Considering the significance of resilience in coping with adversity, how to improve college students’ resilience is worthy of attention. Previous studies have revealed that physical activity can promote resilience; however, few studies examined the mediating factors between them. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of physical activity on resilience, as well as the mediating effects of competence need, autonomy need, and relatedness need between physical activity and resilience. The study involved 2375 college students (1110 males and 1265 females), with an average age of 20.25 years (SD = 2.04). Participants completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form, Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale, and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Results showed that physical activity was positively associated with resilience, and the three basic needs played significant mediating roles between physical activity and resilience. The indirect effect of competence need was significantly greater than that of autonomy need and relatedness need. To conclude, physical activity plays an important role in resilience among college students, and the satisfaction of competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs mediates the relationship between physical activity and resilience, among which, competence need appears as the strongest mediator.