What exactly is the NCAA and what conferences fall under it!? Great question!
The NCAA stands for the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It is a non-profit organisation that is responsible for the regulation of athletes and over 1281 institutions. The headquarters for the NCAA is located in Indianapolis, Indiana and was founded in 1910. The current three division set up was implemented in August 1973.
There are three divisions, Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3. The only exception to the three-division system is in American Football where there are two: First Division; The Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Football and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as well as Division 2 and Division 3.
There are 11 different conferences in Division 1 and they are; American Athletic Conference (AAC), Atlantic Coast, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Conference (ACC), Conference USA, Division 1 FBS Independents, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, Pacific-12 Conference, Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Sun Belt Conference.