Northern Arizona University Athletics

Northern Arizona competes in NCAA Division I, meaning serious athletic competition with full scholarships and regional television coverage. The Lumberjacks field 11 varsity sports with 338 total athletes, representing just 1.5% of the 23,041-student body. NAU awards $6.4 million in athletic scholarships annually across its programs. The school competes in the Big Sky Conference alongside other western universities. Cross country and track stand out as the university's strongest programs, with teams regularly competing for conference titles in the high-altitude training environment of Flagstaff. The 7,000-foot elevation gives NAU distance runners a natural advantage when competing at lower altitudes. Basketball games draw decent crowds to the Walkup Skydome, though football was discontinued in the 1990s. Arizona State remains the primary in-state rival across all sports.