and joined 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 North Central Conference 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 is officially renamed to Minnesota State University, Mankato.
In 2002, Morningside College, one of the North Central Conference's charter members, leaves the league and moves out of NCAA Division II to the NAIA level. The NCC is left with nine members.
In 2003, the University of Northern Colorado announces plans to move up to NCAA Division I and leaves the NCC with eight members.
In 2004, charter members North Dakota State and South Dakota State also announce plans to move to Division I and leave the North Central Conference. 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 North Central Conference, the University of South Dakota and the University of North Dakota, announce 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 (MIAA) 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
The NCC had seven full members in the conference's final season, one was a private school:
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
NCC Championships Per School
School
Conference
Tournament
Titles
Last Title
Titles
Last Title
South Dakota State
20
2002
2
2002
North Dakota
18
1995
3
1994
South Dakota
13
2007
2
2007
North Dakota State
10
1995
0
N/A
Northern Iowa
8
1969
0
N/A
Morningside
5
1983
0
N/A
Creighton
4
1927
0
N/A
St. Cloud State
4
2003
2
2003
Minnesota State
4
2008
1
2006
Nebraska-Omaha
4
2005
2
2008
Augustana
3
1989
0
N/A
Northern Colorado
1
1989
0
N/A
The NCC Tournament was held from 1991-1994, then it was brought back and used from 2001-2008.
NCC Regular Season Champions
Year
School
1922-23
Creighton
1923-24
Creighton
1924-25
Creighton
1925-26
Morningside
1926-27
Creighton
1927-28
North Dakota
1928-29
South Dakota State
1929-30
South Dakota
1930-31
South Dakota
1931-32
North Dakota State
1932-33
North Dakota State
1933-34
North Dakota
1934-35
North Dakota
1935-36
North Dakota
1936-37
North Dakota
1937-38
Morningside
1938-39
South Dakota
1939-40
South Dakota State North Dakota State
1940-41
North Dakota State
1941-42
North Dakota State
1942-43
South Dakota State
1943-44
None-War
1944-45
None-War
1945-46
None-War
Year
School
1946-47
Morningside
1947-48
Northern Iowa
1948-49
Northern Iowa
1949-50
Northern Iowa
1950-51
Northern Iowa Morningside
1951-52
North Dakota State
1952-53
Northern Iowa
1953-54
North Dakota North Dakota State
1954-55
North Dakota
1955-56
South Dakota State
1956-57
South Dakota State South Dakota
1957-58
South Dakota
1958-59
South Dakota State
1959-60
South Dakota State
1960-61
South Dakota State
1961-62
Northern Iowa Augustana
1962-63
South Dakota State
1963-64
Northern Iowa
1964-65
North Dakota
1965-66
North Dakota
1966-67
North Dakota
1967-68
South Dakota State
1968-69
Northern Iowa South Dakota State
1969-70
South Dakota State
Year
School
1970-71
North Dakota State
1971-72
South Dakota
1972-73
South Dakota State
1973-74
North Dakota
1974-75
North Dakota
1975-76
North Dakota Minnesota State
1976-77
North Dakota
1977-78
Augustana
1978-79
Nebraska-Omaha
1979-80
South Dakota State
1980-81
North Dakota State
1981-82
North Dakota
1982-83
Morningside
1983-84
Nebraska-Omaha
1984-85
South Dakota State
1985-86
St. Cloud State
1986-87
St. Cloud State
1987-88
St. Cloud State
1988-89
Northern Colorado Augustana
1989-90
North Dakota
1990-91
North Dakota
1991-92
South Dakota State
1992-93
South Dakota
193-94
South Dakota
Year
School
1994-95
North Dakota North Dakota State
1995-96
South Dakota State
1996-97
South Dakota State
1997-98
South Dakota State
1998-99
South Dakota
1999-2000
South Dakota
2000-01
South Dakota
2001-02
South Dakota State
2002-03
St. Cloud State
2003-04
Nebraska-Omaha
2004-05
Nebraska-Omaha
2005-06
Minnesota State
2006-07
South Dakota Minnesota State
2007-08
Minnesota State
NCC Tournament Champions
Year
School
1991
South Dakota State
1992
North Dakota
1993
North Dakota
1994
North Dakota
Tournament would stop in 1994 and be brought back in 2001