The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to their student athletes. $1.3 billion in athletic scholarship financial aid is awarded to student athletes annually. For the 2023–24 season, it had 241 member institutions, of which two are in British Columbia, one in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the rest in the continental United States, with over 83,000 student-athletes participating. The NAIA, whose headquarters is in Kansas City, Missouri, sponsors 28 national championships. CBS Sports Network, formerly called CSTV, serves as the national media outlet for the NAIA. In 2014, ESPNU began carrying the NAIA Football National Championship.
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a competitive college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level.
Sprint football is a varsity sport played by United States colleges and universities, under standard American football rules. Since the 2022 season, the sport has been governed by the Collegiate Sprint Football League and the Midwest Sprint Football League.
Walsh University is a private Roman Catholic university in North Canton, Ohio. Founded in 1960 by the Brothers of Christian Instruction as a liberal arts college, it currently enrolls approximately 2,100 students. The university offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and seven graduate programs, as well as multiple global learning experiences.
Calumet College of St. Joseph is a private Roman Catholic college in Hammond, Indiana. It was founded in 1951 as an extension of Saint Joseph's College and is associated with the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. In fall 2022, it enrolled 658 undergraduates and 95 graduate students.
Oakland City University (OCU) is a private university affiliated with the General Baptist Church and located in Oakland City, Indiana. It is the only General Baptist Church-affiliated college or university in the United States. Founded in 1885, it has slowly grown to the present student enrollment of about 1,200 on the main campus and, counting all sites, about 2,000 total.
The Grand View Vikings are the athletic teams that represent Grand View University, located in Des Moines, Iowa, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) since the 2015–16 academic year. The Vikings previously competed in the defunct Midwest Collegiate Conference (MCC) from 1989–90 to 2014–15.
The Mercyhurst Lakers, representing Mercyhurst University which is located in Erie, Pennsylvania, are composed of 24 teams in intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, tennis, and water polo. Men's sports include baseball, football, and wrestling. Women's sports include bowling, field hockey, softball, stunt, and volleyball. The Lakers compete in the NCAA Division II and are members of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) for all sports except ice hockey, which competes in NCAA Division I; bowling, a sport in which the NCAA holds a single all-divisions national championship, which competes in the East Coast Conference; men's lacrosse and stunt, both of which compete in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference; and water polo, a sport in which the NCAA holds single all-divisions national championships for men and women. The men's and women's ice hockey teams are members of Atlantic Hockey America, formed shortly after the 2023–24 season by the merger of the men's former home of the Atlantic Hockey Association and the women's former home of College Hockey America. The men's and women's water polo teams play in the Western Water Polo Association. On April 4, 2024, it was announced that Mercyhurst would be transitioning to NCAA Division I and join the Northeast Conference starting in the 2024-25 academic school year.
The Davenport Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Davenport University, located in Caledonia Township, Michigan, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for most of its sports as a provisional member since the 2017–18 academic year. The Panthers previously competed in the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2005–06 to 2016–17.
The Dallas Baptist Patriots are the 15 athletic teams that represent the Dallas Baptist University, located in Dallas, Texas, in NCAA intercollegiate sports. All of the varsity Patriot athletic teams compete at the Division II level with the exception of the baseball team, which plays in Division I. DBU Athletics also sponsors five club programs including; cheer, dance, bass fishing, lacrosse, and ice hockey. As such, all athletic teams, except for baseball, compete in the Lone Star Conference while the baseball program is an associate member of Conference USA. All intercollegiate athletic teams also hold membership in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).
The Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. It was named the 24th NCAA Division II conference and operates in the Great Lakes and East South Central States regions of the United States. The G-MAC began conference play in the 2012–13 academic year hosting 12 championships and continued to work through the educational assessment program. The conference received approval and became an active Division II conference in 2013–14, hosting 17 championships.
The Oklahoma City Stars are the athletic teams that represent Oklahoma City University, located in Oklahoma City, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) for most of its sports since the 1986–87 academic year. The Stars previously competed at the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Midwestern City Conference from 1979–80 to 1984–85; in the D-I Trans America Athletic Conference during the 1978–79 school year, and as a Division I independent prior to that. Its women's wrestling team competed in the Women's College Wrestling Association (WCWA).
The Bellarmine Knights are the athletic teams that represent Bellarmine University, located in Louisville, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the ASUN Conference for most sports in the 2020–21 academic year. The Knights previously competed in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) of the NCAA Division II ranks from 1978–79 to 2019–20.
The McKendree Bearcats are the intercollegiate athletic programs that represent McKendree University, located in Lebanon, Illinois, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) as a provisional member since the 2012–13 academic year.
The Quincy Hawks are the athletic teams that represent Quincy University, located in Quincy, Illinois, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Hawks, members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) since 1994, compete in that league in all but three sports. Men's volleyball plays in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association through the 2025 season, after which the GLVC will begin sponsoring that sport. Since there is no men's volleyball at the Division II level, the men's volleyball team is the only program that plays at the Division I level. Sprint football, a weight-restricted form of American football governed outside the NCAA structure, competes in the Midwest Sprint Football League. Men's bowling is also governed outside of the NCAA ; QU competes as an independent.
The Trevecca Trojans are the athletic teams that represent Trevecca Nazarene University, located in Nashville, Tennessee, in intercollegiate sports at the NCAA Division II ranks. The Trojans have primarily competed in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) since the 2012–13 academic year.
The Missouri Baptist Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Missouri Baptist University, located in St. Louis, Missouri, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) for most of its sports since the 1986–87 academic year; while its men's and women's lacrosse teams compete in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC), its men's volleyball team competes in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC), and its football team competes in the Midwest League of the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA).
