This is a list of U.S. universities and colleges that have won the most team sport national championships (more than 15) that have been bestowed for the highest level of collegiate athletic competition, be that at either the varsity or club level, as determined by the governing organization of each sport.
Scope of the list
While many collegiate sports championships in the United States are now sponsored by the NCAA, historically this was not the case, and many championships were organized for decades without NCAA sponsorship. This list includes both (i) NCAA championships and (ii) titles won in competitions organized by bodies other than the NCAA.
The column in the list below that sets forth NCAA championships includes (but is not limited to) all non-football titles won at the highest level organized by the NCAA (Division I/Collegiate), as of July 1, 2023, for sports years through that date[2] and with updated results for subsequent sports year(s). (In accordance with the NCAA's own records, this column includes certain "unofficial" NCAA championships won during years the NCAA did not calculate winning team scores – boxing from 1932 through 1947, track and field from 1925 to 1927, and wrestling in 1928 and 1931–1933.)[3][4][5] It also includes the short-lived trampoline titles in 1969–1970. Other championships are set forth in other columns. For example, women's sports were solely organized by the AIAW rather than the NCAA prior to the 1981–1982 year of dual championships, and these titles are included in their own separate column.[6] Notably, the championship in the highest level of NCAA football (FBS) to date is still not sponsored by the NCAA, nor has the oldest organized intercollegiate competition, men's rowing, ever been subject to NCAA control (included in the "Other Team Titles" column).[7]
"Other team titles" column
The "Other team titles" column includes championships won by schools in one of the 27 sports that are (or were) sponsored by the NCAA or AIAW, during years competitive championships were organized by other bodies. These 27 sports are: women's badminton; baseball; basketball; women's bowling; boxing; cross country; fencing; field hockey; golf; gymnastics; ice hockey; lacrosse; indoor rifle; outdoor rifle; women's rowing; skiing; soccer; softball; swimming; women's synchronized swimming; tennis; indoor track; outdoor track; men's trampoline; volleyball; women's beach volleyball, water polo; and wrestling. Finally, the "Other team titles" column also includes championships won in three other sports: men's rowing (1871–present), which has voluntarily remained outside NCAA sponsorship, and two NCAA "emerging sports" that organize championships, women's equestrian (2002–present) and women's rugby (1991–present).[8][9]
^ abcdefThe NCAA started sponsoring the intercollegiate golf championship in 1939, but it retained the titles from the 41 championships previously conferred by the National Intercollegiate Golf Association in its records. Of these pre-NCAA titles, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Michigan, Dartmouth and Stanford won 20, 11, 6, 2, 1 and 1, respectively. These titles are counted in the "Other team titles" column.
^ abcdeThe NCAA Committee on Infractions has vacated the following championships, which are not included in the schools' totals: Arkansas' 2004 and 2005 men's outdoor track and field championships, LSU's 2012 women's outdoor track and field championship, UCLA's 1995 softball championship, Syracuse's 1990 men's lacrosse championship, and Florida State's 2007 men's outdoor track and field championship.
^Denver's gymnastics championship at the AIAW Division II level is not included in its Total column because it was not won at the highest level of competition (Division I).
^Utah's cross-country championship at the AIAW Division II level is not included in its Total column because it was not won at the highest level of competition (Division I).
^Although not currently an NCAA Division I school, Tuskegee University won all 18 of its national championships at the highest level of competition in the United States, prior to establishment of collegiate divisions.
^The first year of NCAA sponsorship of the boxing championship was 1932. Before 1948, NCAA team boxing championships were unofficial because team points were not officially awarded.
^The first year of NCAA sponsorship of the swimming championship was 1924. Before 1937, NCAA team swimming championships were unofficial because team points were not officially awarded.
^National Collegiate Equestrian Association. "The Real Facts About NCEA Programs". CollegiateEquestrian.com - The Official Site of the NCEA. Archived from the original on 2018-06-24. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
^Kieran, John (June 24, 1940). "The Collegiate Touch on the Links"(PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2015. The intercollegiate championship is rising in importance in golf with each passing year. ... The N.C.A.A. has taken over the administration of the college fray and their delegate in charge on the field is none other than Chick Evans, the old champion and one of the greatest shot-makers the game ever knew, amateur or professional.
^ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 526, 529–87. ISBN978-0-345-51392-2.
^Coyne, Tom (December 30, 2012). Written at South Bend, Indiana. "National titles: Who decides? Mostly, the schools". Hattiesburg American. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Associated Press. Retrieved November 1, 2022. No wonder "mythical" is the word that often precedes national title. "There is no official standard because there is no official national champion," said Kent Stephens, historian at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend. "It all depends on the standard the school wishes to utilize. The national champion is in the eye of the beholder."
^Hunt, Virginia (1977). Governance of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics: an Historical Perspective (Doctoral Dissertation, University of North Carolina - Greensboro, 1976). Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms. pp. 1–319.
^Willey, Suzanne (1997). The Governance of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics: Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), 1976–1982 (Thesis (P.E.D.), Indiana University, 1996). Eugene, Oregon: Microform Publications. pp. 1–351.
^Sparks, F.; Rees, C. (1979). A Survey of Basic Mathematics. McGraw-Hill. ISBN978-0-07-059902-4.
^Swegan, Scott; Lowery, Nate (2021). 2021 Stanford Football Media Guide(PDF). Stanford University Athletic Communications Department. p. 76. Retrieved March 18, 2022. National Championships – 1926, 1940 The 1926 team was declared national champions by the Dickinson System, Helms Athletic Foundation, National Championship Foundation and Sagarin Ratings. Although Minnesota was declared national champions in the final 1940 Associated Press Poll, which was the best-known and most widely circulated poll of sportswriters and broadcasters in determining the national champion, Stanford was recognized as national champions by the Billingsley Report, Helms Athletic Foundation and Poling System.
^Stanford's 15 other titles are: men's golf (1938); 4x women's rugby (1999, 2005–06, 08); 9x women's synchronized swimming (1998, 99, 2005–08, 13, 16, 21); women's water polo (1985).
^UCLA's 11 other titles are: women's golf (1971); women's volleyball (1972); 5x men's volleyball (1953, 54, 56, 65, 67); 4x women's water polo (1996–98, 2000).
^USC Sports Information Office (2014). 2014 USC Football Media Guide(PDF). University of Southern California. p. 114. Archived(PDF) from the original on November 4, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
^USC's 5 other titles are: 2x men's volleyball (1949, 50); 2x beach volleyball (2009, 2015); women's water polo (1999).
^Over a Century of Tradition(PDF). Cornell Athletics Communications Office. 2015. p. 3. Archived(PDF) from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
^2021 Navy Football Media Guide(PDF). Naval Academy Athletic Association. 2021. pp. 8–9. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2022. This was the case when Navy earned its lone national championship in 1926
^Texas' 1 other title is in beach volleyball (2008).
^2021 Cal Football Record Book. University of California Athletics. 2021. pp. 59, 62–63. Archived(PDF) from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
^Michigan's 9 other titles are: 2x men's golf (1934, 35); 7x men's swimming, unofficial NCAA (1927, 28, 31, 32, 34–36). The NCAA total includes 2 titles awarded by the NCAA in trampoline, during the only two seasons the NCAA sponsored the sport (1969, 70), after it was separated from gymnastics.
^ Written at Seattle. "University Rifle Team Takes National Honors". The Bellingham Herald. Bellingham, Washington. May 27, 1925. Retrieved June 6, 2024. A recheck of the points made in the National Rifle association shows the men's varsity rifle team of the University of Washington to be the national champions. Their score was 2,968 points out of a possible 3,000.
^ Written at San Francisco. "Huskies Win Rifle Crown". The Pasadena Post. Pasadena. International News Service. May 12, 1932. Retrieved June 6, 2024. University of Washington captured first place in the senior national intercollegiate rifle team matches, Ninth Corps Area Headquarters announced here today. The winning score was 7811. Washington State College won second place with 7732.
^Cunha, Steve (September 14, 2021). 2021 Penn Football Fact Book(PDF). University of Pennsylvania Office of Athletic Communications. pp. 6, 60–61. Archived(PDF) from the original on March 10, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
^Parkinson, Kyle; Grigg, Oliver; Tafolla, Grace, eds. (2022). "1964 National Champions". Arkansas Razorbacks 2022 Media Guide(PDF). University of Arkansas and Learfield. pp. 4, 114. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
^LSU's 1 other claimed title is in men's basketball, where the school won an inter-regional postseason match arranged against Pittsburgh in 1935 (the "American Legion Bowl"), prior to the creation of the NIT or NCAA basketball tournaments. LSU is the only school that officially claims a basketball national championship on the basis of a win in the American Legion Bowl, an event that made no claim to determine a national champion.
^Georgia's 7 other titles are all in women's equestrian (2003, 04, 08–10, 14, 21).
^"Columbia Football 2021 Record Book"(PDF). Columbia University Athletics. pp. 240–241, 244. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2022. Columbia has claimed two mythical national championships: in 1875 and 1933. The 1875 team went 4-1-1 and was named national champions, while the 1933 squad defeated Stanford and was referred to as a national champ.
^Virginia's 2 other titles are in men's lacrosse (1952, 70).
^2022 Iowa Football Media Guide(PDF). University of Iowa Athletic Department. 2022. pp. 2, 151, 196, 202. Archived(PDF) from the original on August 4, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022. Iowa Quick Facts – National Champions: 1921, 1922, 1956, 1958, 1960 | the Hawkeyes were named national champions by the Football Writers Association in 1958, and by various rating services in 1921, 1922, 1956, and 1960. | Mythical National Champions – Iowa football has been voted mythical national champions by different media services on five occasions. 1921, 1922, 1956, 1958, 1960
^Iowa's 6 other titles are: 5x rifle (regular season: 1911, 18; title meet: 29, 40, 46); women's track & field (1924).
^Minnesota's 4 other titles are: 2x men's rifle (1933, 41); men's ice hockey (1940); women's ice hockey (2000).
^Maxon, Josh; Moore, Cami; Paré, Jessica; Thompson, Alex (2021). 2021 Alabama Football Media Guide(PDF). University of Alabama. pp. 3, 108–128. Archived(PDF) from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022. National Championships – 18 – 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1941, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020
^Villanova's 6 other titles are all in men's indoor track (1957, 58, 60, 62–64).
^Miami's 1 other title is in women's golf (1970). It was bestowed by the DGWS, the forerunner of the AIAW.
^Tricard, Louise Mead (1996). American Women's Track and Field – A History, 1895 through 1980. Jefferson, North Carolina, U.S.: McFarland & Co., Inc. pp. 52, 56–58.