List of college athletic conferences in the United States

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 and universities. Varsity teams are typically funded by an institution's athletic department, and under some governing bodies players are eligible for athletic scholarships.

Division I

 * Multi-sport conferences
 * America East Conference
 * American Athletic Conference
 * Atlantic 10 Conference
 * Atlantic Coast Conference
 * Atlantic Sun Conference
 * Big 12 Conference
 * Big East Conference
 * Not to be confused with the original Big East. For more details, see 2010–2013 Big East Conference realignment.
 * Big Sky Conference
 * Big South Conference
 * Big Ten Conference
 * Big West Conference
 * Coastal Athletic Association
 * Conference USA
 * FBS Independents (applies only to football)
 * FCS Independents (applies only to football)
 * Horizon League
 * Independents (in sports other than football)
 * No all-sports independents in 2024–25, with Chicago State joining the Northeast Conference.
 * Ivy League
 * Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
 * Mid-American Conference
 * Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
 * Missouri Valley Conference
 * Mountain Pacific Sports Federation – does not sponsor football or basketball
 * Mountain West Conference
 * Northeast Conference
 * Ohio Valley Conference
 * Pac-12 Conference – Effectively dissolving in 2024, though the two remaining members (Oregon State and Washington State) will continue to operate as a two-team league through the 2025–26 school year. The "Pac-12" brand name will remain in use.
 * Patriot League
 * Southeastern Conference
 * Southern Conference
 * Southland Conference
 * Southwestern Athletic Conference
 * Summit League
 * Sun Belt Conference
 * West Coast Conference
 * Western Athletic Conference


 * Football-only conferences
 * Big South–OVC Football Association – Technically a football-only alliance between the all-sports Big South and Ohio Valley Conferences.
 * CAA Football – legally a separate entity from the all-sports Coastal Athletic Association, but both leagues have the same administration
 * Missouri Valley Football Conference
 * Pioneer Football League
 * United Athletic Conference – Not officially recognized by the NCAA, instead being treated as the continuation of a preexisting football alliance between the all-sports Atlantic Sun and Western Athletic Conferences.


 * Ice hockey conferences
 * Atlantic Hockey America
 * Central Collegiate Hockey Association (men) – previously operated from 1971 to 2013; revived in 2021
 * ECAC Hockey
 * Hockey East
 * Independents (only men in 2023–24)
 * National Collegiate Hockey Conference (men)
 * New England Women's Hockey Alliance
 * Western Collegiate Hockey Association (women)

This list also includes conferences in sports that the NCAA does not split into divisions.
 * Other single-sport conferences
 * Central Collegiate Fencing Conference
 * Central Collegiate Ski Association – includes one junior-college team alongside NCAA-sanctioned teams
 * Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (women's beach volleyball)
 * Collegiate Water Polo Association
 * Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League (men)
 * Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association
 * Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (men)
 * Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association
 * Eastern Women's Fencing Conference
 * Golden Coast Conference (women's water polo)
 * Great America Rifle Conference
 * Intercollegiate Fencing Conference of Southern California
 * Metropolitan Swimming Conference
 * Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Conference
 * Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference – includes a mix of NCAA-sanctioned teams and club teams
 * Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference
 * Midwest Fencing Conference
 * Midwest Independent Conference (women's gymnastics)
 * Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (men)
 * National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association
 * Northeast Fencing Conference
 * Patriot Rifle Conference
 * Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association
 * Western Water Polo Association

Division II

 * California Collegiate Athletic Association
 * Conference Carolinas
 * Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
 * Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
 * East Coast Conference
 * Great American Conference
 * Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
 * Great Lakes Valley Conference
 * Great Midwest Athletic Conference
 * Great Northwest Athletic Conference
 * Gulf South Conference
 * Independents
 * Lone Star Conference
 * Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
 * Mountain East Conference
 * Northeast-10 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


 * Single-sport conferences
 * Appalachian Swimming Conference
 * New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference
 * Pacific Coast Swim Conference

Division III

 * Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
 * American Rivers Conference
 * American Southwest Conference
 * Atlantic East Conference
 * Centennial Conference
 * City University of New York Athletic Conference
 * Coast to Coast Athletic Conference
 * College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
 * Collegiate Conference of the South
 * Commonwealth Coast Conference
 * Empire 8
 * Great Northeast Athletic Conference
 * Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
 * Independents
 * Landmark Conference
 * Liberty League
 * Little East Conference
 * Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference
 * Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
 * Middle Atlantic Conferences – an umbrella organization that operates three conferences.
 * The following conferences sponsor the same set of 14 sports, including both men's and women's basketball, but not football:
 * MAC Commonwealth
 * MAC Freedom
 * The third league, the Middle Atlantic Conference (note the singular), combines schools from the Commonwealth and Freedom conferences in a total of 13 sports, including football.
 * Midwest Conference
 * Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
 * New England Small College Athletic Conference
 * New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
 * New Jersey Athletic Conference
 * North Atlantic Conference
 * North Coast Athletic Conference
 * Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference
 * Northwest Conference
 * Ohio Athletic Conference
 * Old Dominion Athletic Conference
 * Presidents' Athletic Conference
 * St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
 * Skyline Conference
 * Southern Athletic Association
 * Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
 * Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
 * State University of New York Athletic Conference
 * United East Conference
 * University Athletic Association
 * Upper Midwest Athletic Conference
 * USA South Athletic Conference
 * Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference


 * Single-sport conferences
 * Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men)
 * Continental Volleyball Conference (men)
 * Eastern Collegiate Football Conference
 * Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (men)
 * Midwest Lacrosse Conference (men)
 * Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference
 * New England Collegiate Conference (men's volleyball; also operates in the non-NCAA esports)
 * United Collegiate Hockey Conference
 * United Volleyball Conference (men)

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)

 * American Midwest Conference
 * Appalachian Athletic Conference
 * California Pacific Conference
 * Cascade Collegiate Conference
 * Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference
 * Continental Athletic Conference
 * Crossroads League
 * Frontier Conference
 * Golden State Athletic Conference
 * Great Plains Athletic Conference
 * HBCU Athletic Conference
 * Heart of America Athletic Conference
 * Football Independents
 * Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
 * Mid-South Conference
 * North Star Athletic Association
 * Red River Athletic Conference
 * River States Conference
 * Sooner Athletic Conference
 * Southern States Athletic Conference
 * Sun Conference
 * Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference


 * Football-only conference
 * Mid-States Football Association

United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA)

 * Eastern Metro Athletic Conference
 * Eastern States Athletic Conference
 * Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
 * Penn State University Athletic Conference
 * Yankee Small College Conference

National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA)

 * Central Region
 * Mid-East Region
 * Mid-West Region
 * North Region
 * North Central Region
 * South Region
 * Southwest Region
 * West Region

Association of Christian College Athletics (ACCA)

 * Midwest Christian College Conference

National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)

 * Alabama Community College Conference
 * Arizona Community College Athletic Conference
 * Arrowhead Conference
 * Bi-State Conference
 * Carolinas Junior College Conference
 * Colorado Community College Athletic Conference
 * Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference
 * Garden State Athletic Conference
 * Georgia Junior College Athletic Association
 * Great Rivers Athletic Conference
 * Illinois Skyway Conference
 * Iowa Community College Athletic Conference
 * Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference
 * Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference
 * Massachusetts Community College Athletic Association
 * Michigan Community College Athletic Association
 * Mid-Florida Conference
 * Mid Hudson Conference
 * Mid-State Athletic Conference
 * Mid-West Athletic Conference
 * Missouri Community College Athletic Conference
 * Midwest Football Conference (NJCAA)
 * Minnesota College Athletic Conference
 * Mississippi Association of Community & Junior Colleges
 * MISS-LOU Junior College Conference
 * Metro Athletic Conference
 * Mon-Dak Conference
 * Mountain Valley Conference (NJCAA)
 * NJCAA Region 9
 * Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference
 * North Central Community College Conference
 * North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference
 * Northeast JC Football Conference
 * Ohio Community College Athletic Conference
 * Panhandle Conference
 * Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association (Defunct)
 * Scenic West Athletic Conference
 * Southern Conference
 * Southwest Junior College Conference
 * Southwest Junior College Football Conference
 * Suncoast Conference
 * Tennessee Community College Athletic Association
 * Western Junior College Athletic Conference
 * Western New York Athletic Conference
 * Western Pennsylvania Athletic Conference
 * Western States Football League
 * Wyoming Community College Athletic Conference

California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA)

 * Bay Valley Conference
 * Big 8 Conference
 * Central Valley Conference
 * Coast Conference
 * Golden Valley Conference
 * Inland Empire Athletic Conference
 * Orange Empire Conference
 * Pacific Coast Athletic Conference
 * South Coast Conference
 * Western State Conference

Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC)

 * Northern Region
 * Southern Region
 * Eastern Region
 * Western Region

Independent conferences

 * Independent Junior College Athletic Association
 * Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (basketball only)
 * Pacific Christian Athletic Conference
 * Wisconsin Collegiate Conference
 * Ohio Regional Campus Conference
 * New South Athletic Conference
 * South Western States Intercollegiate Conference

Boxing

 * National Collegiate Boxing Association (NCBA)
 * United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association (USIBA)

Cycling

 * ACCC: Atlantic Collegiate Cycling Conference
 * RMCCC: Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference
 * ECCC: Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference
 * SCCCC: South Central Collegiate Cycling Conference
 * MWCCC: Midwestern Collegiate Cycling Conference
 * SECCC: Southeastern Collegiate Cycling Conference
 * NCCCC: North Central Collegiate Cycling Conference
 * SWCCC: Southwestern Collegiate Cycling Conference
 * NWCCC: Northwestern Collegiate Cycling Conference
 * WCCC: Western Collegiate Cycling Conference

Fencing

 * Baltimore-Washington Collegiate Fencing Conference (BWCFC)
 * Northern California Intercollegiate Fencing League (NCIFL)
 * Southern Atlantic Conference (SAC)
 * Southwestern Intercollegiate Fencing Association (SWIFA)

Gymnastics

 * East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) (women)
 * Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League (EIGL) (men)

Lacrosse

 * See: Category:College lacrosse leagues in the United States

Rowing

 * Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) (men)
 * Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges (EAWRC)
 * Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) (men)

Sprint football

 * Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL)
 * Midwest Sprint Football League (MSFL)

Volleyball

 * Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association

Water polo

 * Western Water Polo Association

Wrestling

 * National Collegiate Wrestling Association
 * Mid-Atlantic – Teams from Tennessee, the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware
 * North Central – Teams from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin
 * Northeast – Teams from New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont
 * Northwest – Teams from Washington and British Columbia
 * Southeast – Teams from Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi
 * Southwest – Teams from Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Kansas
 * West – Teams from California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona

List of oldest college sports conferences
The following table is a sortable listing of the oldest college sports conferences (organizations of athletic teams at the collegiate level) in the United States of America. This includes U.S. collegiate sports organizations of NCAA Divisions I, II, and III; as well as various sports including Rowing, Cricket, Basketball, Hockey, Wrestling, Football, Basketball, Track, and more.