1900s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s

Jan. 8, 1990: Ronald Reagan becomes the fourth president honored with the NCAA’s Theodore Roosevelt Award.

Jan. 10, 1990: Proposal No. 42 is rescinded. The NCAA Convention also features a lengthy debate over time demands on student-athletes.

Feb. 26, 1990: The NCAA national office staff moves into a new headquarters facility in Overland Park, Kansas.

June 1990: Edward Steitz steps down after 25 years as secretary-rules editor of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee.

Sept. 18, 1990: The Sara Lee Corp. pledges a minimum of $6 million to promote women’s intercollegiate athletics, including the establishment of the Woman of the Year award.

Jan. 10, 1991: Judith Sweet of UC San Diego is the first and only woman to be elected as NCAA membership president.

March 2, 1991: Augsburg wins the first of 13 Division III Wrestling Championships team titles between 1991 and 2019. Wartburg wins its first of 14 titles in 1996. From 1995 to 2019, Augsburg or Wartburg claims every title.

March 8-9, 1991: Carlette Guidry of Texas becomes the first participant to win six career individual titles at the Division I Women’s Indoor Track Championships.

March 19, 1991: The Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics issues its “One-Plus-Three” report concluding that presidential control of intercollegiate athletics is essential.

May 9, 1991: The NCAA Presidents Commission holds hearings directed at developing stronger academic standards.

Oct. 30, 1991: Mary Beth Riley of Canisius is honored as the first NCAA Woman of the Year.

Jan. 10, 1992: The Council approves recommendations from the Special Committee to Review the NCAA Enforcement and Infractions Process.

Jan. 10, 1992: Proposal No. 16, establishing an initial-eligibility index based on standardized test scores and grade-point averages, is approved in Division I.

March 1992: The Gender-Equity Task Force forms in response to the first NCAA gender-equity study showing disparities in the treatment of male and female student-athletes.

March 28, 1992: In what is often called “the greatest game,” Duke’s Christian Laettner hits a buzzer-beating 17-foot jump shot after a length-of-the-court inbounds pass from Grant Hill in overtime of the 1992 East Regional final to defeat Kentucky and advance to the Men’s Final Four. Duke, the defending national champion, went on to win a second straight Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

Nov. 21, 1992: Adams State’s runners cross the finish line in first through fifth place, giving the team a perfect 15 points and the national title in the Division II Men’s Cross Country Championships. Meanwhile, the Adams State women win the first of eight straight team titles between 1992 and 1999 under coach Damon Martin.

March 27, 1993: North Dakota State wins the first of four straight Division II Women’s Basketball Championships. The four-year run includes a perfect season in 1994-95 and a 49-game winning streak, one of the longest in NCAA history.

May 16, 1993: Lander wins the first of eight straight Division II Men’s Tennis Championships team titles under coach Joe Cabri.

Nov. 5, 1993: Cedric Dempsey of the University of Arizona is selected to succeed Richard Schultz as executive director (the title was changed to “president” after the 1997 restructuring).

Dec. 11, 1993: Mount Union wins the first of 13 Division III Football Championships between 1993 and 2017.

January 1994: Division I commissioners create an NCAA membership restructuring proposal, prompting the appointment of three division-specific restructuring task forces.

Jan. 11, 1994: The Black Coaches Association threatens to boycott men’s basketball games in response to Division I’s defeat of a proposal to increase scholarships from 13 to 14. The boycott is averted when the NCAA and BCA agree Jan. 14 to Justice Department arbitration.

March 17-19, 1994: Travis Miller of UC San Diego becomes the first participant in the Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships to win nine career individual titles.

March 17-19, 1994: Oklahoma State’s Pat Smith becomes the first four-time individual champion in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, claiming all four titles at 158 pounds.

December 1994: The NCAA and CBS agree to a $1.7 billion, eight-year television contract; ESPN agrees to expand its coverage of the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship.

March 25, 1995: Middlebury wins the first of five straight Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship titles under coach Bill Beaney. The team added three more in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

April 1995: The NCAA opens its government relations office in Washington, D.C.

May 1995: The Division I Softball Committee bans titanium bats for the 1995 championship.

May 21, 1995: Maryland wins the first of seven straight Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championships under coach Cindy Timchal.

May 24, 1995: A federal court judge in Kansas City, Kansas, rules that compensation limits on restricted-earnings basketball coaches are illegal.

Feb. 13-15, 1996: The NCAA Football Rules Committee approves a tie-breaker format for regular-season games.

March 29-April 1, 1996: Penn State’s Olga Kalinovskaya becomes the first woman to win four straight titles in one event (foil) at the National Collegiate Fencing Championships.

May 14-18, 1996: Methodist wins the first of 16 women’s golf championships team titles between 1996 and 2012 (three in combined Divisions II and III competition and 13 in Division III competition), including 15 straight titles beginning in 1998.

Jan. 13, 1997: Membership restructuring is approved. The new governance structure, which is implemented in August, provides a more federated means of governance, along with a greater leadership role for presidents and chancellors.

May 30-June 1, 1997: Washington wins the first Division I Women’s Rowing Championship.

1997: Marymount basketball student-athlete Corinne Carson becomes one of the first known collegiate athletes to return to the sport after a liver transplant. She is named the WBCA National Player of the Year in Division III for 1997.

March 21, 1998: Washington University in St. Louis wins the first of four straight Division III Women’s Basketball Championships under coach Nancy Fahey.

May 4, 1998: A federal court judge awards $67 million to plaintiffs in the restricted-earnings case. The NCAA and plaintiffs subsequently announced a $54 million settlement.

June 6, 1998: Fifty-two records are broken or tied as Southern California defeats Arizona State, 21-14, in the Division I Baseball Championship title game.

March 12-13, 1999: Wheaton (Massachusetts) wins the first of five straight Division III Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships team titles under coach Paul Souza.

July 27, 1999: The NCAA relocates its national office to Indianapolis.

Nov. 18, 1999: The NCAA and CBS agree to a $6 billion, 11-year agreement for rights to the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship and other championships, including marketing opportunities.

Dec. 11, 1999: Northwest Missouri State wins its second straight Division II Football Championship with a four-overtime, 58-52 victory in the final against Carson-Newman in Florence, Alabama.


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