Women's winners
- Key
- A=Altitude assisted
This is a list of NCAA Division I outdoor champions in the 400 meters or its imperial equivalent 440 yard dash. For men, the imperial distance was contested until 1975 excepting Olympic years starting in 1932. Metrication occurred in 1976, so all subsequent championships were at the metric distance. Hand timing was used until 1973, while starting in 1974 fully automatic timing was used. The women's race began in 1982.
| Year | Name, (Country) | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | Frank Shea | Pittsburgh | 49.0y |
| 1922 | Commodore Cochrane | Mississippi St | 49.7y |
| 1923 | Commodore Cochrane | Mississippi St | 49.2y |
| 1924 | Not held | ||
| 1925 | Hermon Phillips | Butler | 49.4y |
| 1926 | Hermon Phillips | Butler | 48.7y |
| 1927 | Hermon Phillips | Butler | 48.5y |
| 1928 | Emerson "Bud" Spencer | Stanford | 47.7y |
| 1929 | Russell Walter | Northwestern | 47.9y |
| 1930 | Reginald Bowen | Pittsburgh | 48.0y |
| 1931 | Victor Williams | Southern Cal | 48.3y |
| 1932 | Alex Wilson  Canada | Notre Dame | 48.0 |
| 1933 | Glenn Hardin | Louisiana St | 47.1y |
| 1934 | Glenn Hardin | Louisiana St | 47.0y |
| 1935 | James LuValle | UCLA | 47.7y |
| 1936 | Archie Williams | California | 47.0 |
| 1937 | Loren Benke | Wash St | 47.1y |
| 1938 | Ray Malott | Stanford | 46.8y |
| 1939 | Erwin Miller | Southern Cal | 47.5y |
| 1940 | Lee Orr Canada | Wash St | 47.3y |
| 1941 | Hubert Kerns | Southern Cal | 46.6y |
| 1942 | Cliff Bourland | Southern Cal | 48.2y |
| 1943 | Cliff Bourland | Southern Cal | 48.5y |
| 1944 | Elmore Harris | Morgan St | 47.9y |
| 1945 | William Kash | Navy | 49.8y |
| 1946 | Herb McKenley  Jamaica | Illinois | 47.5y |
| 1947 | Herb McKenley Jamaica | Illinois | 46.2yA |
| 1948 | Norman Rucks | South Carolina | 47.2 |
| 1949 | Charles Moore | Cornell | 47.0y |
| 1950 | George Rhoden Jamaica | Morgan St | 47.2y |
| 1951 | George Rhoden Jamaica | Morgan St | 46.5y |
| 1952 | George Rhoden Jamaica | Morgan St | 46.3 |
| 1953 | Jim Lea | Southern Cal | 47.0y |
| 1954 | Jim Lea | Southern Cal | 46.7y |
| 1955 | Jesse Mashburn | Oklahoma St | 46.6y |
| 1956 | Jesse Mashburn | Oklahoma St | 46.4 |
| 1957 | Bob McMurray | Morgan St | 46.8y |
| 1958 | Glenn Davis | Ohio St | 45.7y |
| 1959 | Eddie Southern | Texas | 46.4y |
| 1960 | Ted Woods | Colorado | 45.7 |
| 1961 | Adolph Plummer | New Mexico | 46.2y |
| 1962 | Humberto Brown  Panama | Morgan St | 46.9y |
| 1963 | Ulis Williams | Arizona St | 45.8Ay |
| 1964 | Bob Tobler | Brigham Y | 45.9 |
| Ulis Williams | Arizona St | ||
| 1965 | Jim Kemp | Kentucky St | 46.2y |
| 1966 | Dwight Middleton | Southern Cal | 46.46y |
| 1967 | Emmett Taylor | Ohio | 45.9Ay |
| 1968 | Lee Evans | San Jose St | 45.0 |
| 1969 | Curtis Mills | Texas A&M | 44.93y |
| 1970 | Larry James | Villanova | 45.5y |
| 1971 | John Smith | UCLA | 45.3y |
| 1972 | John Smith | UCLA | 44.5 |
| 1973 | Maurice Peoples | Arizona St | 45.11y |
| 1974 | Larance Jones | NE Missouri St | 45.46y |
| 1975 | Benny Brown | UCLA | 45.34Ay |
| 1976 | Ken Randle | Southern Cal | 45.2 |
| 1977 | Herman Frazier | Arizona St | 45.57 |
| 1978 | Willie Smith | Auburn # | 45.33 |
| 1979 | El Kashief Hassan  Sudan | Oregon St | 45.18 |
| 1980 | Bert Cameron Jamaica | UTEP | 45.23 |
| 1981 | Bert Cameron Jamaica | UTEP | 44.58 |
| 1982 | El Kashief Hassan Sudan | Oregon St | 45.18A |
| 1983 | Bert Cameron Jamaica | UTEP | 44.62 |
| 1984 | Antonio McKay | Georgia Tech | 44.83 |
| 1985 | Roddie Haley | Arkansas | 44.7 |
| 1986 | Gabriel Tiacoh  Ivory Coast | Wash St | 44.3 |
| 1987 | Butch Reynolds | Ohio St | 44.12 |
| 1988 | Danny Everett | UCLA | 44.52 |
| 1989 | Raymond Pierre | Baylor | 44.59A |
| 1990 | Steve Lewis | UCLA | 45.19 |
| 1991 | Gabriel Luke | Rice | 45.32 |
| 1992 | Quincy Watts | Southern Cal | 44 |
| 1993 | Calvin Davis | Arkansas | 45.04 |
| 1994 | Derek Mills | Georgia Tech | 45.06 |
| 1995 | Greg Haughton Jamaica | George Mason | 44.62 |
| 1996 | Davian Clarke Jamaica | Miami FL | 45.29 |
| 1997 | Roxbert Martin Jamaica | Oklahoma | 44.77 |
| 1998 | Jerome Davis | Southern Cal | 45.18 |
| 1999 | Clement Chukwu  Nigeria | Eastern Mich | 44.79 |
| 2000 | Avard Moncur  Bahamas | Auburn | 44.72 |
| 2001 | Avard Moncur Bahamas | Auburn | 44.84 |
| 2002 | Gary Kikaya  Democratic Republic of the Congo | Tennessee | 44.53 |
| 2003 | Adam Steele | Minnesota | 44.57 |
| 2004 | Jeremy Wariner | Baylor | 44.71 |
| 2005 | Darold Williamson | Baylor | 44.51 |
| 2006 | Xavier Carter | Louisiana St | 44.53 |
| 2007 | Ricardo Chambers Jamaica | Florida State | 44.66 |
| 2008 | Andretti Bain Bahamas | Oral Roberts | 44.62 |
| 2009 | Jonathan Borlée  Belgium | Florida State | 44.78 |
| 2010 | Kirani James  Grenada | Alabama | 45.05 |
| 2011 | Kirani James Grenada | Alabama | 45.10 |
| 2012 | Tony McQuay | Florida | 44.58 |
| 2013 | Bryshon Nellum | USC | 44.73 |
| 2014 | Deon Lendore  Trinidad and Tobago | Texas A&M | 45.02 |
| 2015 | Vernon Norwood | LSU | 45.10 |
| 2016 | Arman Hall | Florida | 44.82 |
| 2017 | Fred Kerley | Texas A&M | 44.10 |
| 2018 | Michael Norman | USC Trojans | 43.61 |
| 2019 | Kahmari Montgomery | Houston Cougars | 44.23 |
| 2020 | Canceled due to COVID-19 | ||
| 2021 | Randolph Ross | N. Carolina A&T | 43.85 |
| 2022 | Randolph Ross | N. Carolina A&T | 44.13 |
| 2023 | Emmanuel Bamidele | University of Florida | 44.24 |
