NCAA Division II facts for kids
Division II is a part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The NCAA helps organize sports competitions for college students in the United States. Division II is like the middle level of sports competition. It's not as intense or expensive as Division I, but it's more competitive than Division III. Unlike Division III, Division II schools can offer sports scholarships to help students pay for college.
Division II and Division III used to be called the NCAA College Division together.
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What is NCAA Division II?
The NCAA has three main divisions for college sports: Division I, Division II, and Division III. Each division has different rules about how big the schools can be, how many sports they offer, and if they can give out sports scholarships.
Division II tries to balance strong sports programs with good academics. Student-athletes in Division II often have busy schedules, but they also have time for their studies and other activities. Many schools in Division II are smaller or medium-sized public and private colleges.
Sports Conferences in Division II
Sports conferences are groups of colleges that play against each other regularly. Here are some of the main sports conferences in NCAA Division II:
- Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- Great American Conference
- Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Great Lakes Valley Conference
- Gulf South Conference
- Lone Star Conference
- Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
- Mountain East Conference
- Northeast Ten Conference
- Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
- Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
- Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
- South Atlantic Conference
- Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Conferences Without Football
Some Division II conferences do not have football teams. They focus on other sports instead. These include:
- California Collegiate Athletic Association
- Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
- Conference Carolinas
- East Coast Conference
- Great Midwest Athletic Conference
- Great Northwest Athletic Conference
- Pacific West Conference
- Peach Belt Conference
- Sunshine State Conference
Conferences for Specific Sports
A few Division II conferences specialize in only one or two sports. For example, some might only have swimming or lacrosse teams. The NCAA considers swimming and diving as one sport. Also, if a school has both a men's team and a women's team for the same sport, the NCAA counts them as two different sports.
- Bluegrass Mountain Conference (swimming and diving)
- Deep South Conference (men's lacrosse)
- ECAC Division II Lacrosse League (men's lacrosse)
- Metropolitan Conference (swimming and diving)
- New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference (swimming and diving)
- Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (men's and women's lacrosse)
See also
In Spanish: División II de la NCAA para niños
