The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Upper Midwest of the United States. Nine of its members are in Minnesota, with three members in South Dakota, two members in North Dakota, and one member in Nebraska. It was founded in 1932. With the recent NSIC expansion, the original six member schools have been reunited.
The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Missouri and Oklahoma to the South. Founded as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities in 1982, it rebranded as the Mid-Continent Conference in 1989, then again as the Summit League on June 1, 2007. The league headquarters are in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Augustana University is a private Lutheran university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The university identifies 1860 as the year of its founding, the same as its Rock Island, Illinois, Swedish-heritage sister school, Augustana College. It derives its name from the Confessio Augustana, or Augsburg Confession, a foundational document of Lutheranism. Until September 2015, the university was known as Augustana College.
Sioux Falls Arena is a 7,500-seat multi-purpose arena located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The facility was built in 1961. It seats 6,113 for basketball games and 4,760 for indoor football and hockey.
Midco is a regional cable provider, providing a triple play service of cable television, Internet and telephone service for both North Dakota and South Dakota, along with much of Minnesota, and several communities in Kansas and Wisconsin. The company's business-class service also provides direct fiber-optic communications services via leased data circuits for larger companies.
The Minot State Beavers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Minot State University (MSU), located in Minot, North Dakota. The Beavers compete at the NCAA Division II level. The university was previously a member of the NAIA's Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) and competed as an independent as a provisional member for the 2011–12 academic year before joining the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) in 2012. Minot State Beavers men's and women's ice hockey teams currently play in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), the men's team plays as is an independent team at the ACHA Men's Division I level and women's team at the ACHA Women's Division II level.
The Augustana Vikings football team represents Augustana University in college football at the NCAA Division II level. The Vikings are members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), fielding its team in the NSIC since 2008. The Vikings play their home games at Kirkeby–Over Stadium in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Elmen Center is the former basketball arena and hosts volleyball games for the Augustana University Vikings in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It is located on the Augustana campus. The Elmen Center seats approximately 4,000 fans. The building is also the recreational center for the university and a host of several late night events. The Elmen Center is 81,000 square feet.
The Minnesota State Mavericks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Minnesota State University, Mankato. The school's athletic program includes 21 varsity sports teams. More than 600 students participate each year in athletics for the university. Most of the university's athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division II level in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The men's and women's ice hockey teams compete at the Division I level, respectively in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). Minnesota State began competition in the NSIC in 2008–09, due to the dissolution of the North Central Conference. It was also one of the seven WCHA men's hockey members that left that league after the 2020–21 season to reestablish the CCHA, a move that led to the demise of the men's side of the WCHA.
The Sioux Falls Cougars are the athletic teams that represent the University of Sioux Falls, located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) since the 2012–13 academic year. Prior to joining the NCAA, the Cougars previously competed in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2000–01 to 2010–11; and in the defunct South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC) from 1977–78 to 1999–2000.
The St. Cloud State Huskies are the athletic teams for St. Cloud State University. The university is primarily a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), and currently sponsors 18 NCAA Division II teams. SCSU also sponsors a women's Nordic skiing team through membership in the CCSA, as well as men's and women's Division I ice hockey teams that are members of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (men) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (women). The teams go by the nickname Huskies, and the school's mascot is a husky named Blizzard.
The Sanford Pentagon is an indoor arena located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Pentagon opened in September 2013 and has a seating capacity of 3,250 spectators. It hosts the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA G League. The facility is known for hosting a wide range of sporting events including: regional youth basketball tournaments, NCAA Division I basketball games, NCAA Division II basketball games and tournaments, mixed martial arts events, and occasional concerts.
The Minnesota State–Moorhead Dragons are the athletic teams that represent Minnesota State University Moorhead, located in Moorhead, Minnesota, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Dragons generally compete as members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference for all 14 varsity sports.
The 2016 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament involved 64 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball. It began in March 2016, following the 2015–16 season, and concluded with the championship game on March 26, 2016.
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball tournament is the annual men's conference basketball championship tournament for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The tournament has been held annually since 2000. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records.
The 2016 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament involved 64 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the NCAA Division II women's college basketball national champion. It began on March 10, 2016, and concluded with the championship game on April 4, 2016.
Daniel Jansen is an American professional basketball player who last played for MZT Skopje of the Macedonian League. He played college basketball at Augustana University from 2012–2016.
The 2017–18 Northern State Wolves men's basketball team represented Northern State University in the 2017-18 NCAA Division II men's basketball season. The Wolves were led by eighth year head coach Paul Sather and played their home games at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, South Dakota. They competed as members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. After winning the NSIC tournament, the Wolves received an automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament. They were berthed with the #2 seed in the regional tournament and beat Minnesota State by a score of 90–83 to win the Central Region Tournament and move on to the Elite Eight. The Elite Eight was held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Wolves beat East Stroudsburg and Queens to move on the National Championship game where they lost to the Ferris State Bulldogs by a score of 69–71.
The Augustana Vikings men's ice hockey is an NCAA Division I ice hockey team that began play in the fall of 2023.
Midco Arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is a 3,082-seat ice hockey arena on the campus of Augustana University. The arena broke ground on October 5, 2021 and opened as the permanent home of the Augustana Vikings men's ice hockey team on January 26, 2024.
