College Sports Realignment for 2024 and Beyond

Editor’s note: This post has been updated as of Tuesday, September 19, 2023. Note that this list only reflects changes in effect beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. For a list of changes happening in the current 2023-24 academic year, click here. A list of changes for the current 2022-23 academic year can be found here while changes prior to 2022-23 can be found here while the changes for the. This article will be updated throughout the current academic year as more changes become known.

The calendar has shifted to July and with it is a new academic year. That means we can begin looking to the future for the changes happening for the next academic year in 2024-25. We will list the known changes for Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, and the NAIA below. This list will not include previous years’ changes from 2021-22, 2020-21, or earlier realignment moves. If you are looking for a list of changes effective with the current 2023-24 academic year, please click here.

New with this release is our companion article, which looks at each conference in the NCAA and NAIA individually. In that article, you can get a timeline view of any changes that will occur starting with the 2023-24 academic year and going forward. Please note, the article may take a little longer to load than normal due to the larger number of tables in the article. We also publish Realignment Reports twice a month for individual sports changes as well as any other potential realignment happenings.

If you are looking for a specific division and additional information, click here for Division 1, here for Division 2, here for Division 3, and here for NAIA. Clicking the new conference for the school in question (3rd column in the table) will take you directly to the day of the update, which will provide additional information. An external link to the news is provided in the 4th column called First Season in New Conference. Here’s a tip for mobile users: you can scroll to the right to find additional columns shown in the table.

NCAA Division 1 Realignment Changes

9/6/23 Update: West Georgia (Carrollton, Georgia) is joining the ASUN (and United Athletic Conference in football) beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Matt Brown of Extra Points was the first to break the news. West Georgia is currently a Division 2 member of the Gulf South Conference and would need to undertake a 4-year transition process to reclassify to Division 1. West Georgia is effectively taking the place of Kennesaw State, which is leaving for C-USA in 2024-25 and will put the ASUN membership at 12 teams. Meanwhile, the UAC would have 10 football members with an 11th on the way in 2025 when UTRGV’s football program begins.

9/1/23 Update: The ACC voted to expand from 14 full members (plus Notre Dame in all sports other than football) to 17 full members. California, SMU, and Stanford will become members effective with the 2024-25 academic year. SMU will forego 9 years of media revenue to join the ACC while Cal and Standford will only receive 30% shares of the ACC payouts. As for the Pac-12, only Oregon State and Washington State remain but that may not last long if the Mountain West or AAC make formal invitations.

8/10/23 Update: Bryant University will leave the Big South-OVC football arrangement to join the CAA as a football-only member. Bryant joined the Big South for football-only in 2022 and will become the 16th football member of the CAA in 2024. What becomes of the Big South’s football schools remains to be seen but there will only be three remaining: Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, and Robert Morris. All three will play in the Big South-OVC Football Association until that agreement is up in 2026 (or sooner based on recent developments).

8/4/23 Update: The Pac-12 has suffered a huge blow as three schools are on the move. Arizona is headed to the Big 12 while the duo of Oregon and Washington are going to the Big Ten. All three moves are effective beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Later in the evening of August 4, the Big 12 voted to accept the membership applications of Arizona State and Utah. The Pac-12 is now down to 4 teams as of this update: California, Oregon State, Stanford, and Washington State… for now.

7/27/23 Update: Another major realignment domino has fallen. Colorado is leaving the Pac-12 to return to the Big 12. The Buffaloes to the Big 12 beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Colorado was a founding member of the Big 12 Conference when it was formed in 1996 and remained until the 2010-11 academic year. After more than a decade in the Pac-12, Colorado will return to become the 13th member, and the Big 12 is likely to make additional moves to reach 14 or 16 full members.

7/1/23 Update: The updates will begin with the backlog of previously known moves. The biggest is that Oklahoma and Texas will leave the Big 12 and join the SEC while UCLA and USC will leave the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten. All four teams will move beginning with the 2024-25 academic year.

Kennesaw State will leave the FCS ranks and the ASUN conference to join Conference USA beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. The Owls have performed well at the FCS level and will join former recent FCS programs in Jacksonville State, Liberty, and Sam Houston State.

IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) will be splitting into 2 separate universities by the start of the 2024-25 academic year. Indiana University will keep the Indianapolis campus location and change the name to Indiana University Indianapolis. Indiana University Indianapolis will retain the IUPUI athletics program and nickname of the Jaguars.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley made it official that football will begin in 2025. The Vaqueros were scheduled to join the WAC in 2025 but the merger of the ASUN and WAC football programs into the United Athletic Conference means UTRGV will join the UAC. In addition, the school announced it added women’s swimming and diving to its sports offerings with the first season in the fall of 2024.

In a football-only move, Western Illinois will leave the Missouri Valley Football Conference and join the Ohio Valley Conference in 2024-25. WIU moved its other sports programs to the OVC effective with the 2023-24 academic year.

NCAA Division 2 Realignment Changes

9/14/23 Update: Trevecca Nazarene (Nashville, Tennessee) will leave the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) and join the Gulf South Conference beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. TNU will help offset the loss of West Georgia, which announced it will leave the GSC and move up to Division 1 earlier in September although TNU does not have a football team. The GSC will have 11 members beginning in 2024-25 as of this update.

7/20/23 Update: The University of Texas at Dallas is on the move after it accepted an invite from the Division 2 Lone Star Conference. The Comets will apply for NCAA Division 2 provisional membership to begin with the 2024-25 academic year. The school would then join the Lone Star starting with the 2025-26 academic year. UTD is currently a member of the Division 3 American Southwest Conference, which has been hemorrhaging members. The ASC only has 5 committed members as of this update with East Texas Baptist, Hardin-Simmons, Howard Payne, LeTourneau, and Mary Hardin-Baylor.

7/14/23 Update: Talladega College‘s (Talladega, Alabama) application to the NCAA was not accepted by the Division 2 Membership Committee. The school announced in early 2023 they intended to leave the NAIA and join the NCAA but that will not happen. The earliest the transition could begin is 2024-25, however, that requires acceptance by the NCAA membership committee. It is unclear why Talladega’s application was not accepted.

7/1/23 Update: Anderson University (Anderson, South Carolina) will be adding football with the intent to join the South Atlantic Conference starting with the 2024-25 season.

Arkansas-Fort Smith (Fort Smith, Arkansas) will leave the Lone Star Conference to join the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. UAFS will become the 14th member of the MIAA when they join and will offset the loss of Lincoln (Missouri) the same year. The MIAA will be comprised of members from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Lincoln University (Jefferson City, Missouri) will be moving to the Great Lakes Valley Conference beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Lincoln University also announced it will add baseball, men’s soccer, and women’s soccer as part of the move to the GLVC.

Conference Carolinas’ decision to bring back football starting in 2025-26 will result in numerous changes at the D2 level. Barton, Chowan, Erskine, North Greenville, Shorter, and UNC Pembroke are the six teams that will compete in the first season back. Barton will move over from the South Atlantic Conference. Chowan, Erskin, and North Greenville will leave the Gulf South Conference to join the CC. Shorter University will spend the 2023 season in the Gulf South but then become a D2 independent for the 2024 season and move to the CC in 2025. UNC Pembroke will leave the Mountain East Conference.

The PacWest Conference will add three members beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Jessup University (Rocklin, California), Menlo College (Atherton, California), and Vanguard University (Costa Mesa, California) will leave the NAIA’s Golden State Athletic Conference to transition into the NCAA.

Post University (Waterbury, Connecticut) will be joining the Northeast-10 Conference as a football-only member beginning in 2024-25. The Eagles recently moved football from a sprint team to a varsity team and spent the 2022 season as a Division 2 independent. Post will be an independent once again in 2023 before joining the NE-10 in 2024.

Roosevelt University (Chicago, Illinois) has completed and submitted its application to become a member at the NCAA Division 2 level. The school has already been accepted as a provisional member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and would spend the 2023-24 season in its current NAIA conference – the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. The school would be eligible for GLIAC championships beginning in 2024-25 and NCAA championships in 2026-27.

Sul Ross State will join the Lone Start Conference for the 2024-25 academic year. Sul Ross State currently plays in the Division 3 American Southwest Conference, which they have been a member of since the conference’s inception in 1996.

Talladega College (Talladega, Alabama) is also looking to move up to the NCAA Division 2 level. They were previously a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and that is where they hope to return. The transition process will begin in 2023-24 and they would become a SIAC member in 2024-25 if they were invited.

Talladega is not the only SSAC school with NCAA Division 2 aspirations. Middle Georgia State (Macon, Georgia) announced they plan to apply to Division 2 (paywall warning) and are targeting a 2025-26 start date as a provision NCAA member. Middle Georgia State plans to join the Peach Belt Conference to help reduce travel but they will need to apply to the PBC first (and then get accepted).

NCAA Division 3 Realignment Changes

9/19/23 Update: Regent University (Virginia Beach, Virginia) is looking to join the NCAA Division 3 beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Regent is currently a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). Should Regent’s application be accepted, the 2024-25 academic year would be an exploratory year followed by three additional years as a provisional member. Regent is planning to add additional sports to be in compliance with the NCAA such as baseball, men’s volleyball, and softball. It is not yet known which conference Regent will join.

8/21/23 Update: The Empire 8 Conference will add two new members beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. State University of New York at Brockport (SUNY Brockport) and State University of New York at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo) will both leave the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC). The Empire 8 will grow to 11 members while the SUNYAC will fall to 8 full members in 2024-25. Brockport is familiar with the Empire 8 as the football team is already an affiliate member of the conference.

7/1/23 Update: There are some big changes coming to the American Southwest and Southern Collegiate Athletic Conferences in the future. Six schools will leave the ASC to join other D3 conferences. Leaving the ASC to join the SCAC beginning in 2024-25 are Austin College (football-only move), Concordia (TX), McMurry, Texas Lutheran (joining no later than 2026-27 but possibly earlier), and the University of the Ozarks.

The moves don’t stop there for the SCAC. Centenary College (LA) will revive its football program, which will begin competition in 2024-25 in the SCAC while Schreiner University will start its own football program to join the SCAC in 2025 or 2026. Lyon College will also join the SCAC as a football-only member beginning in 2024-25.

Also leaving the ASC is Southwestern (TX), which will join the Southern Athletic Association for all sports beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. Southwestern joined the SAA as a football-only affiliate in 2023-24. Southwestern will be joined by Trinity (TX) in the SAA in 2025-26 as well.

Berea College (Berea, Kentucky) is leaving the Collegiate Conference of the South to join the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Berea will be the 11th member of the HCAC assuming there are no defections between now and the 2024-25 season.

Cabrini University (Radnor, Pennsylvania) will be sold to Villanova University in nearby Philadelphia. Cabrini will be open for the 2023-24 academic year but will no longer exist beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Students that remain with the school will matriculate to Villanova beginning in 2024-25. Cabrini is a full member of the Division 3 Atlantic East Conference and will remain at 7 schools with the addition of Pratt and the loss of Cabrini.

Speaking of Pratt, the Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, New York) will leave the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) and join the Atlantic East Conference beginning in the 2024-25 academic year. The C2C is made up of schools all across the US to help with athletic scheduling while the AEC will be comprised of schools from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia when Pratt joins.

Calvin University (Grand Rapids, Michigan) – currently a member of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association – is adding a football program. The school will play its inaugural season in 2024-25.

Hilbert College (Hamburg, New York) will leave its current football-independent status to join the Empire 8 starting in the 2024-25 academic year. Hilbert started its football program in 2022 but did not announce a conference affiliation for the program at the time. The school’s main conference – the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference – does not sponsor football but the school will continue to house most of its sports in the AMCC.

Johnson & Wales University (Providence, Rhode Island) will leave the Great Northeast Athletic Conference and join the Commonwealth Coast Conference starting in 2024-25. The Wildcats will become the 11th member of the conference when they join. Maine Maritime is attempting to restart its football team after shutting it down during the pandemic. The school announced in October 2022 that it raised $56,000 in an effort to bring the football team back. The school is targeting the 2025 season for its first season back on the gridiron in the Commonwealth Coast Conference.

New England College (Henniker, New Hampshire) announced it is bringing back football. The first football season for the Pilgrims will be 2024-25. NEC is leaving the New England Collegiate Conference after the 2022-23 academic year to join the Great Northeast Athletic Conference beginning with the 2023-24 academic year. The GNAC does not sponsor football and the future conference for the NEC football team will be confirmed at a later date.

Penn State Brandywine has been approved for an exploratory year at the NCAA Division 3 level starting in 2023-24. PSU Brandywine intends to join Division 3 and the exploratory year will help ensure they will meet the requirements necessary to complete the transition. Should the school finish the exploratory year and wish to continue the transition process, it would have another three full academic years as a provisional member meaning it would become a full NCAA Division 3 member in 2027-28. Currently and for the 2023-24 academic year, PSU Brandywine is a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, which is comprised of two-year colleges. Brandywine is also a member of the Penn State University Athletic Conference.

Roanoke College (Salem, Virginia) is moving forward with a return to the gridiron after it eclipsed its fundraising goal of $1.2 million. The school is planning to have a club football team in 2024 before it launches a varsity return in 2025. The Maroons are a member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and would become the ODAC’s 9th football member in 2025.

Vermont State-Castleton (Castleton, Vermont) will leave the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference to join the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Castleton is a full member of the Little East Conference but the LEC doesn’t sponsor football.

NAIA Realignment Changes

9/18/23 Update: Waldorf University (Forest City, Iowa) will leave the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) to join the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) effective with the 2024-25 academic year. The change will further put the NSAA in a precarious position with only 6 full members. Meanwhile, the GPAC will be up to 13 full members although that may not last long if Jamestown (ND) moves up to the NCAA Division 2 Northern Sun Conference as recently reported.

7/25/23 Update: The Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) announced two football additions beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. St. Ambrose (Davenport, Iowa) will spend the 2023-24 academic year in the Mid-States Football Association before moving to the HAAC in 2024-25. The other addition is Williams Woods (Fulton, Missouri), which announced a new football program earlier in 2023 and its inaugural season will be in 2024-25 in the HAAC.

The HAAC will feature 14 football members in 2024 split into two divisions: the North and South. In the North division will be Clarke University, Culver-Stockton, Graceland University, Grand View, Peru State, St. Ambrose, and William Penn. Competing in the South division will be Baker University, Benedictine (KS), Central Methodist, MidAmerica Nazarene, Missouri Baptist, Missouri Valley College, and William Woods.

7/1/23 Update: Baptist Bible College (Springfield, Missouri) is planning to apply for membership to the NAIA in the summer of 2023 with the hopes of starting its NAIA tenure in 2024. The Patriots are currently a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association as an independent in the Central Region of NCCAA’s Division 1 level. If accepted, Baptist Bible College will try to join the NAIA’s American Midwest Conference.

Bismarck State (Bismarck, North Dakota) is planning to join the NAIA in the future although it has yet to set a definite timetable for the move. Bismarck State is currently a two-year college but will transition to a 4-year college along with the move to NAIA. The logical destination for Bismarck is the North Star Athletic Association. There have been no recent updates to this plan.

The Golden State Athletic Conference will add 4 new members in 2024-25 to offset recently announced membership departures. The GSAC will raid the NAIA’s California Pacific Conference for Benedictine-Mesa (Mesa, Arizona), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Prescott, Arizona), Park-Gilbert (Gilbert, Arizona), and Saint Katherine (San Marcos, California). Those four schools will replace the trio of Jessup University, Menlo College, and Westmont College leaving for the NCAA Division 2 PacWest Conference.

College of the Ozarks (Point Lookout, Missouri) is returning to the NAIA after a two-year stint in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). Ozarks will remain a member of the NCCAA in certain sports but will be back in the NAIA starting with the 2023-24 academic year. There is no word on which conference the school will join but it was a member of the Continental Athletic Conference, which is a conference made up of independent programs.

The New College of Florida (Sarasota, Florida) is starting an athletic program and seeking to join the NAIA. The school will apply to the NAIA in the summer of 2023 with the aim of eventually joining the Sun Conference. They are starting with six sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, and softball.

One team will leave the NAIA entirely as Ohio Christian University (Circleville, Ohio) will compete entirely in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). The school will remain a member of the River States Conference for the 2023-24 academic year before shifting all sports to the NCCAA beginning in 2024-25.

Simpson University (Redding, California) has decided to add a football program to its athletics offerings. The school plans to scrimmage for the 2023 season followed by a full season in 2024. It is not yet known which conference they will join at the NAIA level.

Stanton University (Garden Grove, California) announced it will start an athletics program beginning with the 2024-25 academic year and be dual members of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association and the NAIA. The school will be known as the Stanton Fighting Elks and have both varsity and club sport. Stanton hopes to have varsity sports in golf, basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, and volleyball in time for the 2024-25 seasons.

William Woods (Fulton, Missouri) is also joining the gridiron as the school announced it would start a football team. The program will kick off its first season in 2024 and will also add women’s flag football in 2025. William Woods is a member of the American Midwest Conference, which doesn’t sponsor football. WWU did not identify which conference it will join for football.

Photo courtesy of AP Photo / Jeffrey McWhorter