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Jan. 11, 1970: An 11th regular-season game in football is approved.
April 24-25, 1970: UCLA wins the first National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship, claiming the first of its 19 titles between 1970 and 2006 under coach Al Scates.
June 18, 1970: Southern California wins the first of five straight Division I Baseball Championship titles under coach Rod Dedeaux (who coached the Trojans to a total of 10 titles between 1958 and 1978).
Jan. 13, 1971: Freshman eligibility in all championships except University Division basketball and postseason football is approved.
March 25-27, 1971: The Association stages its first basketball championship in a domed stadium — the Astrodome in Houston — where UCLA defeats Villanova for its second of five straight titles.
May 1971: Florida Southern wins the College Division Baseball Championship to claim the first of eight titles between 1971 and 1995.
June 5, 1971: Cornell wins the first National Collegiate Lacrosse Championship, played at Hofstra.
Jan. 8, 1972: Freshman eligibility in basketball and football is approved.
June 23, 1972: President Richard Nixon signs Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. The landmark legislation leads to new opportunities for women and girls to participate in athletics.
Dec. 9, 1972: The first College Division Soccer Championship is conducted at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Jan. 12, 1973: The first Silver Anniversary and Today’s Top Athletes awards are presented at the Honors Luncheon during the NCAA Convention.
Jan. 13, 1973: The 1.600 eligibility legislation is abolished.
March 15, 1973: Diver Dacia Schileru of Wayne State (Michigan) becomes the first female to appear in any NCAA championship when she competes at the College Division Swimming and Diving Championships.
April 6, 1973: The NCAA national office staff moves to a new building in Mission, Kansas.
June 5-9, 1973: Oregon’s Steve Prefontaine becomes the first student-athlete to win an NCAA University Division Outdoor Track and Field Championships event four straight years with his victory in the 3-mile run; later in the year, he also becomes a three-time cross country champion.
June 17-23, 1973: Ben Crenshaw of Texas becomes the first participant to win three straight individual titles in the Division I Men’s Golf Championships (including a 1972 tie with teammate Tom Kite).
June 18-23, 1973: Stanford wins the first of 17 Division I Men’s Tennis Championships team titles between 1973 and 2000 under coach Dick Gould.
Aug. 6, 1973: The NCAA membership votes in a Special Convention to reorganize into three divisions.
Nov. 10, 1973: The first Division III championship is conducted in cross country at Wheaton College (Illinois).
Nov. 23-24, 1973: California wins the first of 11 National Collegiate Men’s Water Polo Championship titles between 1973 and 1992.
Dec. 1, 1973: The College Athletics Publishing Service relocates to Mission, Kansas, and becomes the NCAA Publishing Service.
Dec. 8, 1973: The first Division III Football Championship is conducted (Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Phenix City, Alabama).
Dec. 15, 1973: The first Division II Football Championship is conducted (Camellia Bowl in Sacramento, California).
March 1-2, 1974: The first Division III Wrestling Championships are conducted at Wilkes.
May 25, 1974: The first Division II Lacrosse Championship is conducted at SUNY Cortland.
May 29-31, 1974: The first Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships are conducted at Eastern Illinois.
Nov. 30, 1974: The first Division III Soccer Championship is conducted at Wheaton College (Illinois).
Jan. 7, 1975: Gerald R. Ford becomes the second president honored with the NCAA’s Theodore Roosevelt Award.
March 20-22, 1975: The first Division III Swimming and Diving Championships are conducted at Allegheny.
June 10-13, 1975: The first Division III Golf Championships are conducted at UT Martin.
June 1, 1975: The National Collegiate Sports Services moves from New York City to Mission, Kansas, and is renamed the NCAA Statistics Service.
Aug. 1, 1975: The NCAA initiates a marketing program through an agreement with Descente Ltd. to use the NCAA mark in marketing sportswear and accessories in Japan.
Aug. 14-15, 1975: The second Special Convention addresses recruiting limitations, financial aid limits, and football and basketball staff and squad sizes.
Nov. 15, 1975: North Central (Illinois) wins the first of 19 Division III Cross Country Championships titles between 1975 and 2018 under coach Allen Carius.
Jan. 14-17, 1976: Delegates at the 70th Convention and third Special Convention stage the first roll-call vote in Convention history (need-based aid is rejected in the vote).
March 29, 1976: Indiana finishes an undefeated season with its victory in the Division I Basketball Championship.
May 19-23, 1976: Kalamazoo wins the first Division III Men’s Tennis Championships, claiming the first of its seven titles between 1976 and 1993 under coach George Acker.
May 25-28, 1976: Stanislaus State wins the first of six straight Division III Men’s Golf Championships team titles under coach Jim Hanny. The team repeated the feat with six more consecutive championships from 1984 to 1989.
June 4-6, 1976: The first Division III Baseball Championship is played at Marietta College.
Jan. 11-13, 1978: Division I realigns into I-A and I-AA for football.
March 18, 1978: The first Division II Ice Hockey Championship is conducted at Springfield College.
March 18, 1978: North Park wins the first of five Division III Basketball Championships between 1978 and 1987.
Sept. 27-28, 1978: J. Neils Thompson, Edgar A. Sherman and Walter Byers testify before the House Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation about issues pertaining to the NCAA enforcement program.
Dec. 16, 1978: The first Division I-AA Football Championship is conducted in Wichita Falls, Texas.
March 1979: The first two-year agreement with ESPN is signed to televise selected championships. Programming begins Sept. 7.
March 24, 1979: Herb Brooks claims the last of his three NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championships as coach at Minnesota less than one year before coaching the U.S. Olympic team to its “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid, New York.
March 26, 1979: Michigan State and Magic Johnson defeat Indiana State and Larry Bird in the Division I Basketball Championship final. The telecast on NBC attracts a rating of 24.1, the highest ever for the event.
Sources: “In the Arena: The NCAA’s First Century” by Joseph N. Crowley, NCAA News and Champion magazine archives, the NCAA Media Center, and NCAA record books
