Северо-Центральная Атлетическая Конференция: История и Распад

NCAA Division II athletic conference

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.

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. 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 all other sports. 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 (now known as Utah Tech) 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.

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.

SchoolFootball StadiumStadium capacityAugustanaHoward Wood Field10,000Central WashingtonTomlinson Stadium4,000Minnesota DuluthGriggs Field at James S. Malosky Stadium4,000Minnesota StateBlakeslee Stadium7,500Nebraska OmahaAl F. Caniglia Field9,500North DakotaAlerus Center13,500North Dakota StateFargodome19,000St. Cloud StateHusky Stadium4,198South DakotaDakotaDome10,000South Dakota StateCoughlin Alumni Stadium16,000Western WashingtonCivic Stadium5,000