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 December 15, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army-Navy | Could Become 13th game for both schools | No – TBD | N/A | N/A |
| Cal Pac | Starts Rebuilding | Yes – 2025-26 | N/A | N/A |
| College Football Playoff | Changes for 2025? | TBD | N/A | N/A |
| D2 Oklahoma Schools | New State Bill Proposing OK Conference | No | N/A | N/A |
| Dartmouth | Requested Withdrawal of NLRB Petition | No | N/A | N/A |
| Ivy League | Will Participate in FCS Playoffs | No – 2025-26 | N/A | N/A |
| NCAA | Non-NCAA Players Granted Waiver | No – 2025-26 | N/A | N/A |
| NCAA D1 | Western Realignment | TBD | N/A | N/A |
| Penn State Schuylkill | Women’s Flag Football to Atlantic East | Yes – 2025-26 | N/A | Atlantic East (D3) |
| Post University | Acquired by Chilean University | No | N/A | N/A |
| Stanton University | Joining Cal Pac | Yes – 2025-26 | USCAA | Cal Pac (NAIA) |
| Washington State | Reportedly Cutting Scholarships Post-House | No – 2025-26 | N/A | N/A |
Realignment Looms in the West
The realignment wheels are turning the most out west, according to Matt Brown of Extra Points. There are far too many individual items to list (EP is an excellent resource and it is highly worth subscribing for all the content) but the big takeaway is that all the conferences out west are likely to at least look at potential moves. The Big Sky, Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, WAC, and WCC could kick off a western-flavored realignment reaction. Of note for FCS football fans, Southern Utah and the Big Sky are “unlikely” to see a reunion while UC Davis will “work towards FBS reclassification in the near future”.
Changes Coming to the College Football Playoff in 2025?
Brett McMurphy reports that the College Football Playoff may reconsider its seeding system for the 2025 season. In the current format, the top four seeds are given to the four highest-ranked conference champions with those four teams receiving a bye in the first round. The new format is yet to be determined but the current clubhouse leader is to simply select the four highest teams as the top four seeds regardless if they won their conference championship. Conference champions would still receive an automatic bid to the CFP but won’t be guaranteed a top-four spot. This may only apply to the 2025 season because there’s an appetite to expand the CFP in 2026 with a 14-team bracket previously rumored as the likely format. In this age of college realignment, you better believe these conference commissioners aren’t about to leave money on the table.
Army-Navy Game Could Become 13th Game for Each School
CBS Sports reported that the annual Army–Navy game may result in a rule change by the NCAA, allowing both schools to play 13 regular season games each year. The NCAA Football Oversight Committee will discuss the topic in early 2025. The current bylaws only allow teams that have a game at Hawaii an extra game during the season. There is no plan to move the Army-Navy game away from the second Saturday in December. The game remains a non-conference tilt after Army joined the American Athletic Conference as a football-only affiliate beginning with the 2024-25 academic year.
The Army-Navy game had no impact on the College Football Playoff in 2024. According to CBS Sports, the proposal would allow both teams to have another “data point” when the CFP releases its weekly standings. On the other side, an extra game is another opportunity for either Army or Navy to potentially lose and work itself out of the CFP. Of course, there’s a larger possibility at play with the proposal that it could open the door to all FBS teams having a 13th regular season game. It’s easy to envision a school looking at the potential revenue of another home game (or buy game) and suing the NCAA to allow them a 13th game. That will quickly be followed by the NCAA capitulating on the issue, thereby opening the floodgates. As CBS Sports also noted, some may use the proposal on the back end of the season to help determine CFP participants but that requires a lot more discussion between FBS commissioners.
Dartmouth Players Withdraws NLRB Petition
After requesting the withdrawal of its petition to the NLRB, the Dartmouth men’s basketball team will voluntarily end its unionization efforts. The NLRB officially closed the case the same day (December 31). The NLRB ruled that Dartmouth athletes were employees in February 2024 and the ruling was appealed shortly after by those seeking to prevent unionization.
NCAA Division 1 Sports Changes
The NCAA will grant all non-NCAA athletes an extra year of eligibility following a federal ruling against the organization. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia sued the NCAA arguing his time as a junior college athlete should not have counted against his NCAA eligibility. The judge agreed with his assertion and the NCAA moved quickly to try and stem the issue, although its decision may only be temporary following its own appeal of Pavia’s ruling. The NCAA will allow junior college and NAIA athletes competing in the 2024-25 academic year to receive an extra season of eligibility. Meanwhile, the NCAA will assess its latest loss in court and aim to change eligibility rules to prevent more legal headaches in the future.
The Ivy League will begin participating in the FCS playoffs starting with the 2025 season. Since 1945, the conference had a policy that prohibited football teams from competing in the postseason. The addition of the Ivy League will result in a split of the 24-team playoff with 11 automatic qualification bids and 13 at-large bids.
Washington State is reportedly set to cut its football scholarships from 85 to 79 after the House settlement is implemented. The Cougars are the first known school planning to cut football scholarships although there are more possible. The cuts are aimed to save about $300,000 annually for the school and may have played a role in head coach Jake Dickert’s decision to leave WSU for Wake Forest.
NCAA Division 2 Sports Changes
There were no NCAA D2 realignment changes for the current 2024-25 academic year between December 15 and December 31, 2024.
New Oklahoma Conference Proposed
A new proposed bill in Oklahoma would see most of the state’s NCAA D2 colleges and universities moved into a single conference. Similar ideas have been floated and studied previously although no bill has come close to becoming law. There have been Oklahoma-based conferences before with the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference (OIC) from 1914 through 1928, the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference (OCC) from 1929 through 1974, and the OIC again from 1974 through 1997.
There are currently 11 Oklahoma-based schools in D2 in four different athletic conferences listed below. Notably, Central Oklahoma was not listed in the proposed bill. Cameron (Lone Star), Central Oklahoma (MIAA), East Central (GAC), Northeastern State (MIAA), Northwestern Oklahoma State (GAC), Oklahoma Baptist (GAC), Oklahoma Christian (Lone Star), Rogers State (MIAA), Southeastern Oklahoma State (GAC), Southern Nazarene (GAC), and Southwestern Oklahoma State (GAC).
The NAIA also has 7 Oklahoma-based schools: Langston, Mid-American Christian, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Panhandle State, Oklahoma Wesleyan, Science and Arts of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Christian. 6 of the 7 schools compete in the aptly named Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) while Oklahoma Wesleyan is a member of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC). The SAC also has members from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.
Post University Acquired
Post University (Waterbury, Connecticut) has been acquired by the Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB) in Santiago, Chile. In a statement, Post University said there were no changes expected with both schools continuing to operate independently. Post is a private, for-profit university and a full member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC).
NCAA Division 3 Sports Changes
Penn State Schuylkill (Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania) will join the Atlantic East Conference in women’s flag football beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. PSU Schuylkill is a member of the Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA). The school left the NAIA after the 2023-24 academic year but will compete in the NCAA Division 3 Atlantic East Conference for women’s flag football.
NAIA Sports Changes
There were no NAIA realignment changes for the current 2024-25 academic year between December 15 and December 31, 2024.
Cal Pac Begins Rebuild
The California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac) has announced its first moves as it aims to rebuild from devastating realignment losses. Stanton University (Garden Grove, California) is set to leave the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) to join the NAIA and Cal Pac in 2025-26. Walla Walla University (College Place, Washington) will move its newly started men’s volleyball team to the Cal Pac in 2025-26. Northern New Mexico College (Española, New Mexico) will move its men’s and women’s basketball and cross country teams from the Continental Athletic Conference (CAC) to the Cal Pac in 2025-26.
The Cal Pac has been hit hard by realignment with 9 members departing in 2024 or 2025. Stanton will give the conference 5 full members alongside Simpson University, Pacific Union College, Providence Christian College, and Westcliff University. The Cal Pac also stated it has hopes to add as many as 4 new members in the next two years and that the recent changes helped secure access to the NAIA championships.
Photo Courtesy of the Peach Bowl