National Junior College Athletic Association in the context of "Junior college"

College athletics in the United States or college sports in the United States refers primarily to sports and athletic training and competition organized and funded by institutions of tertiary education (universities and colleges) in a two-tiered system.

The first tier includes the sports that are sanctioned by one of the collegiate sports governing bodies. The major sanctioning organizations include the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Individual sports not governed by umbrella organizations like the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA are overseen by their own organizations, such as the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association, National Collegiate Boxing Association, USA Rugby, American College Cricket, National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association and Intercollegiate Rowing Association. Additionally, the first tier is characterized by selective participation since only the elite programs in their sport are able to participate; some colleges offer athletic scholarships to intercollegiate sports competitors. The second tier includes all intramural and recreational sports clubs, which are available to a larger portion of the student body. Competition between student clubs from different colleges, not organized by and therefore not representing the institutions or their faculties, may also be called "intercollegiate" athletics or simply college sports.

Hutchinson is the largest city in and the county seat of Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located along the Arkansas River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 40,006. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City". Each year, Hutchinson hosts the Kansas State Fair, and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Men's Basketball Tournament. It is the home of the Hutchinson Community College, the Cosmosphere aerospace museum, and Strataca underground salt museum.

College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse in Canada is sponsored by the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) and Maritime University Field Lacrosse League (MUFLL), while in the United States, varsity men's and women's lacrosse is governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). There are also university lacrosse programs in the United Kingdom sponsored by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) and programs in Japan.

In the U.S., as of the 2021–22 academic year, there were 74 NCAA-sanctioned Division I men's lacrosse teams, 75 Division II men's lacrosse teams, and 247 Division III men's lacrosse teams. There are 120 Division I women's lacrosse teams, 114 Division II women's lacrosse teams, and 291 Division III women's lacrosse teams. There were also 21 men's programs and 11 women's programs at two-year community colleges organized by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and a growing number of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) four-year small college programs.

College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athletic bodies, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). These national affiliation organizations may be subdivided into divisions, generally based on the number and level of scholarships that may be provided to the athletes. Institutions that play in Division II of the NCCAA are typically small Bible colleges. Some institutions may have multiple affiliations with the most common being USCAA and NCCAA. The NCAA does not allow this. An institution does not need to join a national affiliation orginaization to play college basketball, but this is very rare. As of 2025, Cheyney, a former NCAA member, fields a team with no national affiliation.

Each affiliation organization comprises conferences into which the vast majority of teams are divided. Traditionally, the location of a school has been a significant factor in determining conference affiliation. The bulk of the games on a team's schedule during the season are against fellow conference members. Therefore, geographic proximity of conference members allows local rivalries to develop and minimizes travel costs. Further, televised road games played in the same time zone as that of the visiting team's fans tend to draw larger audiences, which enhances the value of the media rights.