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National Collegiate Athletic Association

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National Collegiate Athletic Association
Primary logo
NCAA logo
League information
Sport Basketball
Competition level Collegiate
Founded March 31, 1906
Country Flag of the United States United States
Headquarters 700 Washington Street
Indianapolis, Indiana
Inaugural season 1906-07 season
No. of teams 1,268 schools
Conferences 32
Sub Divisions NCAA Division I
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division III
Key People
President Mark Emmert
Playoffs/Championship format
Playoffs NCCA Tournament
Championship
game 		NCAA Championship

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA, often pronounced "N-C-Double-A") is a voluntary association of about 1,200 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Indianapolis, Indianapolis, and it is currently under the leadership of president Myles Brand. The NCAA is the largest collegiate athletic organization in the world, and because of the great popularity of college sports among spectators in the United States, it is far more prominent than most national college sports bodies in other countries.

In August 1973, the current three-division setup of Division I, Division II, and Division III was adopted by the NCAA membership in a special convention. Under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships. Generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III.

History[]

Its predecessor, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS), was established on March 31, 1906 to set rules for amateur sports in the United States. When then-president Theodore Roosevelt's own son, Ted, broke his collar bone playing football at Harvard, Roosevelt became aware of the growing number of serious injuries and deaths occurring in collegiate football. He brought the presidents of the three major Ivy League universities, Harvard, Yale and Princeton to several meetings at the White House in October, 1905, to discuss steps to make college athletics safer. The IAAUS was created as one of the outcomes of those meetings. The IAAUS became the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1910.

Until the 1980s, the association did not offer women's athletics. Instead an organization named the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women governed women's collegiate sports in the United States. By 1982 however, all divisions of the NCAA offered national championship events for women's athletics and most members of the AIAW joined the NCAA.

The NCAA was headquartered in the Kansas City metropolitan area from 1951 until 1999 when it moved from its last Kansas City area location at Overland Park, Kansas to a four-story, facility on the west edge of downtown Indianapolis. Adjacent to the headquarters is the NCAA Hall of Champions.

During its days in Kansas City, Municipal Auditorium (Kansas City) hosted nine Final Four basketball tournaments -- the most of any venue.

Structure[]

The NCAA's legislative structure is broken down into cabinets and committees, consisting of various representatives of its member schools. These may be broken down further into sub-committees. Legislation is then passed on to the Management Council, which oversees all the cabinets and committees, and also includes representatives from the schools, such as athletic directors and faculty advisors. Management Council legislation goes on to the Board of Directors, which consists of school presidents, for final approval.

The NCAA staff itself provides support, acting as guides, liaison, research and public and media relations.

The NCAA is not the only collegiate athletic organization in the United States. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is another collegiate athletic organization. The Canadian equivalent to NCAA is U Sports.

Presidents of the NCAA (called executive director until 1998)[]

  • Walter Byers 1951-1988
  • Dick Schultz 1988-1993
  • Cedric Dempsey 1993-2002
  • Myles Brand 2003-2009
  • Jim Isch 2009–2010 (interim)
  • Mark Emmert 2010–present

Division History[]

YearsDivision
1906-1955None
1956-1972NCAA University Division (Major College), NCAA College Division (Small College)
1973-presentNCAA Division I, Division II, Division III

Championships[]

The NCAA holds championship tournaments in the following:

Conferences[]

NCAA 2006 championship banners hang inside the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis

NCAA 2006 championship banners hang inside the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis

Division I conferences[]

Media[]

The NCAA has current media rights contracts with CBS, CBS, ESPN, and ESPN for coverage of its 88 championships. According to the official NCAA website, ESPN and its associated networks have rights to 21 championships and CBS to 67. The following are the most prominent championships and rightsholders:

Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the men's and women's basketball Final Fours. DirecTV has an exclusive package expanding CBS' coverage of the men's basketball tournament.

Rules violations[]

Member schools pledge to follow the rules promulgated by the NCAA. Creation of a mechanism to enforce the NCAA's legislation occurred in 1952 after careful consideration by the membership.

Allegations of rules violations are referred to the NCAA's investigative staff. A preliminary investigation is initiated to determine if an official inquiry is warranted and to categorize any resultant violations as secondary or major. If several violations are found, the NCAA may determine that the school as a whole has exhibited a "lack of institutional control." The institution involved is notified promptly and may appear in its own behalf before the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

Findings of the Committee on Infractions and the resultant sanctions in major cases are reported to the institution. Sanctions will generally include having the institution placed on "probation" for a period of time, in addition to other penalties. The institution may appeal the findings or sanctions to an appeals committee. After considering written reports and oral presentations by representatives of the Committee on Infractions and the institution, the committee acts on the appeal. Action may include accepting the infractions committee's findings and penalty, altering either, or making its own findings and imposing an appropriate penalty.

Institutions violating the probationary period may be subject to being banned from participating in the sport in question for up to two years, a penalty known as the Death penalty (NCAA).

Institutions on probation[]

The following institutions have been on probation by the NCAA at some point:

Institution Sport(s) Expiry
Baylor University Men's Basketball 22 June 2010
California State University, Fresno Men's Basketball 25 April 2010
Florida International University Men's Basketball 5 May 2012
Purdue University Women's Basketball 21 August 2009
The Ohio State University Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball 9 March 2009
University of Kansas Men's Basketball 11 October 2009
University of Louisiana at Lafayette Men's Basketball 18 April 2009

Criticisms[]

Numerous criticisms have been lodged against the NCAA. These include:

  • Several people, notably including Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly, have criticized the NCAA for its inflexibility
  • Student-athletes at universities with major athletic programs often have low graduation rates.

References[]

External links[]

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