Members OF the NCC

Charter members

*South Dakota State University 1921-2004

*University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) 1921-1928

*University of Des Moines 1921-1926

*Creighton University 1921-1928

*North Dakota State University 1921-2004

*University of North Dakota 1921-2008

*Morningside College 1921-2002

University of South Dakota 1921-2008

Nebraska Wesleyan University 1921-1927

Additional members

University of Northern Iowa 1934-1978

University of Nebraska at Omaha 1934-1946;

1976-2008

Augustana College (South Dakota) 1941-2008

University of Northern Colorado 1978-2003

Minnesota State University, Mankato 1968-1976;

1981-2008

St. Cloud State University 1981-2008

University of Minnesota Duluth 2004-2008

*Indicates the seven signing members of the league. South Dakota and Nebraska Wesleyan were added within a few months of the original seven signing and were considered charter members.

North Central was a league of its own

By Noel Olson

When I became commissioner of the North Central Conference in 1984, my impression was that our schools wanted to do well in all of their sports, including women’s teams that were just getting started as national powers in the 1980s.

The league was especially competitive in men’s basketball, but it appeared to me that we beat up on each other all year long, game after game. This didn’t always result in playoff success, but it made for exciting conference races.

The academic successes of our student-athletes has mirrored the success in athletics competition. The NCC had more than 360 Academic All-Americans and more than 170 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients. Success often leads to others wanting to take you down a notch or two, and one of our constant battles was to keep scholarships at a level at which we could continue to be competitive. That would eventually lead some schools to seek reclassification to Division I.

I remember the year (1986) that South Dakota played North Dakota State for the NCAA title in football. That led to legislation (Division II’s regionalization concept) that would preclude that from happening again. I supported the idea because it helped build Division II in all regions and encouraged more geographically related competition that contained travel expenses. Looking back, it probably didn’t work as well as many had hoped.

There are too many successful names to list, but we take great pride in the many athletes who went on to major professional teams. Do the names Phil Jackson and Adam Vinatieri ring a bell? Many of our coaches also have moved on to bigger things. It starts to feel as if we were victims of our own success.

The NCC began competition in 1922 after a meeting in 1921 in Chicago to form a new conference. It has been a long run, and a wonderful experience for the student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans. Maybe someday there will be a new NCC in Division I. We can only hope.

– Noel Olson was NCC commissioner from 1984-97.