Established 1932 Division Division II | Association NCAA Members 16 | |
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Sports fielded 18 (men's: 8; women's: 10) Region West North Central States | ||
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.
Contents
- History
- Membership timeline
- Membership evolution
- Other sponsored sports by school
- NCAA Division II
- NAIA
- Commissioners
- Conference championships
- Football
- Volleyball
- Mens Basketball
- Womens Basketball
- Baseball
- Softball
- References
The conference sponsors 18 sports; ten for women and eight for men. Both men and women compete in basketball, cross country, golf, and indoor and outdoor track and field. Men compete in baseball, football, and wrestling. Women compete in soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, and volleyball.
History
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference was founded in 1932 as the Northern Teachers Athletic Conference. Charter members included Bemidji State Teachers College (Bemidji State University), Duluth State Teachers College (University of Minnesota Duluth), Mankato State Teachers College (Minnesota State University, Mankato), Moorhead State Teachers College (Minnesota State University Moorhead), St. Cloud State Teachers College (St. Cloud State University), and Winona State Teachers College (Winona State University). In 1942 the conference name was changed to the State Teacher's College Conference of Minnesota. The conference switched its name to the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (NIC) in 1962. In the spring of 1992 the NSIC was formed out of the merger of the NIC, the men's conference, and the women's Northern Sun Conference (NSC). The NSC had existed since 1979.
In the 1998-99 academic year, the NSIC became an expanded eight-team league from a previous seven-member conference by adding Wayne State College, and in 1999-2000 became a 10-member conference by adding Concordia University, St. Paul, and the University of Minnesota Crookston. The conference existed as an eight-member league from 2004-05 until 2005-06 with the departure of Minnesota–Duluth to the now defunct North Central Conference, and the University of Minnesota Morris to NCAA Division III. The University of Mary and Upper Iowa University were admitted in the fall of 2006 to again expand the NSIC to 10 members.
In 2007 the NSIC Board of Directors voted to expand the conference to 14 schools. League presidents voted to accept into membership Augustana College (now Augustana University), St. Cloud State, Minnesota–Duluth, and Minnesota State. These four schools were members of the North Central Conference which disbanded after the 2007-2008 academic year. They became official members of the NSIC on July 1, 2008.
On January 20, 2010 the NSIC Board of Directors voted to expand the conference again, this time to 16 members. The league accepted into membership the University of Sioux Falls and Minot State University. Both schools moved from the NAIA, with USF leaving the Great Plains Athletic Conference, and Minot State leaving the Dakota Athletic Conference. The two schools became active members in the 2012-13 academic year.
The NSIC and its member institutions have been members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Mankato State won wrestling national titles in 1958 and 1959, while Moorhead State won a wrestling national title in 1964. Forty-one wrestlers have claimed individual national titles in wrestling. Nine individuals have won national titles in Men's Swimming and Diving. Northern State claimed national titles in women's basketball in 1992 and 1994. Seven individuals have won individual titles in men's indoor track and field. Four individuals have won national titles in women's indoor track and field. Eleven athletes have won national titles in men's outdoor track and field. Six female athletes have won individual titles in outdoor track and field. Winona State won two team titles in women's gymnastics. In 1992, the NSIC entered the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In the Fall of 1995, the NSIC and its member institutions became eligible for championship competition in the NCAA Division II ranks. The Northern Sun earned its first Division II national championship in a team sport sponsored by the conference when Winona State won the men's basketball championship in 2005-06.
Since becoming affiliated with NCAA Division II, NSIC members have won 17 team national championships and has also crowned 47 individual national champions.
The highest-ranking team in the NSIC in football that does not make the playoffs plays in the Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, against the highest-ranking team from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association that does not make the playoffs.
Membership timeline
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football-only) Associate member (sport)
Membership evolution
Since 1932, 18 institutions have competed in the NSIC. Although all six charter members are in the conference today, only three of them have remained in the conference for the 80 years of its existence: Bemidji State, Minnesota State University Moorhead, and Winona State.
Other sponsored sports by school
NCAA Division II
The NSIC has had 17 national championship teams in NCAA Division II play:
NCAA Division II National Champions
NAIA
NAIA National Champions
Commissioners
The NSIC has had five full-time commissioners in its history.
- Tom Wistrcill (1993–1997)
- Kurt Patberg (1997–2000)
- Mike Lockrem (2000–2003)
- Butch Raymond (2004–2014)
- Erin Lind (2014–present)
Conference championships
Last updated November 9, 2015
Football
*Minnesota State finished 2012 with an 11-0 overall conference record and 7-0 division record, however the conference and division titles were stripped after Mankato was found to have played with two ineligible players. Minnesota–Duluth (overall) and Winona State (South Division) were granted the 2012 titles retroactively. Mankato's win-loss record, however, remains the same.
Volleyball
Men's Basketball
Women's Basketball
Baseball
The NSIC Tournament was used to determine the overall NSIC Champion from 2002–2006.