List of college athletic programs in Kentucky

This is a list of college athletic programs in Kentucky. The main article is College sports.

Notes

• This list is in a tabular format, with columns arranged in the following order, from left to right:
  • Athletic team description (short school name and nickname), with a link to the school's athletic program article if it exists. When only one nickname is listed, it is used for teams of both sexes. (Note that in recent years, many schools have chosen to use the same nickname for men's and women's teams even when the nickname is distinctly masculine.) When two nicknames are given, the first is used for men's teams and the other is used for women's teams. Different nicknames for a specific sport within a school are noted separately below the table.
  • Full name of school.
  • Location of school.
  • Conference of the school (if conference column is left blank, the school is either independent or the conference is unknown).
• Apart from the ongoing conversions, the following notes apply:
  • Following the normal standard of U.S. sports media, the terms "University" and "College" are ignored in alphabetization, unless necessary to distinguish schools (such as Boston College and Boston University) or are actually used by the media in normally describing the school (formerly the case for the College of Charleston, but media now use "Charleston" for that school's athletic program).
  • Schools are also alphabetized by the names they are most commonly referred to by sports media, with non-intuitive examples included in parentheses next to the school name. This means, for example, that campuses bearing the name "University of North Carolina" may variously be found at "C" (Charlotte), "N" (North Carolina, referring to the Chapel Hill campus), and "U" (the Asheville, Greensboro, Pembroke, and Wilmington campuses, all normally referred to as UNC-{campus name}).
  • The prefix "St.", as in "Saint", is alphabetized as if it were spelled out.

NCAA

Division I

Team	School	City	Conference	Sport sponsorship
				Foot- ball	Basketball		Base- ball	Soft- ball	Soccer
					M	W			M	W
Bellarmine Knights [lower-alpha 1]	Bellarmine University	Louisville	Atlantic Sun
Eastern Kentucky Colonels and Lady Colonels	Eastern Kentucky University	Richmond	Ohio Valley	FCS
Kentucky Wildcats	University of Kentucky	Lexington	SEC	FBS					[lower-alpha 2]
Louisville Cardinals	University of Louisville	Louisville	ACC	FBS
Morehead State Eagles	Morehead State University	Morehead	Ohio Valley	FCS [lower-alpha 3]
Murray State Racers [lower-alpha 4]	Murray State University	Murray	Ohio Valley	FCS
Northern Kentucky Norse	Northern Kentucky University	Highland Heights	Horizon
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers	Western Kentucky University	Bowling Green	C-USA	FBS

1. Bellarmine has begun its four-year transition to Division I in 2020–21.
2. Kentucky's men's soccer team competes in Conference USA.
3. Morehead State's football team competes in the Pioneer Football League.
4. Murray State's baseball team is nicknamed "Thoroughbreds" instead of "Racers".

Division II

Team	School	City	Conference	Sport sponsorship
				Foot- ball	Basketball		Base- ball	Soft- ball	Soccer
					M	W			M	W
Kentucky State Thorobreds and Thorobrettes	Kentucky State University	Frankfort	SIAC
Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers	Kentucky Wesleyan College	Owensboro	Great Midwest

Division III

Team	School	City	Conference	Sport sponsorship
				Foot- ball	Basketball		Base- ball	Soft- ball	Soccer
					M	W			M	W
Berea Mountaineers	Berea College	Berea	USA South
Centre Colonels	Centre College	Danville	SAA
Spalding Golden Eagles	Spalding University	Louisville	St. Louis
Transylvania Pioneers	Transylvania University	Lexington	HCAC

NAIA

Team	School	City	Conference	Sport sponsorship
				Foot- ball	Basketball		Base- ball	Soft- ball	Soccer
					M	W			M	W
Alice Lloyd Eagles	Alice Lloyd College	Pippa Passes	River States
Asbury Eagles	Asbury University	Wilmore	River States
Brescia Bearcats	Brescia University	Owensboro	River States
Campbellsville Tigers	Campbellsville University	Campbellsville	Mid-South
Cumberlands Patriots	University of the Cumberlands	Williamsburg	Mid-South
Georgetown Tigers	Georgetown College	Georgetown	Mid-South
Kentucky Christian Knights	Kentucky Christian University	Grayson	Appalachian	[lower-alpha 1]				[lower-alpha 1]
Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders	Lindsey Wilson College	Columbia	Mid-South
Midway Eagles	Midway University	Midway	River States
Pikeville Bears	University of Pikeville	Pikeville	Mid-South
Thomas More Saints	Thomas More University	Crestview Hills	Mid-South
Union Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs	Union College	Barbourville	Appalachian	[lower-alpha 2]

1. Kentucky Christian's football and softball teams compete in the Mid-South Conference.
2. Union's football team competes in the Mid-South Conference.

NCCAA

Team	School	City	Conference
Boyce Bulldogs	Boyce College	Louisville
Simmons College Falcons	Simmons College	Louisville

See also

• List of NCAA Division I institutions
• List of NCAA Division II institutions
• List of NCAA Division III institutions
• List of NAIA institutions
• List of USCAA institutions
• List of NCCAA institutions