1900s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s
March 2020: A COVID-19 advisory panel is created to help inform the Association about the emerging COVID-19 virus. The idea was to create an expert team representing diverse perspectives that could deliver the most up-to-date information to the NCAA membership, address complex questions and provide recommendations.
March 12, 2020: The Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, which had been played every year since 1939, and the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship are canceled for the first time by the NCAA Board of Governors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All 2020 NCAA winter and spring sports are canceled, as well.
March-April 2021: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all rounds of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship are held in Indianapolis, and all rounds of the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship are held in San Antonio, marking the first time each tournament is played entirely in one geographic region.
June 21, 2021: The Supreme Court upholds a lower court decision that the NCAA can’t limit education-related benefits that colleges can offer student-athletes.
June 30, 2021: Mississippi State wins the Men’s College World Series, becoming the 67th team champion since the return of NCAA championships in March. The total includes eight Division I and National Collegiate championships that were moved from fall 2020 to the spring.
June 30, 2021: Governance bodies in all three NCAA divisions adopt a uniform interim policy suspending name, image and likeness rules for all incoming and current student-athletes in all sports, effective July 1.
July 30, 2021: The Board of Governors vote to convene a special constitutional convention in November, with action expected to be taken at the NCAA's scheduled Convention in January 2022. The Special Convention is intended to propose dramatic changes to the NCAA constitution to reimagine aspects of college sports so the Association can more effectively meet the needs of current and future college athletes.
Aug. 10, 2021: The NCAA Board of Governors announced its appointments of 23 members representing all three divisions to the Constitution Committee, which will identify the core principles that define college sports and propose a new governance model that allows for quicker change without sacrificing broader values, while either reaffirming or redefining those values. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, one of five independent members of the Board of Governors and former president at Texas A&M, was named committee chair.
Jan. 19, 2022: The NCAA Board of Governors adopts a sport-by-sport approach to transgender participation, which calls for transgender participation to be determined by the policy for the national governing body of each sport. If there is no national governing body policy for a sport, that sport’s international federation policy would be followed. If there is no international federation policy, previously established International Olympic Committee policy criteria would be followed.
Jan. 20, 2022: Representatives from campuses and conferences in all three divisions approve a new constitution for the Association at the NCAA Convention. The new constitution provides significant authority to the three divisions to reorganize and restructure.
March 16, 2022: The Division I Women’s Basketball Championship kicks off with the inaugural First Four competition as the bracket expands to 68 teams.
Aug. 31, 2022: Division I adopts changes to the infractions process in an attempt to expedite the process, increase transparency and encourage member cooperation. Among the changes is the discontinuation of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process.
Dec. 15, 2022: The NCAA Board of Governors announces Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker will become the new NCAA president in March, replacing President Mark Emmert.
January 2023: At the NCAA Convention, Divisions II and III make changes to the compositions of their Management and Presidents Councils to align with the new NCAA constitution. The Division II Presidents Council is renamed the Executive Board. Division I endorses modernization recommendations from the division’s Transformation Committee.
April 2023: A 15-month celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX culminates in Dallas, where Divisions I, II and III will crown their women’s basketball champions. The Division I game will be broadcast live on ABC for the first time in 2023.
July 17, 2023: The NCAA announces the creation of the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. The 32-team postseason tournament, which will be owned and funded by the NCAA, will be held annually beginning in 2024. With the addition of the WBIT, 100 postseason NCAA-funded opportunities will be available for Division I women's basketball teams, equal to that of men's basketball through its two events (the 68-team championship and 32-team National Invitation Tournament).
August 2023: Divisions II and III launch 50th anniversary celebrations. The divisions were founded Aug. 6, 1973, when NCAA members voted to reorganize into three divisions at a Special Convention. As part of its celebration, Division II announced two awards to recognize those who have made a difference in the division: the 50th Anniversary Gold Award and the 50th Anniversary Scholarship. The Division III campaign is marking significant moments in the division's past, highlighting a division-wide week of service, celebrating current and former student-athletes and recognizing the relationship the division shares with Special Olympics.
Aug. 2, 2023: The Board of Governors announces the NCAA will offer member schools post-eligibility injury insurance coverage for student-athletes beginning Aug. 1, 2024. The coverage will be for two years after student-athletes complete their college athletics experience and will cover injuries that occur while playing for their school. The post-eligibility injury insurance program will be available to all student-athletes at all member schools in Divisions I, II and III.
Aug. 30, 2023: Nebraska officially breaks the world record for attendance at a women's sporting event at 92,003. Volleyball Day in Nebraska featured four teams across two divisions: Division II programs Wayne State (Nebraska) and Nebraska-Kearney played an exhibition match, followed by a regular-season Division I match between Nebraska and Omaha. The event was held in Memorial Stadium, the home of Nebraska football for 100 years.
Oct. 15, 2023: The Iowa women's basketball team opens the 2023-24 season with a 94-72 victory in its exhibition game with DePaul at Kinnick Stadium in front of 55,646 fans, setting an NCAA single-game record for women’s basketball attendance. The Crossover at Kinnick was also the first women's basketball game to be played outdoors in a football stadium. All net proceeds from the event benefited The University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital.
Oct. 27, 2023: The NIT Board of Managers announces changes for the 2024 National Invitation Tournament that impact how teams qualify. For the 2024 NIT, conference regular-season champions that do not win their conference tournament or are not otherwise selected to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship will not receive an automatic bid to the NIT. Instead, the NIT will guarantee two teams (based on the NET rankings) from each of six conferences (Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern).
Jan. 4, 2024: ESPN and the NCAA reach an eight-year agreement beginning Sept. 1, 2024, for NCAA championships media rights. The deal includes domestic rights to a record 40 NCAA championships — 21 women's and 19 men's events — and international rights to those same NCAA championships plus the Division I men's basketball tournament.
March 2024: The NCAA launches its Draw the Line campaign, which prioritizes student-athlete education on the effects of sports betting while also addressing problem gambling for all who consume and participate in college sports. The Association also has led the charge for states to update their sports betting laws to protect student-athletes from harassment or coercion and protect the integrity of NCAA competition. In the wake of the effort, multiple states have moved to restrict prop bets, wagers not tied to the overall outcome of a game.
April 22, 2024: Division I changes its transfer rules to allow student-athletes who meet certain academic eligibility requirements to be immediately eligible at their next school, regardless of whether they transferred previously. The division also changes name, image and likeness rules to allow schools to help student-athletes identify NIL opportunities and facilitate deals between student-athletes and third parties.
April 23, 2024: Division II approves emergency legislation to eliminate its year-in-residence requirement for undergraduate student-athletes transferring between four-year schools and implement new academic standards for immediate eligibility.
Summer 2024: More than 1,300 current, former and incoming NCAA athletes compete for 125 countries in the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris. Fourteen Olympic teams are made up entirely of athletes with NCAA ties.
Aug. 1, 2024: NCAA post-eligibility insurance coverage goes into effect for all student-athletes, and a series of Division I core guarantees that deliver increased benefits to college athletes goes into effect. The core guarantees include expanded health care coverage; increased mental health support; academic guarantees; and name, image and likeness resources.
Aug. 6, 2024: The Division III Presidents Council takes emergency legislative action to amend transfer rules. Transferring student-athletes no longer have to serve an academic year of residence before being eligible to compete. Student-athletes who transfer while academically ineligible would not be immediately eligible for competition but could regain eligibility after the first term at the new Division III school, based on the school’s academic standards for all student-athletes.
Oct. 10, 2024: Association leaders call on fans and social media platforms to curb abuse of student-athletes after the results of an NCAA study show rampant online harassment.
Jan. 15, 2025: Division I establishes a revenue distribution structure for women’s basketball that is similar to that of the men’s tournament. Teams participating and advancing in the Division I Women's Basketball Championship will earn financial rewards for their conferences, with the value of the revenue distribution funds increasing to $25 million over three years.
Jan. 17, 2025: The NCAA adds women’s wrestling as its 91st championship sport. The NCAA’s first women’s wrestling championship will be in 2026.
Feb. 6, 2025: The NCAA Board of Governors votes to update the Association's participation policy for transgender student-athletes following the Trump administration's executive order. The new policy limits competition in women's sports only to student-athletes assigned female at birth.
April 5, 2025: Former NCAA President Cedric Dempsey dies. His nine years at the helm of the Association were a time of transition and growth, marked by the move of the national office to Indianapolis, the organization’s restructuring and landmark television agreements.
June 6, 2025: A U.S. District Court judge approves the House settlement, resolving three class-actions suits involving the NCAA and the Autonomy 5 conferences. The agreement includes total back damages for student-athletes of approximately $2.78 billion, to be paid over 10 years. It also enables Division I schools to provide up to 22% of the average Autonomy 5 athletic, media, ticket and sponsorship revenue to student-athletes, starting at $20.5 million in the 2025-26 academic year. Additionally, it establishes clear and specific rules to regulate third-party name, image and likeness agreements, along with replacing scholarship limits with roster limits.
