The Northern California Athletic Conference was dissolving in the late 1990s. The NCAC (previously called the Far Western Conference) was home to the Chico State Department of Athletics from 1927–1996, and the last remaining NCAA Division II conference made up entirely of departments that did not offer athletic scholarships. Wildcat athletics needed a new home.
 
The most successful conference in Division II—the California Collegiate Athletic Association—was one possibility. Many feared such a move would jeopardize the department's tradition of fielding successful teams. The competition would be fierce. In true Chico State athletics style, the leadership had the courage to make the leap.
 
Throughout 2017–18, The Chico State Department of Athletics is celebrating its 20^th year as a member of the CCAA. The move may have been risky, but the Wildcats have been reaping the rewards ever since.
 
Over its first 19-plus years in the CCAA, twelve Chico State programs combined to claim 72 regular-season conference crowns, more than twice as many as any other school in the conference. The Wildcats have enjoyed great success on the national stage as well, winning the 1999 NCAA Division II baseball title, 16 individual NCAA Championships, and 37 NCAA Championship West Regional titles.
 
The icing on the anniversary cake is the inclusion of Chico State's 13^th sport, women's golf, in the CCAA in 2017–18. The first CCAA Women's Golf Championships will take place April 16-18 at Sonoma Golf Club in Sonoma.
 
Of Chico State's twelve teams that have competed for CCAA titles up to this point, 10 have won at least one conference crown, and seven have claimed three or more, led by the men's cross country team's 16 straight—the longest run by any program in any sport in the conference's history.
 
Every Chico State team has been to the postseason five times or more during its CCAA era, and every team has advanced to the NCAA Championships at least four times, combining for 150 NCAA Championships berths in all. And nine of 11 have won at least one NCAA Championship West Region title (track and field does not have regional championships).
 
Chico State has earned more conference titles than any other athletic department in the conference in each of the past eight years and 13 times in the last 14. The only exception during that run came in 2009 when Chico State tied for the most championships in the CCAA.
 
As the 2017–18 academic year approaches the midway point, it looks as though there are more conference, regional, and national championships around the bend. The Wildcats are feeling very much at home in the CCAA.