# Northern California Athletic Conference

The Northern California Athletic Conference (NCAC) was an NCAA Division II college athletic association that sponsored American football that was founded in 1925. It disbanded in 1998 after the majority of its member schools were forced to drop football.

## History

The NCAC was founded as the Far Western Conference (FWC) in 1925 by its charter member schools: Fresno State, Saint Mary's, UC Davis, Nevada, San Jose State and College of the Pacific.
Nevada's departure from the conference in 1940 left the conference with only four members: Chico State, Fresno State, College of the Pacific and UC Davis. The conference looked to four nominees in Humboldt State (joined in 1940), San Francisco State, Santa Barbara State College (later UC Santa Barbara) and California Poly of San Luis Obispo.
Shortly after World War II, the remaining members, with the exception of UC Davis, Chico State and Humboldt State, would leave for other conferences, to be replaced over the years by San Francisco State (joined in 1946), Southern Oregon (1947), Sacramento State (1953), Hayward State (1961) and Sonoma State (1966). During the 1990s, each of the universities associated with the California State system chose to disband their football teams in order to comply with Title IX, with the exception of Humboldt State, which added two women's sports to achieve compliance, Sacramento State, and Cal Poly.

## Members

| Institution | Location | Founded | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference |
| Cal State Hayward | Hayward, CA | 1956 | Pioneers | 1961 | 1998 | CCAA |
| Chico State | Chico, CA | 1887 | Wildcats | 1928 | 1998 | CCAA |
| Fresno State | Fresno, CA | 1911 | Bulldogs | 1925 | 1940 | Mountain West (Pac-12 in 2026) |
| Humboldt State | Arcata, CA | 1913 | Lumberjacks | 1940 | 1998 | CCAA |
| Nevada | Reno, NV | 1874 | Wolf Pack | 1925 1953 | 1940 1969 | Mountain West |
| Notre Dame (CA) | Belmont, CA | 1851 | Argonauts | 1988 | 1998 | Discontinued athletics |
| Pacific (CA) | Stockton, CA | 1911 | Tigers | 1925 | 1942 | West Coast |
| Sacramento State | Sacramento, CA | 1947 | Hornets | 1953 | 1985 | Big Sky |
| St. Ignatius | San Francisco, CA | 1855 | Dons | 1927 | 1929 | West Coast |
| Saint Mary's | Moraga, CA | 1863 | Gaels | 1925 | 1927 | West Coast |
| San Francisco State | San Francisco, CA | 1899 | Gators | 1946 1953 | 1951 1998 | CCAA |
| San Jose State | San Jose, CA | 1857 | Spartans | 1929 | 1935 | Mountain West |
| Sonoma State | Rohnert Park, CA | 1960 | Cossacks (now Seawolves) | 1966 1982 | 1974 1998 | CCAA |
| Southern Oregon | Ashland, OR | 1872 | Raiders | 1947 | 1953 | Cascade Collegiate |
| Stanislaus State | Turlock, CA | 1957 | Warriors | 1975 | 1998 | CCAA |
| UC Davis | Davis, CA | 1905 | Aggies | 1925 | 1998 | Big West (Mountain West in 2026) |

### Membership timeline

Full members Full members (non-football) Football-only members

## Conference champions
### Baseball

* 1983: San Francisco State
* 1990: Sonoma State
* 1991: Sonoma State
* 1992: Sonoma State
* 1998: Sonoma State

### Women's volleyball

* 1995: Sonoma State
* 1997: Sonoma State

### Men's soccer

* 1974: Cal-State Hayward
* 1975: Cal-State Hayward
* 1976: Cal-State Hayward
* 1977:
* 1978:
* 1979:
* 1980:
* 1981:
* 1982: Cal-State Hayward
* 1983: Cal-State Hayward
* 1984: Cal-State Hayward
* 1985: Chico State
* 1986: Chico State
* 1987: Chico State
* 1988: Cal-State Hayward
* 1989: Cal-State Hayward
* 1990: Sonoma State
* 1991: Sonoma State
* 1993: Sonoma State
* 1995: Sonoma State
* 1996: Sonoma State
* 1997: Sonoma State

### Women's soccer

* 1982:
* 1983: Cal-State Hayward
* 1984: Cal-State Hayward
* 1985: Cal-State Hayward
* 1986: Cal-State Hayward
* 1987: Cal-State Hayward
* 1988: Cal-State Hayward (National champions)

### Women's basketball

* 1998: Sonoma State

### Softball

* 1978: Fresno State
* 1982: Fresno State
* 1983: Fresno State
* 1985: Fresno State
* 1986: Fresno State