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Amateur Basketball in US Colleges: A Detailed Summary

Collegiate athletic bodies including NCAA, NAIA, USCAA, NJCAA, and NCCAA govern top-tier basketball in US colleges.
Conference play is where teams are ranked not only through the entire NCAA but also through the conference they have tournament play leading into the NCAA tournament.
Basketball can be traced back to a YMCA International Training School, known today as Springfield College, located in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The first known college to field a basketball team against an outside opponent was Vanderbilt University, which played against the local YMCA in Nashville, Tennessee, on February 7, 1893.
The first recorded game between two college teams occurred on November 22, 1894, when the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry faced Temple College.
The first tournament featuring exclusively college teams was the 1904 Summer Olympics, where basketball was a demonstration sport.
The NCAA tournament was implemented in 1939, and the NIT was created earlier and was more prestigious than the NCAA for many years, but it ultimately lost popularity and status to the NCAA Tournament.
The One-and-done rule has been a part of college basketball since 2006, the first NBA draft it affected.
In 2022–2023, a total of 360 schools played men's basketball in 32 Division I basketball conferences.
As of the 2022–23 college basketball season, there are 23 Division II basketball conferences.
The 2020 NCAA tournament had to be canceled due to fears of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to uncertainty for players and coaches.
In 2021, the NCAA tournament was able to take place, and the teams were so ready to be back. Baylor was the Men's 2021 NCAA Champions.Overview of College Basketball in the United States
Division III has the lowest share of Black coaches in NCAA since its introduction in 1973.
The American Collegiate Athletic Association merged into the Capital Athletic Conference in 2020.
From 1992 to 2020, the NAIA operated separate Division I and Division II men's and women's basketball championships.
NCAA men's games are divided into two halves, each 20 minutes long, while NBA games are played in four quarters of 12 minutes each.
NCAA teams are allowed 10 seconds to move the ball past the halfcourt line, while NBA and WNBA rules allow only 8 seconds.
The NBA limits what types of defense a team can play, primarily in an effort to prevent coaches from slowing down the pace of the game by using zone defenses.
NCAA rules have no set dress code rule, leaving it up to individual teams or conferences.
While the NBA and WNBA allow players to wear any number from 0 to 99, including 00, so long as it is available, the NCAA disallows any jersey number with a 6, 7, 8, or 9 in it.
Division II and Division III are both highly successful college basketball organizations.
The NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship has been held annually since 1937.
College basketball remains more popular than the NBA in some regions of the United States, such as in North Carolina and the Midwest.
The height of the basket, the foul line's distance from the backboard, and the court dimensions are the same.Overview of the NAIA Men's and Women's Basketball Championship Tournaments
The NAIA Men's and Women's Basketball Championship Tournaments are held annually to crown a national champion for smaller colleges and universities.
The NAIA Men's Tournament features only 32 teams, and the entire tournament is contested in one week instead of three weekends.
Since 2002, the NAIA National Tournament has been played in Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.
From 1992 to 2020, the NAIA also sponsored a Division II championship, similar to the NCAA Division I and II.
From 2020 to 2021, the NAIA will adopt a single-division format for basketball, with the men's and women's tournaments featuring 64 teams each.
The only school to have won national titles in both the NAIA and NCAA Division I is Louisville.
Southern Illinois has won NAIA and NIT titles, while Central Missouri and Fort Hays State have won NAIA and NCAA Division II national titles.
Indiana State has won an NAIA title and finished as the National Runner-Up in the NAIA (twice), in NCAA Division II (once) and NCAA Division I (once).
Awards are given out annually to the most outstanding player, coach, and tournament team of both the men's and women's tournaments.
Records and lists are kept for both the men's and women's tournaments, including the most points scored in a game and the most tournament appearances.
The NAIA Women's Basketball Championship was split into Divisions I and II through the 2019-20 season.
Media coverage of the NAIA Men's and Women's Basketball Championship Tournaments has been provided by CBS, the Victory Sports Network, and various lesser-known media.
The first NAIA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament was held in 1937, and the first NAIA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament was held in 1981.