NCPA Conferences

NCPA Conferences - Compete Locally, Excel Nationally

Join your university in NCPA Conferences and battle for Nationals bids, prize money, and top rankings.

Register Your University

How Do Conferences Work?

League Style Play

Conferences are your opportunity to compete locally, build momentum, and prepare for the National Championship. Each conference operates as a local season league, where universities square off close to home — keeping competition simple, accessible, and highly competitive.

  • Each school plays every other school once.
  • Teams earn points for every match win.
  • The university with the most points at season's end wins their conference.

Conference Structure

Conferences are made up of ~8 geographically grouped schools, ensuring all matchups are nearby and easy to travel to.

Each university fields two teams per matchup, with 4–6 players per team (2–3 men and 2–3 women).

Conferences are separate from Regionals and Nationals—offering extra local, organized gameplay but not required for qualification.
NCPA Conference Map

Match Format — Stage 1

  • Each university fields two teams (4–6 players each)
  • Two matches per university matchup: Team 1 vs Team 1, Team 2 vs Team 2 (4-6 teams each)
  • Winning university = most total match wins
  • Tied 1–1? Play a Sudden Death Dreambreaker

Sudden Death Dreambreaker Overview

Each university chooses its top players from Team 1 and Team 2 to compete in a final Sudden Death Dreambreaker to 11, win by 2. This mirrors match play, except you may select players from both teams.

Division 1 Team Format

Payouts

Prize Distribution

1st Place: $1,200 + Bid to Nationals

2nd Place: $600

There must be at least 6 universities in a conference for full payout eligibility.

Season Calendar

Conference Season Timeline

League Play: September – February

Registration Deadline: October 1 or before your first conference match

Season End: One month before Nationals

National Championship: March

Points System

  • 1 point per individual match win
  • 1 bonus point for winning the overall conference match
  • Maximum: 3 points per conference match
  • Team 1 Match Win (1pt)
  • Team 2 Match Win (1pt)
  • Overall Match Win (1pt)
  • The university with the highest total points in its conference is crowned the Conference Champion.

View Conferences and Matchups

Registration Info

  • Opens: September 1st
  • Closes: October 1st
  • Fee: $75 per player
Register Here
Missed the deadline? Email ncpa.official.contact@gmail.com to inquire about late registration.

Scheduling & Summary

Communication & Coordination

Conference groups on GroupMe will lock in one weekend and location for competition. We recommend using university courts or local facilities that provide free court time to keep venue costs at zero.

Dates won't work perfectly for everyone—majority will decide on the date and location, and we ask everyone to stay as flexible as possible.

Competition Window

September–February, finishing ~1 month before Nationals. Each team plays one match against every other school.

Flexible Scheduling

Complete all matches in one weekend or spread across multiple days. *Each match takes approximately one hour.

Team Requirements

Two teams of 4–6 players each (min 8 players). Up to 5 matches/day depending on conference size.

Conference Championship (Coming Fall 2026)

Overview

The Conference Championship is the next step beyond your local conference head-to-head matchups. It serves as both a premier regional competition and a national-level showcase, open to all universities across the country.

Participation in your local conference is not required to compete in the Conference Championship.

Prize Pool

$20,000+ in total payouts will be awarded across all divisions.

Competition Format

Division 1 (D1)

  • Follows the official NCPA Conference Format
  • 2 teams of 4–6 players per university
  • Multiple elimination rounds played over three days
  • Teams first battle within their regional bracket, then face off against champions from other regions
  • Individual match format mirrors the local conference match structure

Pool Play

Teams are placed into regional pools of four:

  • Southwest (SW)
  • Northwest (NW)
  • South Central (SC)
  • North Central (NC)
  • Southeast (SE)
  • Northeast (NE)

Each team plays every opponent in their pool.

Results from pool play determine seeding for single elimination.

Regional Single Elimination

Teams are seeded into three regional brackets:

  • West (SW + NW)
  • Central (SC + NC)
  • East (SE + NE)

The top 4 teams from each regional bracket advance (12 total).

Advancing teams are seeded 1–12 based on performance.

The top 4 seeds receive a first-round bye.

Final Bracket

The Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals determine the overall Conference Champion.

Divisions 2 & 3 (D2 & D3)

  • Individual and challenger brackets running all weekend
  • Functions exactly like Regionals and Nationals

View the Full NCPA Format

Scoring and Placement

  • Captains record all scores on NCPA Software
  • Player ratings, university rankings, and standings automatically update
Access NCPA Software

Promotion & Relegation (Coming 2026)

  • Top schools from each regional conference advance to the elite conferences the following year (PAC-12, BIG 12, ATL-12)
  • Bottom-performing elite programs are relegated back to regional play