For the men's competition, only KUBF Division 1 members participate in the KUSF U-League.
Teams from Division 2 member institutions participate in the KUSF Club Championship.
They also compete in the MBC Cup, along with club teams (non U-League members).
The Basketball U-League was founded in 2010 (men's competition) and 2015 (women's competition) as part of the Korea University Sports Federation's effort to organize college sports into a more streamlined format similar to the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States.
At that time, basketball was still an amateur sport and teams were all sponsored by corporate companies or universities.