This is part of an ongoing series covering various college realignment news for all three NCAA Divisions as well as the NAIA. The roundup below will cover news and reports since June 30 and provide updates on some previously discussed topics. As a reminder, all official moves starting with the 2023-24 academic year can be found here while anything happening in 2024-25 or later can be found here.
We’ll break out the reports for each Division in the following order: Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, and NAIA. Clicking the links will bring you to that specific section. If a division is not highlighted, there has been no news in the preceding two weeks. We’ve also summarized the news items in a table below if you are more interested in a summary or specific news item rather than having to scroll to find it.
| School(s) | News Item | Realignment Change / Effective Year | Current Conference | New Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allen University | Women’s Wrestling Joining SACC | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (D2) | South Atlantic Conference Carolinas (D2) |
| Arcadia University | Adding Wrestling | Yes – 2025-26 | N/A | Men: MAC (D3) Women: Independent (D3) |
| Arizona State | Hockey Joining NHCH | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (D1) | NHCH (D1) |
| Bluefield State | Women’s Wrestling Joining SACC | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (D2) | South Atlantic Conference Carolinas (D2) |
| Buffalo State | Men’s Volleyball Joining New Conference | Yes – 2024-25 | N/A | AMCC (D3) |
| Dakota Wesleyan | Women’s Wrestling Joining KCAC | Yes – 2023-24 | Independent (NAIA) | KCAC (NAIA) |
| Emmanuel University | Women’s Wrestling Joining SACC | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (D2) | South Atlantic Conference Carolinas (D2) |
| Emory & Henry | Women’s Wrestling Joining SACC | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (D2) | South Atlantic Conference Carolinas (D2) |
| Frontier Conference | New Commissioner | No | N/A | N/A |
| Gordon College | Adding Women’s Golf | Yes – 2023-24 | N/A | Independent (D3) |
| Houghton | Men’s Volleyball Joining New Conference | Yes – 2024-25 | N/A | AMCC (D3) |
| King University | Women’s Wrestling Joining SACC | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (D2) | South Atlantic Conference Carolinas (D2) |
| Landmark Conference | New Streaming Deal | No | N/A | N/A |
| Lincoln Memorial | Women’s Wrestling Joining SACC | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (D2) | South Atlantic Conference Carolinas (D2) |
| Mount Olive | Women’s Wrestling Joining SACC | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (D2) | South Atlantic Conference Carolinas (D2) |
| Multnomah University | Dropping Lacrosse | Yes – 2023-24 | CCC (NAIA) | N/A |
| Newberry | Women’s Wrestling Joining SACC | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (D2) | South Atlantic Conference Carolinas (D2) |
| North American University | Joining Red River Athletic Conference | Yes – 2023-24 | CAC (NAIA) | RRAC (NAIA) |
| North Dakota State | More FBS Rumors | No | N/A | N/A |
| Nova Southeastern | Delaying Start of Lacrosse Programs | Yes – 2025-26 | Sunshine State (D2) | Sunshine State (D2) |
| Penn State Altoona | Adding Men’s and Women’s Wrestling | Yes – 2024-25 | N/A | AAMC (D3) |
| Saint Rose | Might Lose Accreditation | No | N/A | N/A |
| San Diego State | Leaving or Staying in the Mountain West? | No | N/A | N/A |
| Talladega College | D2 Application Not Accepted | No | N/A | N/A |
The American Talks North Dakota State
The American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco was cagey in a recent interview about the possibility of North Dakota State joining the AAC. This was in reference to the latest rumor of NDSU to the FBS covered in the previous edition of the Realignment Report. Aresco basically said he won’t confirm if there’s interest from the AAC on the Bison joining the conference. In other words, this is much ado about nothing and the AAC won’t act unless they lose a program (like SMU) or are ready to expand. We’ll see if the NDSU to FBS dream becomes a reality or if the Bison opt to remain a big fish in a small pond.
San Diego State-Mountain West Drama Builds
The battle between San Diego State and the Mountain West Conference has escalated. SDSU informed the MW they were leaving in late June but claimed they really weren’t leaving but the Mountain West saw it differently. The conference says that SDSU did leave the conference and owes it $17 million in exit fees plus the conference will not pay out the $6.6 million distribution due to the school for the 2022-23 academic year. Lawyers were always going to get involved in a realignment battle but now it’s about to happen a lot quicker.
There are plenty of unanswered questions about SDSU’s intent to leave and whether the Pac-12 (or Big 12?) were set to invite them into the Power 5 ranks. Based on recent reports, it appears the Big 12 won’t be inviting the Aztecs in the near term. However, this is realignment and decisions can quickly be reversed.
D1 Sports Changes
Arizona State will have a new home for its hockey program beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. The Sun Devils became a varsity program starting in 2015-16 and started as an independent team. That changes when they will join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference in 2024-25 alongside Colorado College, Denver, Miami (OH), Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, and Western Michigan.
D2 Sports Changes
The Conference Carolinas and South Atlantic Conference announced the members that will participate in women’s wrestling for the inaugural 2024-25 season. The eight schools competing will be Allen, Bluefield State, Emmanuel, Emory & Henry, King, Lincoln Memorial, Mount Olive, and Newberry. The conference will be branded as the South Atlantic Conference Carolinas.
Nova Southeastern University (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is making a slight change to the start of its lacrosse programs. The school will delay the start by a year with a new start date of 2025-26. NSU announced the addition of men’s and women’s lacrosse in September 2022 with an intended start date of 2024-25. Nova Southeastern is a member of the Sunshine State Conference, which is where both programs will compete.
College of Saint Rose In Trouble
The College of Saint Rose (Albany, New York) is in danger of losing its accreditation. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education has given the college six months to show it has the finances to continue operating. Saint Rose has struggled in recent years as many colleges have due to declining enrollment. Saint Rose is a full member of the Division 2 Northeast-10 Conference and sponsors 19 varsity sports.
Division 3 Landmark Conference Inks Streaming Deal
The Landmark Conference announced a landmark TV rights deal (all pun intended). The Landmark Conference will have its athletic events streamed by FloSports beginning with the current 2023-24 academic year. It is the first deal for a Division 3 conference and one that will go for at least five years. The Landmark Conference is made up of schools from Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. FloSports has numerous streaming deals with NCAA conferences with the most well-known being with the CAA. It will be interesting to see if this deal will begin a new wave of deals for D2 and D3 conferences as a way to help increase revenues although it’s obvious these deals won’t reach anywhere close to what we’ve seen with Division 1 conferences. The reported amount schools will receive is around $25,000 per year.
D3 Sports Changes
Arcadia University (Glenside, Pennsylvania) is adding men’s and women’s wrestling beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. The two new sports will bring the school’s varsity sports count up to 28 programs. Arcadia is a full member of the Middle Atlantic Conference, which is where the men’s team will compete. The women’s team will be the fifth in the MAC but will compete as an independent.
Gordon College (Wenham, Massachusetts) is adding women’s golf effective with the 2023-24 academic year. The team was previously a club sport but will be elevated to varsity status this year to give the school 22 sponsored sports. Gordon plays in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, which does not sponsor women’s golf. It is not clear if Gordon will play in a conference but there is a push for CCC members to start programs to gain an automatic bid. Currently, CCC members Gordon, Nichols, and Suffolk offer women’s golf.
Penn State Altoona (Logan Township and Altoona, Pennsylvania) is adding both men’s and women’s wrestling beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. The addition of the two sports will increase the number of varsity programs to 16 when they begin competition. PSU Altoona is a member of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), which is where both teams will compete.
In other AMCC news, the conference will have two new affiliate members for 2024-25 for men’s volleyball when Buffalo State (Buffalo, New York) and Houghton University (Houghton, New York) join. Both schools will spend the 2023-24 academic year without a conference and begin their inaugural seasons in 2024. The duo will help offset the loss of Medaille University, which closed, and the future departure of Geneva College, Hiram College, Saint Vincent College, and Thiel College before the 2025-26 academic year. Those 4 schools will join the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in men’s volleyball.
NAIA’s North American University Makes Late Change for 2023-24
North American University (Stafford, Texas) is making a late change for the 2023-24 academic year. The school will join the Red River Athletic Conference in all sports except football and will become the 14th member of the RRAC. As for football, NAU will become a member of the Sooner Athletic Conference. For 2023-24, NAU will be an associate member of the RRAC and will not be eligible to compete in the postseason championships. The Stallions were previously in the Continental Athletic Conference, which is made up of independent schools in the NAIA that do not have athletic affiliation with another conference.
Frontier Conference Selects New Commissioner
The Frontier Conference will welcome Scott Crawford as its next commissioner when he begins his term on September 1. Crawford is familiar with the commissioner chair as he was most recently the commissioner of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference since 2007 and will continue in that role until August 31. The Frontier Conference is made up of six full-time members all from the state of Montana but there are four additional schools that are football-only affiliates from Arizona, Idaho, and Oregon.
Talladega College Not Accepted to NCAA
Talladega College (Talladega, Alabama) will remain the NAIA for at least an additional year. The school submitted an application to join the NCAA Division 2 membership but its application was not accepted. Talladega originally announced its intention to join the NCAA in February 2023 and the 2023-24 academic year would have represented the first year of the reclassification process. The NCAA did not disclose why the application wasn’t accepted. For now, the Tornadoes will remain a member of the Southern State Athletic Conference.
NAIA Sports Changes
Dakota Wesleyan (Mitchell, South Dakota) will have a new conference for women’s wrestling. The Tigers will become members of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference effective with the 2023-24 academic year. Dakota Wesleyan will be the 11th women’s wrestling program to compete in the KCAC. The Tigers competed in its inaugural season in 2022-23 without a conference affiliation. Dakota Wesleyan is a full member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference.
Multnomah University (Portland, Oregon) has decided to discontinue its men’s and women’s lacrosse programs effective with the 2023-24 academic year. The school cited costs as the primary reason for eliminating the programs. Both teams were practically new having been announced in late 2020 and the first seasons were in 2021-22. Multnomah is a full member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference, which does not sponsor lacrosse.
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