The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

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

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a northern subregion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed upon, the region is usually defined to include the states of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wi ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Nine of its members are in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, with three members in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

, two members in

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

, and one member in

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. It was founded in 1932. With the recent NSIC expansion, the original six member schools have been reunited. 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, cross country,

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

, and indoor and outdoor

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. Men compete in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. Women compete in

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, swimming & diving,

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, 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 Summ ...

. 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), 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 145,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

), 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

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(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, 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 NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

. 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

(NAIA). Mankato State won the NAIA 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.

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 (now St. Cloud State University) 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 (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 North Central Conference (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, moving from the

. * 1998: Mankato State University was renamed Minnesota State University, Mankato. * 1998: Wayne State College 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 ranks 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 University of Mary and Upper Iowa University 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 University of Sioux Falls begin full membership after joining NCAA Division II from the NAIA. This gave the league its largest membership at 16 schools. * 2012: Lindenwood University, the University of Nebraska at Kearney,

Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a Public university, public Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Kirksville, Missouri, United States. It had 3,664 enrolled students in the fall of 2024 pursuing degrees in 55 undergraduate ...

and William Jewell College, all four members of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) at that time, became associate members of the NSIC in the sport of women's swimming & diving. * 2013: Truman and William Jewell left the NSIC as associate members for women's swimming & diving to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) after the 2012–13 athletic season. * 2014: Lindenwood and Nebraska–Kearney left the NSIC as associate members for women's swimming & diving to join the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) after the 2013–14 athletic season. * 2019: Minnesota–Crookston and St. Cloud State discontinued their football programs at the end of the 2019–20 academic year. * 2020: The University of Wisconsin–Parkside (athletically branded as Parkside) joined the NSIC as an affiliate member for wrestling. * 2023: Upper Iowa left for the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) for the 2023–24 athletic season, leaving the NSIC with 15 teams. * 2025: The

University of Jamestown A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

will join the NSIC, bringing the membership total back to 16 schools.

Member schools

Current members

The NSIC currently has 15 full members, all but four 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 sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

schools: ;Notes:

Future member

The NSIC will have one new full member, which is a private school: ;Notes:

Affiliate members

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

school: ;Notes:

Former members

The NSIC had three former full members, two were

schools and one was a private school: ;Notes:

Former affiliate members

The NSIC had four former affiliate members, two

school and two private schools: ;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:40 top:5 Colors = id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used 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:OtherC1 from:1951 till:1975 text: bar:2 color:Full from:1975 till:2004 text:(1975–2004) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2004 till:2008 text: NCC 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:OtherC1 from:1968 till:1976 text: NCC bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:1976 till:1978 text: bar:3 color:Full from:1978 till:1981 text:(1978–1981) bar:3 shift:(40) color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:2008 text: NCC 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:OtherC1 from:1981 till:2008 text: NCC 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:7 color:OtherC1 from:1980 till:end text: GLIAC bar:8 color:FullxF from:1966 till:1969 text: Minnesota–Morris (1966–2003) bar:8 color:Full from:1969 till:2003 bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2003 till:end text: UMAC 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 (2006–present) bar:15 color:Full from:2006 till:2023 text: Upper Iowa (2006–2023) bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: GLVC 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 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2013 text: Truman State (2012–2013) bar:22 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:2013 text: William Jewell (2012–2013) bar:23 shift:(-10) color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text: Parkside (2020–present) bar:24 shift:(-50) color:Full from:2025 till:end text: Jamestown (2025–future) 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 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,20) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference membership history" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

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, at least two conference schools are now sponsoring esports: SMSU and Concordia-St Paul.

Conference stadiums

National champions

NCAA Division II

The NSIC has had 27 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 25, 2023'' ''Includes Regular Season and Tournament Championships''

Football

;NSIC Championships Won or Shared Per School ;NSIC All-Time Standings (1932–2024) ;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.'' ''**Following the 2022 season Upper Iowa left the conference. This led to a removal of the North and South divisions during the 2023 and 2024 seasons.''

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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, no regular season conference champion was awarded during the 2020-21 season, only the winner of the North and South division were awarded.'' ''(**)-Following the departure of Upper Iowa, the North and South division were removed for the 2023–24 and the 2024–25 seasons.'' ;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.