The Big Ten Conference is the oldest NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1896, it predates the founding of its regulating organization, the NCAA. It is based in the Chicago area in Rosemont, Illinois. For many decades the conference consisted of ten prominent universities, which accounts for its name. On August 2, 2024, the conference expanded to 18 member institutions and 2 affiliate institutions. The conference competes in the NCAA Division I and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, the highest level of NCAA competition in that sport.
The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to as Women's March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to determine the national championship.
The NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament is an annual championship tournament for colleges and universities that are members of NCAA Division II, a grouping of schools in the United States that are generally smaller than the higher-profile institutions grouped in Division I. The tournament, originally known as the NCAA College Division Basketball Championship, was established in 1957, immediately after the NCAA subdivided its member schools into the University Division and College Division. It became the Division II championship in 1974, when the NCAA split the College Division into the limited-scholarship Division II and the non-scholarship Division III, and added the "Men's" designation in 1982 when the NCAA began sponsoring a Division II women's championship.
The NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament is an annual tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II women's college basketball national champion. Basketball was one of 12 women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA and Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) sought for sole governance of women's collegiate athletics. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championships; however, after a year of dual women's championships at the national level, the AIAW disbanded.
College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athletic bodies, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). Each of these various organizations is subdivided into one to three divisions, based on the number and level of scholarships that may be provided to the athletes. Teams with more talent tend to win over teams with less talent.
The Louisville Cardinals are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Conference from 2005 through 2013, the Cardinals captured 17 regular season Big East titles and 33 Big East Tournament titles totaling 50 Big East Championships across all sports. On November 28, 2012, Louisville received and accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference and became a participating member in all sports in 2014. In 2016, Lamar Jackson won the school its first Heisman Trophy.
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 America East men's basketball tournament, popularly known as the America East Playoffs, is the annual concluding tournament for the NCAA college basketball in the America East Conference. The winner of the annual tournament gains an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.
The 2002 National Invitation Tournament was the 2002 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.
The Villanova Wildcats are the athletic teams of Villanova University. They compete in the Big East for every sport; except football and women's rowing where they compete in the Coastal Athletic Association, and women's water polo where the compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. On December 15, 2012, Villanova and the other six, non-FBS schools announced that they were departing the Big East for a new conference. This conference assumed the Big East name on July 1, 2013.
The NJIT Highlanders, formerly the New Jersey Tech Highlanders, are the varsity sport members of the Division I NCAA-affiliated sports teams of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). There are ten men's teams, seven women's teams, and three club teams along with a variety of intramural teams. The school's primary conference is the America East Conference. In November 2017 NJIT opened the Wellness and Events Center (WEC) which incorporates upgraded facilities for most Division 1 sports including a 3,500-seat arena for basketball and volleyball.
The War on I-4 is a college rivalry between the University of Central Florida Knights and University of South Florida Bulls. The rivalry is best known for its college football matchup which originated in a series of football games played from 2005 to 2008 and now takes place on Thanksgiving weekend, the de facto "rivalry weekend" for FBS football. From 2013 to 2023, when both schools were part of the American Athletic Conference, the schools began competing annually in all sports both schools sponsored. In 2016, the schools officially adopted the "War on I-4" as an official competition series. Each year, the team with the most wins across all sports receives a gold trophy styled after an Interstate 4 (I-4) road sign with the logos of each school. The winner of the annual football game also receives a similar trophy.
The 2010 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The 73rd annual tournament began on March 16 on campus sites and ended on April 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Dayton won their 3rd NIT title over North Carolina, 79–68.
The 2014 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2014 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament started on campus sites for the first three rounds, with the Final 4 and championship game being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The tournament began on Tuesday, March 18 and ended on Thursday, April 3. Minnesota won this tournament after being the third Big Ten team in a row to make the NIT Finals.
The 2014 American Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament was the first annual conference tournament of the American Athletic Conference, one of the two leagues that resulted from the 2013 split of the original Big East Conference. The tournament was held March 7–10, 2014 in the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut and decided the champion of the 2013–14 American Athletic Conference women's basketball season. The 10 conference members competed in a single-elimination tournament for an automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA tournament.
The Great American Conference men's basketball tournament is the annual conference basketball championship tournament for the Great American Conference.
The Mountain East Conference men's basketball tournament is the annual conference basketball championship tournament for the Mountain East Conference. The tournament has been held annually since the MEC's establishment in 2013, with the first tournament taking place in 2014. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records.
The East Coast Conference men's basketball tournament is the annual conference basketball championship tournament for the East Coast Conference. The tournament has been held annually since 1990. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records.
The East Coast Conference women's basketball tournament is the annual conference women's basketball championship tournament for the East Coast Conference. The tournament has been held annually since 1991. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records.
The Great American Conference women's basketball tournament is the annual conference basketball championship tournament for the Great American Conference.
