The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a

college athletic conference In college athletics in the United States, institutions typically join in conferences for regular play under different governing bodies. Varsity sports There are several national and regional associations governing the varsity teams of colleges ...

affiliated with the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. Nine of its members are in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, with three members in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

, two members in

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

, and one member each in the states of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

and

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. 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 conference sponsors 18 sports; ten for women and eight for men. Both men and women compete in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, cross country,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, and indoor and outdoor

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

. Men compete in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, football, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. Women compete in soccer,

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, swimming & diving,

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

. The NSIC is the only Division II conference that sponsors soccer for women but not men (two other D-II conferences do not sponsor soccer for either sex).

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 The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 Academic major, majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a ...

), Mankato State Teachers College (

Minnesota State University, Mankato Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 123,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is ...

), 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). In 1992, the NSIC joined NCAA Division II after being long time members of the NAIA. 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 Wayne State College is a public college in Wayne, Nebraska. It is part of the Nebraska State College System and enrolls 4,202 students. The college opened as a public normal school in 1910 after the state purchased the private Nebraska Normal Co ...

, 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 The University of Mary (UMary or simply Mary) is a private, Benedictine university near Bismarck, North Dakota. It was established in 1959 as Mary College. The university is the largest degree-granting institution in western North Dakota. It ...

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 Augustana University is a private Lutheran university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The university identifies 1860 as the year of its founding, the same as its Rock Island, Illinois Swedish-heritage sister school, Augustana College. It derives ...

), St. Cloud State, Minnesota–Duluth, and Minnesota State. These four schools were members of the

North Central Conference The North Central Conference (NCC), also known as North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, was a college athletic conference which operated in the north central United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division II. History The NCC ...

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 The University of Sioux Falls (USF) is a private BaptistChristian university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. In fall 2014, the university enrolled a total of 1,142 undergraduate students and ...

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 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 its st ...

(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

(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 23 team national championships and has also crowned 77 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 Excelsior Springs is a city in Clay and Ray counties in the U.S. state of Missouri and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The population was 10,553 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately northeast of central Kansas City, Missouri ...

Chronological timeline

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–Moorhead, and Winona State. * 1932: The Northern Teacher's Athletic Conference was founded with six charter members: Bemidji State Teachers College (now Bemidji State University), Duluth State Teachers College (now the University of Minnesota Duluth), Mankato State Teachers College (now Minnesota State University, Mankato), Moorhead State Teachers College (now Minnesota State University Moorhead), St. Cloud State Teachers College and Winona State Teachers College (now Winona State University). * 1942: The conference changed its name to the State Teacher's College Conference of Minnesota. * 1947: Duluth State Teachers College was renamed the University of Minnesota Duluth. * 1951: Minnesota–Duluth left for the

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) is a college athletic conference which competes in NCAA Division III. All 13 of the member schools are located in Minnesota and are private institutions, with only two being non-sectarian. ...

(MIAC). The conference was left with five teams. * 1957: The Michigan College of Mining and Technology (now Michigan Technological University) joined the STCCM to give the league six members. Bemidji State Teachers College was renamed Bemidji State College. Mankato State Teachers College was renamed Mankato State College. Moorhead State Teachers College becomes known as Moorhead State College. St. Cloud State Teachers College becomes St. Cloud State College and Winona State Teachers College becomes Winona State College. * 1962: The conference changed its name to the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (NIC). * 1964: The Michigan College of Mining and Technology renamed itself to Michigan Technological University. * 1966: The University of Minnesota Morris joined the NIC, membership stands at seven schools. * 1968: Mankato State left the NIC to join the

(NCC), leaving the conference with six members. * 1969: Southwest Minnesota State College joined the NIC as the seventh member. * 1975: Minnesota–Duluth re-joined the NIC, giving the NIC eight teams. Bemidji State College was renamed Bemidji State University. Mankato State College was renamed Mankato State University and Moorhead State College was renamed Moorhead State University. Also, St. Cloud State College was renamed to St. Cloud State University and Winona State College was renamed to Winona State University. Southwest Minnesota State College also underwent a name change, becoming Southwest State University. * 1978: Mankato State re-joined the NIC and Northern State College (now Northern State University) joined the league as the ninth and tenth teams, respectively. * 1979: The Northern Sun Conference (NSC) was created for women's athletics. * 1980: Michigan Tech left for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), leaving the NIC with nine teams. * 1981: St. Cloud State and Mankato State left for the NCC. The NIC was left with seven members. * 1989: Northern State College was renamed to Northern State University. * 1992: The Northern Intercollegiate Conference (men's conference) and the Northern Sun Conference (women's conference) merged to form the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The NSIC joins NCAA Division II. * 1995: The NSIC became eligible for NCAA Division II championship competition, having moved from the NAIA level. * 1998: Mankato State University was renamed Minnesota State University, Mankato. * 1998:

joined as the NSIC's eighth member. * 1999: Concordia University, St. Paul and the University of Minnesota Crookston joined to give the NSIC 10 teams. * 2000: Moorhead State University was renamed Minnesota State University Moorhead. * 2003: Minnesota–Morris left the NSIC and drops down to the NCAA Division III level and the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), dropping NSIC membership to nine teams. Also, Southwest State University changed its name to Southwest Minnesota State University. * 2004: Minnesota–Duluth left the NSIC to join the NCC, leaving the NSIC with eight schools. * 2006: The

(NAIA) and Upper Iowa University (NCAA Division III) moved to Division II and joined the NSIC to bring membership back up to 10 schools. * 2008: The North Central Conference disbanded as various members in that league make a move to NCAA Division I. Former NSIC members Minnesota–Duluth, Minnesota State, and St. Cloud State re-joined the Northern Sun. Another NCC refugee, Augustana College (now Augustana University) joined the NSIC for the first time, increasing membership to 14 schools. * 2012: Minot State University and the

begin full membership after joining NCAA Division II from the NAIA. This gave the league its largest membership at 16 schools. * 2012: Lindenwood University and the University of Nebraska at Kearney, both members of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association became associate members of the NSIC in the sport of women's swimming & diving. Following the end of the 2013–14 season, both schools left the NSIC to join the

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

(RMAC) for that sport. * 2019: Minnesota–Crookston and St. Cloud State discontinued their football programs at the end of the 2019–20 academic year. * 2021: The University of Wisconsin–Parkside, athletically branded as Parkside, joined as an affiliate member for wrestling. * 2022: Upper Iowa announces it will depart for the

Great Lakes Valley Conference The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its thirteen member institutions are located in the U.S. states of Illinois ...

for the 2023-24 athletic season and beyond.

Member schools

Current members

The NSIC currently has 16 full members, all but five are

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

schools: ;Notes: * Upper Iowa will depart the NSIC following the conclusion of the 2022-23 athletics season for the GLVC.

Affiliate members

The NSIC currently has one affiliate member, which is also a

school:

Former members

The NSIC had two former full members, both were

schools: ;Notes:

Former affiliate members

The NSIC had two former affiliate members, one was a

school and the other was a private school: ;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1932 till:2032 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:20 top:5 Colors = id:line value:black id:Full value:rgb(0.63,0.88,0.755) # all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.88,0.755,0.63) # non-football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.88,0.63,0.63) # football-only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.755,0.755,0.63) # associate id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # another conference where OtherC1, to distinguish the two PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:1932 till:1943 text: Bemidji State (1932–present) bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946 bar:1 color:Full from:1946 till:end bar:2 color:Full from:1932 till:1943 text: Minnesota–Duluth (1932–1951) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946 bar:2 color:Full from:1946 till:1951 bar:2 color:Full from:1975 till:2004 text:(1975–2004) bar:2 color:Full from:2008 till:end text:(2008–present) bar:3 color:Full from:1932 till:1943 text: Minnesota State (1932–1968) bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946 bar:3 color:Full from:1946 till:1968 bar:3 color:Full from:1978 till:1981 text:(1978–1981) bar:3 color:Full from:2008 till:end text:(2008–present) bar:4 color:Full from:1932 till:1943 text: Minnesota State–Moorhead (1932–present) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946 bar:4 color:Full from:1946 till:end bar:5 color:Full from:1932 till:1943 text: St. Cloud State (1932–1981) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946 bar:5 color:Full from:1946 till:1981 bar:5 color:Full from:2008 till:2020 text:(2008–present) bar:5 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end bar:6 color:Full from:1932 till:1943 text: Winona State (1932–present) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1943 till:1946 bar:6 color:Full from:1946 till:end bar:7 color:FullxF from:1957 till:1958 text: Michigan Tech (1957–1980) bar:7 color:Full from:1958 till:1980 bar:8 color:FullxF from:1966 till:1969 text: Minnesota–Morris (1966–2003) bar:8 color:Full from:1969 till:2003 bar:9 color:FullxF from:1969 till:1970 text: Southwest Minnesota State (1969–present) bar:9 color:Full from:1970 till:end bar:10 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1980 text: Northern State (1979–present) bar:10 color:Full from:1980 till:end bar:11 color:Full from:1998 till:end text: Wayne State (Neb.) (1998–present) bar:12 color:Full from:1999 till:end text: Concordia–St. Paul (1999–present) bar:13 color:Full from:1999 till:2020 text: Minnesota–Crookston (1999–present) bar:13 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end bar:14 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

(2006–present) bar:15 color:Full from:2006 till:2023 text: Upper Iowa (2006–2023) bar:16 color:Full from:2008 till:end text: Augustana (S.D.) (2008–present) bar:17 color:Full from:2012 till:end text: Minot State (2012–present) bar:18 color:Full from:2012 till:end text: Sioux Falls (2012–present) bar:19 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2014 text: Lindenwood (2012–2014) bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2014 text: Nebraska–Kearney (2012–2014) bar:21 shift:(-80) color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text: Parkside (2021–present) bar:N color:green from:1932 till:1942 text:NTAC bar:N color:blue from:1942 till:1962 text:STCCM bar:N color:green from:1962 till:1992 text:NIC bar:N color:blue from:1992 till:end text:NSIC ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1932

Sports

Men's sponsored sports by school

Women's sponsored sports by school

Other sponsored sports by school

;Notes: In addition to the above teams: * Upper Iowa classifies its cheerleaders and dance team members as varsity athletes under the "spirit" designation. It also fields coeducational teams in shotgun sports. * At least three conference schools are now sponsoring esports: SMSU, Upper Iowa, and Concordia-St Paul.

Conference stadiums

National champions

NCAA Division II

The NSIC has had 25 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 17, 2022'' ''Includes Regular Season and Tournament Championships''

Football

;NSIC Championships Won or Shared Per School ;NSIC All-Time Standings (1932–2022) ;NSIC North Division All-Time Standings (2008-2022) ;NSIC South Division All-Time Standings (2008-2022) ;NSIC Champions ''*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

;NSIC Championships Per School ''The NSIC Tournament was only held from 2004 to 2007, then resumed in 2012.'' ;NSIC All-Time Standings (1979 to 2019) ;NSIC Regular Season Champions ;NSIC Tournament Champions

Men's Basketball

;NSIC championships won per school ;NSIC All-Time Standings (1932–33 to 2021–22) ;NSIC Regular Season Champions ''(*)-Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, no regular season conference champion was awarded during the 2020-21 season, only the winner of the North and South division were awarded.'' ;NSIC Tournament Champions

Women's Basketball

;NSIC Championships Per School ;NSIC All-Time Standings (1979-80 to 2020–21) ;NSIC Regular Season Champions (*)-''Due to the

, no regular season conference championship was awarded during the 2020-21 season, on the North and South division champions were awarded.'' ;NSIC Tournament Champions

Baseball

;NSIC Championships Per School ;NSIC Regular Season Champions The NSIC Tournament was used to determine the overall NSIC Champion from 2002 to 2006. ;NSIC Tournament Champions

Softball

;NSIC Championships Per School ;NSIC All-Time Standings (1984 to 2019) ;NSIC Regular Season Champions ;NSIC Tournament Champions

Women's Soccer

;NSIC Championships Per School ''1997-2001 Tournament Champion declared NSIC Champion'' ;NSIC All-Time Standings (1996 to 2022) ;NSIC Champions By Year The NSIC Tournament was used to determine the NSIC Champion from 1997 to 2001.