NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic powers, with large budgets, more elaborate and nicer facilities and a few more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their student-athletes.
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment offered in Division III.
The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) is a national organization of non-NCAA men's college lacrosse programs. The MCLA oversees game play and conducts national championships for over 200 teams in ten conferences throughout the United States and Canada. The MCLA provides a governing structure much like the NCAA, with eligibility rules, All-Americans and a national tournament to decide national champions in both Divisions I and II.
The Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears are the athletic teams representing Missouri State University. Missouri State's athletics programs date back to 1908. Missouri State competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The majority of sports play in the Division I Missouri Valley Conference. Missouri State football competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, while men's swimming & diving competes in the Mid-American Conference, and the women's beach volleyball team, nicknamed Beach Bears instead of "Bears" or "Lady Bears", competes in Conference USA, having moved from the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association after the spring 2023 season. Missouri State athletics are frequently abbreviated as "MOST" when televised.
College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse in Canada is sponsored by the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) and Maritime University Field Lacrosse League (MUFLL), while in the United States, varsity men's and women's lacrosse is governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). There are also university lacrosse programs in the United Kingdom sponsored by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) and programs in Japan.
The Saint Louis Billikens are the collegiate athletic teams that represent Saint Louis University, located in St. Louis, Missouri. The Billikens compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The school has nationally recognized soccer programs for men and women. The school has heavily invested in its on-campus athletic facilities since the 1990s with the creation of Hermann Stadium and Chaifetz Arena. Chris May is the current director of athletics of the St. Louis Billikens.
The Grand Valley State Lakers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Grand Valley State University, located in Allendale, Michigan, United States. The GVSU Lakers compete at the NCAA Division II level and are members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
The Western Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL) is a conference that participates in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The WCLL operates in California, Nevada, and Oregon and is split into two divisions, Division I and Division II. The conference is governed by an executive board and the teams that win the conference's divisional playoffs receive automatic bids to the MCLA National Tournament.
The Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference (GRLC) was a conference in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The GRLC incorporated teams in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Ohio and was divided into two divisions, Division I and Division II.
The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference (RMLC) is one of ten conferences in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association. Currently the RMLC consists of 15 teams encompassing four Rocky Mountain states; Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming. It is divided into two divisions, Division I and Division II. Division II is separated further by region; Northwest and Southeast
The Grand Canyon Antelopes are the 21 athletic teams representing Grand Canyon University, located in Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the university's athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division I level in the Western Athletic Conference. Men's volleyball competes in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) effective beginning in the 2017–18 academic year. The beach volleyball program competes in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) through the 2024 season, after which it will become an inaugural member of the MPSF beach volleyball league.
The Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA) was a lacrosse-only athletic conference affiliated with the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The CCLA incorporates teams in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. On August 8, 2018, the conference commissioners of the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association and the Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League announced they would merge the conferences to form the Continental Lacrosse Conference.
The SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC) is a lacrosse-only athletic conference affiliated with the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The SELC incorporates teams in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and is divided into two divisions, Division I and Division II. With 17 members, it is one of the largest of the MCLA's nine conferences. In 2021 several teams in the mid Atlantic region split off to create the Atlantic Lacrosse Conference.
The Davenport Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Davenport University, located in Caledonia Township, Michigan, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for most of its sports as a provisional member since the 2017–18 academic year. The Panthers previously competed in the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2005–06 to 2016–17.
The Southwestern Lacrosse Conference (SLC) is a lacrosse-only athletic conference affiliated with the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The conference incorporates teams from California and Arizona and is divided into three divisions, Division I, Division II, and Division III.
The Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (WILA) was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II lacrosse-only college athletic conference composed of schools located in the Western United States. All schools are members of other conferences in other sports. WILA was formed at the beginning of the 2010–2011 academic year in order to name a champion, players of the week, and an all-league team at the end of the season. With no automatic qualifiers (AQ) currently in NCAA Division II men's lacrosse, conferences play a different role than in Division III.
The Michigan Wolverines men's lacrosse team is the intercollegiate men's lacrosse program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Prior to joining the NCAA, Michigan competed as a club-varsity program at the Division I level of the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) in the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA), where the Wolverines secured three MCLA national championships and won 11 consecutive conference titles. The team is coached by Kevin Conry.
