Carl C. James was an American collegiate sports executive. He was the commissioner of the Big Eight Conference from 1980 through 1996. In 1996 he was awarded the James J. Corbett Memorial Award given by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) “to the collegiate administrator who through the years has most typified Corbett’s devotion to intercollegiate athletics and worked unceasingly for its betterment.”