NCAA
Division I
Bradley
Chicago State
DePaul
Eastern Illinois
Illinois
UIC
Illinois State
Loyola
Northern Illinois
Northwestern
Southern Illinois
SIUE
Western Illinois
Full NCAA Division I member colleges in Illinois.
– FBS Football, 
– FCS Football, 
– Non-football
– FBS Football, – FCS Football, – Non-football- ↑ Chicago State is expected to add football in 2026.
- ↑ The University of Illinois' campus is divided almost evenly between the twin cities of Urbana and Champaign.
- ↑ Although "UIC" is the school's preferred athletic name, national sports media generally use "Illinois–Chicago" in score listings and on first reference.
- 1 2 3 Illinois State, Southern Illinois, and Western Illinois's football teams compete in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
- ↑ Northern Illinois's men's soccer team competes in the Missouri Valley Conference.
- ↑ Although "SIUE" is the school's preferred athletic name, national sports media generally use "Southern Illinois–Edwardsville" or "SIU–Edwardsville".
Division II
UIS
Lewis
McKendree
Quincy
Roosevelt
Full NCAA Division II member colleges in Illinois.
– Football member, – Non-football member
– Football member, – Non-football member| Team | School | City | Conference | Sport sponsorship | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Football | Basketball | Baseball | Softball | Soccer | ||||||
| M | W | M | W | |||||||
| UIS Prairie Stars [a] | University of Illinois at Springfield | Springfield | Great Lakes Valley |  |  | | | | | |
| Lewis Flyers | Lewis University | Romeoville | Great Lakes Valley | | | | | | | |
| McKendree Bearcats | McKendree University | Lebanon | Great Lakes Valley | | | | | | | |
| Quincy Hawks | Quincy University | Quincy | Great Lakes Valley | [b] | | | | | | |
| Roosevelt Lakers | Roosevelt University | Chicago | Great Lakes Valley | | | | | | | |
- ↑ The national sports media usually refer to UIS as "Illinois–Springfield".
- ↑ Quincy additionally fields a team in sprint football, a weight-restricted form of football not governed by the NCAA, and is a charter member of the Midwest Sprint Football League.
Division III
- 1 2 3 4 Aurora and Lake Forest's ice hockey teams all compete in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association.
- 1 2 Chicago's football and baseball teams compete in the Midwest Conference.
- ↑ Chicago's softball team competes as an independent.
- ↑ Eureka's football team competes in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.
- ↑ Greenville's football team competes in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.