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 July 31, 2024, and provide updates on previously discussed topics. As a reminder, all official moves starting with the 2024-25 academic year or later can be found here and all changes – full membership or individual sport changes – starting in 2025-26 can be found here. Please note that individual sports changes occurring in 2025-26 or later will be listed in the standalone article only.
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)/Conference | News Item | Realignment Change / Effective Year | Current Conference | New Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baker (KS) | Joining HAAC for Tennis | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (NAIA) | HAAC (NAIA) |
| Columbia College (MO) | Joining HAAC for Women’s Bowling | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (NAIA) | HAAC (NAIA) |
| Commonwealth Coast Conference | New Name | Yes – 2024-25 | N/A | N/A |
| Division 1 | NCAA WBB Tournament Units to Be Allocated | Yes – 2024-25 | N/A | N/A |
| Grand View | Joining HAAC for Tennis | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (NAIA) | HAAC (NAIA) |
| John Brown | Joining HAAC for Tennis | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (NAIA) | HAAC (NAIA) |
| Lone Star Conference | Media Rights Deal with FloSports | Yes – 2024-25 | N/A | N/A |
| Marymount (VA) | Men’s Golf to MASCAC | Yes – 2024-25 | Atlantic East (D3) | MASCAC (D3) |
| Marywood (PA) | Men’s Golf to MASCAC | Yes – 2024-25 | Atlantic East (D3) | MASCAC (D3) |
| MIAC (D3) | Divisional Format Changing | Yes – 2024-25 | N/A | N/A |
| Missouri Baptist | Joining HAAC for Tennis | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (NAIA) | HAAC (NAIA) |
| Missouri Baptist | Joining HAAC for Men’s and Women’s Bowling | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (NAIA) | HAAC (NAIA) |
| Missouri Valley College | Joining HAAC for Tennis | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (NAIA) | HAAC (NAIA) |
| Mount Mercy | Merging with St. Ambrose | Yes – 2026-27 | N/A | N/A |
| NCAA Division 3 | Transfer Rule Change | Yes – 2024-25 | N/A | N/A |
| Notre Dame | Suspends Men’s Swimming Team | Yes – 2024-25 | ACC (D1) | N/A |
| Presidents’ Athletic Conference | Adding Divisions | Yes – 2025-26 | N/A | N/A |
| SIU Edwardsville | Not Adding Football | No | N/A | N/A |
| St. Ambrose | Merging with Mount Mercy | Yes – 2026-27 | N/A | N/A |
| Texas Wesleyan | Joining HAAC for Tennis | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (NAIA) | HAAC (NAIA) |
| Venu Sports | Sets Monthly Subscription Price | No | N/A | N/A |
| WCHA | New Commissioner | Yes – 2024-25 | N/A | N/A |
| William Woods | Joining HAAC for Tennis | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (NAIA) | HAAC (NAIA) |
| William Woods | Joining HAAC for Men’s and Women’s Bowling | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (NAIA) | HAAC (NAIA) |
NCAA to Distribute Units for Women’s Basketball Tournament
The Women’s Basketball tournament results will have a financial impact going forward as the NCAA’s Board of Governors approves distributions (called “units”) starting with the 2025 tournament. The results of the tournament held in 2024-25 will lead to units being distributed beginning in 2026. The NCAA has allocated $15 million for the upcoming 2025 tournament, $20 million for 2026, and $25 million in 2027.
WCHA Names Michelle McAteer as Next Commissioner
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) named Michelle McAteer to be its next commissioner. McAteer is replacing Tracy Dill who resigned in June after two years as Commissioner. McAteer was most recently the head coach for Division 3 Augsburg University (Minneapolis, Minnesota). McAteer will oversee the women’s-only hockey conference consisting of Bemidji State (Minnesota), Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State-Mankato, Ohio State, St. Cloud State (Minnesota), St. Thomas (Minnesota), and Wisconsin.
Venu Sports Sets Opening Subscription Fee… and is Subsequently Stopped
Venu Sports – the joint venture between ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros announced in May 2024 – will be offered for $42.99 a month. For college football fans, this means that games shown on CBS, NBC, and Peacock will require a separate subscription. Of course, that’s the initial price and it won’t be surprising to see it increase in a year as the TV rights for live sports skyrocket. Relatedly, the price of ESPN+ will increase in October from $10.99 a month to $11.99 per month.
Shortly after the announcement of the subscription fees, FuboTV filed a request for a legal injunction to prevent Venu Sports from launching. ESPN, Fox, and WBD will appeal the ruling.
NCAA Division 1 Sports Changes
Notre Dame has suspended its men’s swimming program for a minimum of one academic year due to misconduct by some of the athletes. As a result, Notre Dame will not compete in men’s swimming during the 2024-25 academic year. The men’s diving program will be allowed to compete. Notre Dame is a primary member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), where the swimming and diving teams competed.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is not planning to add football any time soon, according to AD Andrew Gavin. SIUE has provided numerous statements over the previous 15 years that football is an unlikely venture for the school. SIUE has never had a varsity football program but currently has a club football team. The Cougars are a primary member of the Ohio Valley Conference.
NCAA Division 2 Sports Changes
There have been no reported sports changes for NCAA Division 2 that will be effective for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.
Lone Star and FloSports Agree to Deal
The Lone Star Conference and FloSports have agreed to a five-year media rights deal that will begin with the upcoming 2024-25 academic year. The deal marks the 12th NCAA Conference to sign a deal with FloSports following the Big East (D1), CAA (D1), California Collegiate Athletic Association (D2), Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (D2), Gulf South Conference (D2), Northeast 10 Conference (D2), South Atlantic Conference (D2), Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (D2), Landmark Conference (D3), New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (D3), and Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (D3).
FloSports is set to launch FloCollege in October 2024 to provide unprecedented coverage of college athletics at the Division 2 and 3 levels. To that end, FloSports has created a sizeable inventory and the press release by the Lone Star Conference indicates more deals are on the way.
NCAA Division 3 Sports Changes
The NCAA has changed its transfer policy for Division 3 athletes, which will no longer require a full year of residence to compete. Academically ineligible athletes will need to wait at least one semester before regaining eligibility.
The Commonwealth Coast Conference has changed its name to the Conference of New England starting with the 2024-25 academic year. The CNE has full members in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island along with associate members in New Hampshire. The newly renamed conference released this short video to highlight the change.
The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) is changing its divisional and scheduling formats for the next four years (2024-25 through 2027-28). Football will keep its divisions for the 2024 season but scrap it for 2025 and 2026 with a seven-game conference schedule followed by an eighth “Championship Week” game. In 2027, the MIAC will play a round-robin football schedule. Men’s basketball will see 16 conference games instead of the 20-game double round-robin while women’s basketball will feature 18 conference games instead of 20 games. The MIAC wants to allow its teams to schedule high-quality non-conference games that will help bolster them in the newly created the D3 NCAA Power Index.
The Presidents’ Athletic Conference will implement a divisional structure in basketball, football, and women’s volleyball beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. In football, the North division will be comprised of Allegheny, Geneva, Grove City, Hiram, Thiel, and Westminster. The South division will be comprised of Bethany, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve, Saint Vincent, Washington & Jefferson, and Waynesburg. For the other sports, Chatham and Franciscan will be in the South as Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve are football affiliates in the PAC.
Marymount University (Arlington County, Virginia) and Marywood University (Scranton, Pennsylvania) will both join the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) in men’s golf beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Both programs previously competed in the Atlantic East Conference, which is the primary conference for both schools.
NAIA Sports Changes
The Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) had a busy start to August announcing multiple associate membership changes. The HAAC will sponsor men’s and women’s tennis beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Seven schools will compete in both sports this season: Baker University (KS), Grand View University, John Brown University, Missouri Baptist University, Missouri Valley College, Texas Wesleyan University, and William Woods University. All seven schools previously competed as independents in both sports.
The HAAC also announced new affiliate memberships in men’s and women’s bowling. Missouri Baptist and and William Woods will join in men’s and women’s bowling while Columbia College (Missouri) will join only for women’s bowling. All three moves are effective with the 2024-25 academic year. All three competed as independent teams in 2023-24.
Mount Mercy and St. Ambrose to Merge
Mount Mercy University (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and St. Ambrose University (Davenport, Iowa) will merge by the start of the 2026-27 academic year. MMU will be known as the Mount Mercy Campus of St. Ambrose University. Currently, the merger will keep the athletics teams separate although that could change. Mount Mercy competes in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) while St. Ambrose is a member of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC).
Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports / Ken Blaze