NCAA
Sports abbreviation · Sports League and Organization
| Stands for | National Collegiate Athletic Association |
|---|---|
| Categories | Sports |
NCAA stands for National Collegiate Athletic Association, a sports league and organization abbreviation.
Governing body for college sports at about 1,100 US colleges and universities, organized into Divisions I, II and III. It writes eligibility and recruiting rules and runs roughly 90 national championships, the most famous being the Division I basketball tournaments known as March Madness.
Example: The NCAA cleared the freshman guard to play after reviewing his transcripts from an overseas academy.
Usage notes
Created in 1906 as the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States after President Theodore Roosevelt pressed colleges to make football safer; it took the name NCAA in 1910. Headquartered in Indianapolis since 1999. Usually pronounced "N-C-double-A." The 2021 Supreme Court ruling in NCAA v. Alston and the House settlement approved in 2025 opened the way for schools to pay athletes directly.
Related abbreviations
More sports league and organization abbreviations
- MLS – Major League Soccer
- NAIA – National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
- NASCAR – National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing
- NBA – National Basketball Association
- NBL – National Basketball League (Australia)
- NBPA – National Basketball Players Association
- NFL – National Football League
- NFLPA – National Football League Players Association
- NHL – National Hockey League
- NHRA – National Hot Rod Association
- NIL – Name, image and likeness
- NPB – Nippon Professional Baseball