BURNSVILLE, Minn. — The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference has officially expanded to 16 institutions with the addition of the University of Sioux Falls (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and Minot State University (Minot, N.D.) on July 1. The two institutions will begin participating within the NSIC in the 2012-13 academic season.
“I am excited to add both schools to the NSIC,” said Butch Raymond, NSIC Commissioner. “The balance both schools show between academics and athletics fits the basic foundation of our conference.”
The NSIC will now consist of 16 teams over a five-state area with nine institutions hailing from Minnesota, three in South Dakota, two in North Dakota and one in Iowa and Nebraska. The NSIC will form two divisions for the sports of football and basketball.
The NSIC South Division will consist of Augustana College, Concordia University-St. Paul, Minnesota State University Mankato, University of Sioux Falls, Southwest Minnesota State University, Upper Iowa University, Wayne State College and Winona State University.
The NSIC North Division will consist of Bemidji State University, University of Mary, University of Minnesota Crookston, University of Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Minot State University, Northern State University and St. Cloud State University.
The Northern Intercollegiate Conference (NIC) began in 1932 as the Northern Teacher's Athletic Conference. Charter members included Bemidji State, Mankato State, Moorhead State, St. Cloud State and Winona State. 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 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). The NSC had existed since 1979. In the 1999-00 academic year, the NSIC became an expanded 10-team league from a previous seven-member conference by adding Wayne State College (Wayne, Neb.) Concordia University-St. Paul (St. Paul, Minn.) and the University of Minnesota, Crookston (Crookston, Minn.).
The conference featured eight members from 2004-05 until 2005-06 with the departure of Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota-Morris, but expanded back to 10 teams in 2006-07 as the University of Mary (Bismarck, N.D.) and Upper Iowa University (Fayette, Iowa) joined the league. The NSIC exploded into a 14-team league in the 2008-09 year with the additions of Augustana College, the University of Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State University Mankato and St. Cloud State University.
