The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Upper Midwest of the United States. Nine of its members are in Minnesota, with three members in South Dakota, two members in North Dakota, and one member in Nebraska.[1] It was founded in 1932.[2] With the recent NSIC expansion, the original six member schools have been reunited.[3]
The conference sponsors 18 sports;[4] ten for women and eight for men. Both men and women compete in basketball, cross country, golf, and indoor and outdoor track and field. Men compete in baseball, football, and wrestling. Women compete in soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, and volleyball. 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).
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), 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 (NAIA).[5]
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. 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 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Mankato State won the NAIA wrestling national titles in 1958 and 1959, while Moorhead State won a wrestling national title in 1964.[6] Forty-one wrestlers have claimed individual national titles in wrestling. Nine individuals have won national titles in Men's Swimming and Diving.[7] Northern State claimed national titles in women's basketball in 1992 and 1994.[8] Seven individuals have won individual titles in men's indoor track and field.[9] 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.[10] Six female athletes have won individual titles in outdoor track and field.[11] Winona State won two team titles in women's gymnastics. In 1992, the NSIC entered the National Collegiate Athletic Association (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.[12]
Since becoming affiliated with NCAA Division II, NSIC members have won 23 team national championships and has also crowned 77 individual national champions.
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.
The NSIC currently has 15 full members, all but four are public schools:
The NSIC will have one new member, a private school:[16]
The NSIC currently has one affiliate member, which is also a public school:
The NSIC had three former full members, two were public schools and one was a private school:
The NSIC had four former affiliate members, two public school and two private schools:
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football-only) Associate member (sport)
In addition to the above teams, at least two conference schools are now sponsoring esports: SMSU and Concordia-St Paul.
The NSIC has had 27 national championship teams in NCAA Division II play:
NCAA Division II National Champions
NAIA National Champions
The NSIC has had five full-time commissioners in its history.
Last updated November 25, 2023
Includes Regular Season and Tournament Championships
*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.
The NSIC Tournament was only held from 2004 to 2007, then resumed in 2012.
(*)-Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 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.
(*)-Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no regular season conference championship was awarded during the 2020-21 season, on the North and South division champions were awarded.
The NSIC Tournament was used to determine the overall NSIC Champion from 2002 to 2006.
1997-2001 Tournament Champion declared NSIC Champion
The NSIC Tournament was used to determine the NSIC Champion from 1997 to 2001.
Before 2007, Tournament Champion determined Team Titles
*=No Longer Sponsors Wrestling
*=No Longer Sponsors Men's Golf