List of college athletic conferences - Definition and Overview

NCAA conferences

Division I

Division I-A football

Bowl Championship Series conferences

• Atlantic Coast Conference
• Big Ten Conference
• Big Twelve Conference
• Big East Conference
• Pacific Ten Conference
• Southeastern Conference

Non BCS conferences

• Conference USA
• Mid-American Conference
• Mountain West Conference
• Sun Belt Conference
• Western Athletic Conference
• NCAA Division I-A Independent Schools

Division I-AA football

• Atlantic Ten Conference
• Big Sky Conference
• Big South Conference
• Gateway Football Conference
• Great West Football Conference
• Ivy League
• Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
• Northeast Conference
• Ohio Valley Conference
• Patriot League
• Pioneer Football League
• Southern Conference
• Southland Conference
• Southwestern Athletic Conference

• NCAA Division I-AA Independent Schools

Division I basketball

Note: All Division I-A and I-AA football conferences are also basketball conferences, with the exception of the Gateway Football Conference, Great West Football Conference, and the Pioneer Football League. This list consists of conferences that do not also sponsor football.

• America East Conference
• Atlantic Sun Conference
• Big West Conference
• Colonial Athletic Association
• Horizon League
• Mid-Continent Conference
• Missouri Valley Conference
• West Coast Conference

Division I hockey

• Atlantic Hockey
• Central Collegiate Hockey Association
• College Hockey America
• ECAC Hockey League
• Hockey East
• Western Collegiate Hockey Association

• NCAA Division I independents (women's hockey)

Other Division I conferences

• Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association
• Mountain Pacific Sports Federation

Division II

• Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
• Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
• Great Lakes Valley Conference
• Great Northwest Athletic Conference
• Gulf South Conference
• Heartland Conference
• Lone Star Conference
• Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association
• North Central Conference
• Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
• Pacific West Conference
• Peach Belt Conference
• Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
• Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
• South Atlantic Conference
• Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
• Sunshine State Conference
• West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

• NCAA Division II independent schools

Division III

• American Southwest Conference
• Atlantic Central Football Conference
• College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
• Centennial Conference
• Freedom Football Conference
• Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
• Illini-Badger Football Conference
• Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
• Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
• Midwest Conference (original)
• Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
• New England Football Conference
• New Jersey Athletic Conference
• North Coast Athletic Conference
• Northwest Athletic Conference
• Ohio Athletic Conference
• Old Dominion Athletic Conference
• Presidents' Athletic Conference
• Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
• Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
• University Athletic Association
• Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association
• USA South Athletic Conference
• Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

• NCAA Division III independent schools

Multi-division conferences

• Eastern College Athletic Conference

Defunct conferences

• Big Six Conference
• Big Seven Conference
• Big Eight Conference
• Great Midwest Conference (merged with Metro Conference to form Conference USA)
• Metro Conference (merged with Great Midwest Conference to form Conference USA)
• Pacific Coast Athletic Association (still exists as the Big West Conference)
• Southwest Conference
• Yankee Conference (absorbed by Atlantic Ten Conference)

NAIA-affiliated conferences

• Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association
• Frontier Conference
• Upper Midwest Athletic Conference