Michigan Knights Competitors

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball. Built around five professional sports leagues: the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 214 countries and territories in more than 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2025-26 season featured a record 135 international players from a record-tying 43 countries.The NBA’s digital assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass. The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 2.5 billion likes and followers globally across all leagues, team and player platforms. The NBA’s Tap to Watch provides seamless access to local, national and global live game telecasts via the NBA App, NBA.com, third-party digital platforms and NBA partner platforms. NBA Cares, the NBA’s global social impact platform, drives change on issues facing fans and communities in the areas of health and wellness, civic engagement, social justice and inclusion, and sustainability.

As Indiana’s premier urban public research university, IUPUI believes in the power of transformation. We are committed to providing educational opportunities that transform the lives of our students, our community, and the changing world around us. It was this commitment that was behind the merger of the Indianapolis campuses and programs of IUPUI—some of which are more than 100 years old—that won accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission in 1969, creating IUPUI. And it’s what binds us together today. We’re now Indiana’s premier urban research university offering more than 550 undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs from Indiana University and Purdue University.

The University of Michigan has a rich and storied athletics tradition. Intercollegiate competition officially began in 1865-66 when the baseball team won its first three contests it played that season. In 1879, football started its storied tradition. Women's athletics established formal varsity sports in 1973-74 with U-M fielding basketball, field hockey, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball teams. Men's soccer and women's water polo were added as varsity sports in 2000-01. Michigan athletic teams have claimed more than 50 national championships in 12 sports over the years, beginning with football's 1901 national title. Since then, Wolverine dynasties have developed in football, men's swimming and diving and ice hockey. In fact, no other NCAA Division I program boasts more national titles in hockey or men's swimming and diving than the Wolverines. In 2005, Michigan softball captured the nation's attention, winning its first Women's College World Series and becoming the first school east of the Mississippi to do so. Go Blue!