January

Division II delegates at the 2005 NCAA Convention defeat a proposal that would have reduced the equivalency limit in football from 36 to 24.

The Division I Board of Directors agrees on 925 as the cut-off score in the Academic Progress Rate (APR) under which teams will be subject to contemporaneous penalties.

NCAA President Myles Brand in his State of the Association speech refutes several myths about college sports, including the mythical notion that the enterprise is more about sports than college.

February

The NCAA releases first-year APR data, including a list of teams that would have been subject to penalty had the reform structure been enforced this year. The first year of the program served only as a warning.

Division II announces that the University of West Florida will host the second National Championships Festival in November 2006.

First-year outcomes regarding initial-eligibility standards that did not include a cut-off score on the standardized-test component show that student-athletes who would have been ineligible under the former standards performed as well academically or better as their eligible counterparts.

March

Emory University wins its first Division III Women's Swimming and Diving Championships team title.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights issues a clarification regarding Title IX indicating that schools may use online surveys to gauge interest in women's sports. In the calculation, those who don't respond to the survey would be counted as not interested. NCAA President Myles Brand immediately speaks against the proposed practice.

Former NCAA Secretary-Treasurer Prentice Gautt dies after being hospitalized for an illness. Gautt, known as a pioneer for diversity in athletics, was the first black football student-athlete at the University of Oklahoma in 1956.

April

Baylor University wins its first Division I Women's Basketball Championship, while the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, captures its fourth men's title.

Virginia Union University men's basketball coach Dave Robbins becomes the first to win titles in three different decades when his Panthers defeat Bryant University in the final game of the Division II Men's Basketball Championship.

The Division I Board of Directors adopts legislation that provides for a 12th regular-season football game in Division I-A.

May

The women's water polo team from the University of California, Los Angeles, completes an unbeaten season with a 3-2 win over rival Stanford University in the National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship game.

The Men's and Women's Basketball Rules Committees delay their decision on extending the three-point line to at least the 2007-08 season.

Armstrong Atlantic State wins its first Division II Women's Tennis Championship since 1996 over a Brigham Young University, Hawaii, team that had won 130 consecutive matches and was vying for a fourth straight crown.

June

The Presidential Task Force on the Future of Division I Intercollegiate Athletics meets in Tucson, Arizona. The group chaired by University of Arizona President Peter Likins appoints four subcommittees to address the following areas: fiscal responsibility, president/board relationships, academic values and standards, and student-athlete well-being.

The University of Texas at Austin wins a sixth Men's College World Series with a sweep of the University of Florida in the championship series.

The Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet sponsors a legislative proposal that would reduce the baseball playing season by four games.

The Division III Championships Committee recommends that teams be allowed to count games played during institutional breaks as in-region contests.

July

At its annual summit, the Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee says discussion about Division II's identity should not include changing the name of the division. Rather, says SAAC Chair John Semeraro, "Division II should celebrate its regional strengths."

The NCAA Men's Volleyball Committee answers a Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet request for an expanded-bracket proposal by suggesting that eight teams -- twice the current bracket size -- play at one site.

The latest public-perception research shows the NCAA is making headway with its core messages. Focus groups recognize the NCAA logo and readily associate the NCAA with higher education, outcomes not seen in earlier studies.

August

Charlotte Westerhaus begins her role as NCAA vice president for the office of diversity and inclusion.

The NCAA Executive Committee approves a series of recommendations in the spirit of the Association's core principles on diversity and inclusion that would limit the use of Native American mascots, nicknames and imagery at future NCAA championships.

The NCAA acquires the preseason and postseason NITs as part of a settlement with the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association.

The Division I Board of Directors approves an APR adjustment that forgives the retention point for student-athletes who leave in good academic standing to pursue careers in professional sports.

September

The NCAA announces unprecedented flexibility in applying bylaws for institutions affected by the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina. The Association also announces a project in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity that will assist in relief efforts.

The Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet opposes legislation that would extend the one-time transfer exception to all sports.

Division I-AA representatives react coolly to a Division II Football Task Force proposal that would enable football programs in both classifications to choose new competition levels based on how many grants-in-aid they provide.

October

The NCAA Executive Committee appoints a working group to study division membership issues and their potential Association-wide ramifications.

The Division III Presidents Council reacts against membership proposals that would reinstate the practice of redshirting and lengthen the nontraditional season in some sports.

Lauryn McCalley, s former diver at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is named the 2005 NCAA Woman of the Year.

Former University of California, Los Angeles, basketball coach John Wooden and former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh are named as recipients of the NCAA President's Gerald R. Ford Award.

November

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is named the recipient of the NCAA's Theodore Roosevelt Award.

Former Baylor University linebacker Mike Singletary and USA Basketball President Val Ackerman are among recipients of the 2006 NCAA Sliver Anniversary Awards given to successful and influential student-athletes 25 years after their days on the field and courts.

Messiah College becomes the first institution to win the Men's and Women's Soccer Championships in the same year.

December

The 2006 Today's Top VIII includes Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship recipient Sarah Dance from Truman State University.

The University of Portland wins its second Women's College Cup with a 4-0 win over the University of California, Los Angeles.

Grand Valley State University thwarts a last-second Northwest Missouri State University scoring attempt to win the Division II Football Championship.