ESPNU - College Sports - NCAA Scores and Rankings - NCAA Sports (2025)

FAQs

How many college sports are there? ›

The NCAA oversees a total of 24 sports, many of which are also separated into men's and women's leagues. A typical college will offer 20 varsity sports.

The report further reported that 123,751 (4.5 percent) of these students participated in intercollegiate athletics.

Overall a little over 7% of high school athletes (about 1 in 13) go on to play a varsity sport in college and less than 2% of high school athletes (1 in 57) go on to play at NCAA Division I schools. For additional information, see our page on the Odds of going Pro.

Each year, NCSA Power Rankings recognize the best college athletic programs, broken down by sport and division level. NCSA analyzed over 1,400 college athletic programs across five division levels (D1, FBS, FCS, D2, D3 and NAIA) to develop a list of the Best College Sports Programs for Student-Athletes.

These boat clubs participated in rowing races called Regattas. The creation of these organizations set the stage for the first intercollegiate sporting event in the U.S. This event took place in 1852, when the rowing team from Yale competed against the rowing team from Harvard at Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire.

Baseball, basketball (men's and women's), beach volleyball, bowling, cross country (men's and women's), fencing, field hockey, football, golf (men's and women's), gymnastics (men's and women's), ice hockey (men's and women's), lacrosse (men's and women's), rifle, rowing, skiing, soccer (men's and women's), softball, ...

Fewer than 2 percent of NCAA student-athletes go on to be professional athletes. In reality, most student-athletes depend on academics to prepare them for life after college.

Can you play sports in college without being recruited? ›

NCAA Division II and III, NAIA schools and Junior colleges all welcome walk-ons. NCAA Division I colleges also offer tryouts but it tends to be more difficult. There have been a number of athletes who have walked on to Division I football, basketball and baseball teams.

Football. College football is the most popular college sport by far. During the 2022 season, Americans streamed 4.1 billion minutes of live college football. This high-action sport brings in $31.9 million per school per year², mainly due to TV deals.

Division 1 is the highest level of college sports competition in the United States and includes many of the largest and most well-known universities and athletic programs.

The total number of sports in the world is quite vast. According to the World Sports Encyclopaedia, there are approximately 8,000 indigenous sports and sporting games. However, there are around 200 sports that have international recognition through an international governing body.

Once you start taking college courses (after graduating from high school), you have five years to play four seasons of as many sports as you can. So, yes, you could play four seasons of basketball and then one season of ice hockey (same season) for example.

In all other sports, Division I conferences and member schools compete for the same postseason opportunities. To be a Division I member, FBS schools must sponsor a minimum of 16 sports, and FCS and Division I Subdivision schools must sponsor a minimum of 14 sports.

In Canada, college sports are played by people who meet the minimum academic requirements for entry and get no scholarships. That includes hockey, which isn't even the most prominent college sport - that's still football, which has a well viewed national championship every year.