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Basketball owes its origin to Dr. James Naismith, who devised the sport in 1892. But it was not long before the sport caught on in American colleges. The first official game involving a college team was played between the New Brighton YMCA and the Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania on April 8, 1893, while the first intercollegiate game was played on February 9, 1895. This game saw Minnesota State School of Agriculture defeat Hamline College 9-3. 

The next major landmark was the introduction of the five-player format. This happened on January 18, 1896 during an intercollegiate game in Iowa City. By the early 1900s, the game had spread to 90 colleges, most of them located in the East and Midwest. This number continued to swell and by 1914 as many as 360 colleges had introduced the game.

In 1915 the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States, the NCAA, and the YMCA joined hands to streamline the game, and set up a committee to frame rules. This period also saw the formation of a number of regional conferences.