The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its members are in Minnesota, with three members in South Dakota, two members in North Dakota, and one member each in the states of Iowa and Nebraska. It participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division II level. It was founded in 1932. With the recent NSIC expansion, the original six member schools have been reunited. With the inclusion of the several new member institutions, it is one of the largest Division II conferences in the country with 16 members.
The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 26 varsity sports. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. and the school colours are purple and white. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference and the national U Sports organization. Western University offers 21 varsity sports for men and 19 for women which compete in the OUA conference. The University also offers cheerleading, women's ringette, women's softball, table tennis and ultimate frisbee, which compete outside the OUA conference, in sport-specific conferences and divisions.
College basketball in the United States is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including 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 are subdivided into from one to three divisions based on the number and level of scholarships that may be provided to the athletes.
The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The intercollegiate athletics logo was commissioned in 1983.
Sports in Minnesota include professional teams in all major sports, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, especially in the Winter Olympics, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations and active amateur teams and individual sports. The State of Minnesota has a team in all five major professional leagues. Along with professional sports, there are numerous collegiate teams including the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in the NCAA Division I, Minnesota State Mavericks in NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II and many others across the Minnesota public and private colleges and universities.
The Navy Midshipmen are the athletic teams that represent the United States Naval Academy. The academy sponsors 33 varsity sports teams and 12 club sport teams. Both men's and women's teams are called Navy Midshipmen or "Mids". They participate in the NCAA's Division I, as a non-football member of the Patriot League, a football-only member of the American Athletic Conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and a member of the Collegiate Sprint Football League (men), Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (men), Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges, Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League (men), Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference (men) and Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association. Navy is also one of approximately 300 members of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
The SMU Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, United States. The Mustangs were founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Oklahoma A&M.
The UC Davis Aggies are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Davis.
The Sacred Heart Pioneers are the 32 sports teams representing Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut in intercollegiate athletics. The Pioneers compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the Northeast Conference, Atlantic Hockey, Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, and New England Women's Hockey Alliance.
The Wayne State Warriors are the athletic teams that represent Wayne State University, located in Detroit, Michigan, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sporting competitions. The Warriors compete as members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for all 16 varsity sports. The Warriors have been members of the GLIAC since 1975.
The Minnesota State Mavericks are the college athletic teams of Minnesota State University, Mankato. 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 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). Minnesota State began competition in the NSIC in 2008-09, due to the dissolution of the North Central Conference.
The Northern State Wolves are the athletic teams that represent Northern State University, located in Aberdeen, South Dakota, U.S., in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Wolves compete as members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference for all 13 varsity sports. Northern State has been a member of the conference since 1978, and they also have the second-smallest enrollment of the 14 member schools. In the 1990s, all members of the NSIC solely became members of NCAA Division II, after spending many years with dual membership with the NAIA.
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 Carleton Knights are the varsity athletic teams of Carleton College, located in Northfield, Minnesota. They participate in NCAA Division III and in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). Carleton was a founding member of the MIAC in 1920, but left in 1925. Carleton was also a founding member of the Midwest Conference in 1921, where it competed exclusively from 1925 to 1983 before rejoining the MIAC.
Sports in Atlanta has a rich history, including the oldest on-campus NCAA Division I football stadium, Bobby Dodd Stadium, built in 1913 by the students of Georgia Tech. Atlanta also played host to the second intercollegiate football game in the South, played between the A&M College of Alabama and the University of Georgia in Piedmont Park in 1892; this game is now called the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. The city hosts college football's annual Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and the Peachtree Road Race, the world's largest 10 km race. Atlanta was the host city for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics, and Downtown Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park was built for and commemorates the games.
The MSU 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.
Jeff Loots is a former American football quarterback who played eight seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL) with the Milwaukee Mustangs, Minnesota Fighting Pike, Albany Firebirds, Oklahoma Wranglers, Chicago Rush, Buffalo Destroyers and Grand Rapids Rampage. He played college football at Southwest Minnesota State
Brad Bigler is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs.
Matt Fletcher is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the Concordia–St. Paul Golden Bears. He is a graduate and a member of the athletics hall of fame at North Branch Area High School. He played basketball at Southwest Minnesota State University where he graduated from with a Bachelor's degree in Sports Management.
