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 April 19, 2025, and provide updates on previously discussed topics. As a reminder, all official moves starting with the 2025-26 academic year 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 since the most recent post.
NCAA Division 1 News
General News
The House, Hubbard, and Carter lawsuits that the NCAA is hoping to settle have been pushed back another 14 days by Judge Claudia Wilken. Wilken wants the NCAA to change its stance on roster limits by grandfathering in current student-athletes. If the NCAA does not comply, Wilken will not approve the lawsuit, leading to a trial that the NCAA will desperately want to avoid and could impact the next two items.
The NCAA Division 1 Board of Directors will implement a series of legislative changes, contingent on the approval of the House, Hubbard, and Carter settlements. Most changes are already outlined in the House settlement. One thing discussed, with no action taken, was allowing “greater temporary flexibility for schools to move been conferences.” What this discussion could potentially mean for individual teams, conferences, and sports is not immediately clear.
The NCAA has agreed to use some of its surplus to help defray the costs of the expected House settlement. The NCAA will take $55 million from its surplus to reduce back damages for the upcoming fiscal year, which amounts to roughly 33%. The lawsuit filed by South Dakota Attorney General Mary Jackley in September 2024 that led to this outcome is now considered settled. The NCAA also agreed to host additional championship events within South Dakota as part of this settlement.
Southern Illinois Tim Leonard said that the new partnership between the MVFC and the Summit League could lead to a divisional alignment for the MVFC should more football teams be added. Could that mean the MVFC is looking at possibly adding some Texas-based teams?
The University of Kentucky is planning to spin off its athletic department into an LLC as a result of the anticipated legal settlements. The arrangement would be similar to how universities have hospitals in separate entities. UK is expecting an increase of about $50 million in expenses annually under the terms of the House settlement, assuming it goes through. It wouldn’t be surprising to see more schools follow this trend as the financial realities set in over the next few years.
The University of Vermont is looking to add a women’s flag football club team, with a general meeting scheduled for the end of this month. The Catamounts would likely begin play during the 2025-26 academic year and would become the second America East team to offer a club team after the University of Albany.
William & Mary Football Moves to Patriot League
The big news from the FCS was William & Mary leaving the CAA to join the Patriot League for football beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. W&M will keep most of its other sports in the CAA. Men’s gymnastics will stay in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and women’s gymnastics will stay in the Gymnastics East Conference (GEC). It’s a familiar move in FCS as Richmond is making the same CAA-to-Patriot League change for the 2025-26 academic year. W&M and Richmond are rivals and the move announced last year by Richmond weighed on the minds of the folks at William & Mary. The Patriot League will have 9 football teams in 2026: Bucknell, Colgate, Fordham, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Richmond, and William & Mary.
While the CAA will remain at 13 football members in 2026, there has been a clear erosion at the top of the conference over the past five years. James Madison made the FCS national title game three times before leaving for the FBS in 2022. Delaware is leaving for the FBS in the upcoming 2025-26 academic year and was a national title contender in the 2000 – 2010 decade. Richmond won the 2008 FCS title and made six postseason appearances over the past decade. W&M had three consecutive losing seasons from 2016 through 2018 before Mike London was hired starting in 2019. Since then, they’ve had four straight winning seasons and an FCS quarterfinal appearance in 2019.
The real concern for the CAA is the teams they’ve added to replace the departures… and it hasn’t been great. In 2022, the CAA brought in Hampton and Monmouth. In 2023, they added Campbell and North Carolina A&T. In 2024, it was Bryant that joined the CAA. Of those teams, none have posted a winning record overall or a winning record in CAA games. The table below shows each school’s overall record and CAA record for each season they’ve been a member of the CAA.
| Team | 2022 Records | 2023 Records | 2024 Records |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bryant | N/A | N/A | 2-10 (0-8) |
| Campbell | N/A | 5-6 (4-4) | 3-9 (1-7) |
| Hampton | 4-7 (1-7) | 5-6 (3-5) | 5-7 (2-6) |
| Monmouth | 5-6 (3-5) | 4-7 (3-5) | 6-6 (4-4) |
| North Carolina A&T | N/A | 1-10 (0-8) | 1-11 (0-8) |
| Totals | 9-13 (4-12) | 15-29 (10-22) | 17-43 (7-33) |
The CAA’s decision to opt for quantity over quality has hurt its perception overall. It’s tough to blame the conference for schools wanting to join the FBS but when teams like Richmond and William & Mary are leaving the historically upper-tier CAA for other FCS conferences, it cannot be ignored. Will Villanova be the next to leave the CAA for greener pastures?
NCAA Division 2 News
The NCAA Division 2 Executive Board approved the expansion of the D2 Football Playoffs beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. The bracket will expand from 28 to 32 teams, allowing for every conference to receive an automatic qualification bid to the tournament while also removing the bye for the top seed in each super region. More details from last month’s update here.
Limestone University provided an update on its status and set a new deadline for a decision. The Board of Trustees said it has a “possible funding source” that may allow the university campus to remain open as well as continue online classes. The Board of Trustees will meet again no later than Tuesday, April 29, after it obtains more information. Last week, the school announced it was ending its athletics programs. Whether the funding source will be enough to reverse the decision remains to be seen, to say nothing of the athletes who have already decided to transfer to a new institution.
Dallas Baptist University (Dallas, Texas) announced it will transition its men’s and women’s tennis teams to club status beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. DBU competed in the Lone Star Conference, which will remain at 9 men’s teams and 11 women’s teams next year with Texas at Dallas joining as a full member. NCAA and NAIA schools have discontinued 21 tennis teams while adding only 12.
Hawaii Pacific University (Honolulu, Hawaii) will add women’s STUNT beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. HPU didn’t say which conference it will compete in but the school will be the fifth Pacific West Conference school to sponsor the sport. The other four are Concordia Irvine, Fresno Pacific, Jessup, and Vanguard.
Roberts Wesleyan University (Rochester, New York) will add a varsity women’s flag football team beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. Nearly 70 NCAA and NAIA programs are expected to add flag football in 2025-26, making it the most added sport for next year.
NCAA Division 3 News
NCAA D3 Pilot Program
The NCAA Division 3 Presidents Council approved a new pilot program for student-athletes that allows them to participate in athletics at a different school if there is a formal academic agreement and the current school does not sponsor varsity athletics. If a student is enrolled at College B, which has a teach-out or partnership with College A, and College B doesn’t offer a varsity sports program, they can compete at College A. There have been quite a few mergers in the past few years, resulting in athletics being shut down at one campus. This pilot program is a sensible opportunity to give the student-athletes a chance to continue competing without having to transfer to a new school. The details are light as usual with most NCAA press releases but the pilot program begins with the 2025-26 academic year.
CWGC Gets Waiver
The Colonial Women’s Golf Conference’s waiver request was approved, which will allow the CWGC to receive an automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships. The NCAA stipulated that the waiver is effective for the 2027-28 academic year “provided there is no material change to its membership.” The CWGC will have seven inaugural members in 2025-26: Babson College, Carlow University, Christopher Newport University, Kean University, Penn State Altoona, Salisbury University, and Stockton University.
Lycoming Adds Men’s Volleyball
Lycoming College (Williamsport, Pennsylvania) will add men’s volleyball beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Lycoming will compete in the Landmark Conference, which will have six members in 2026-27 and be eligible to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division 3 Championship during that season.
Russell Sage to Merge with ACPHS
Russell Sage College (Albany and Troy, New York) and Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Albany, New York) will merge under the Russell Sage name beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The merger will not impact Russell Sage’s athletics, but ACPHS athletes will have to try out for the Russell Sage athletics in 2027-28, according to the FAQs. ACPHS currently has 11 sports competing in the USCAA’s Yankee Small College conference. The merged entity will consider adding junior varsity and club sports. ACPHS competes in basketball (men’s and women’s), cross country (M & W), esports (coed), soccer (M & W), track & field (M & W), and volleyball (M & W). Russell Sage sponsors all 11 of those sports.
Wisconsin-Superior to Join WIAC as Affiliate
The University of Wisconsin-Superior will join the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) as an affiliate member in women’s lacrosse beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. UW-Superior announced the addition of women’s lacrosse in March 2025 but did not specify a conference. The WIAC will have 11 women’s lacrosse teams in 2026, assuming no further membership changes.
NAIA News
St. Andrews to Close
Yet another school will close effective with the 2025-26 academic year, this time it’s St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, North Carolina. The Knights sponsored 17 sports, although the men’s and women’s lacrosse programs didn’t compete in 2024-25. SAU is a member of the Appalachian Athletic Conference, which will have 15 full members next year. Kentucky Christian is also departing but Spartanburg Methodist is joining. The Appalachian Athletic Conference will have 7 members in football with St. Andrews departing and Rio Grande (OH) starting a new team. The Appalachian will have 5 members in men’s wrestling. No other sports were put at or below 6.
The list of closures is at 11 temporarily, depending on the next step with Limestone, as well as any other closures. We’ve listed all 11 schools from the NCAA and NAIA that will be closing or shuttering their athletic department. Note, this does not include dropping to NCAA Division 3, such as Azusa Pacific (from NCAA D2 Pac West) and Saint Francis (from NCAA D1 NEC).
| School | Affiliation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Academy of Art | NCAA D2 – Pacific West | Dropping Athletics |
| Bryn Athyn | NCAA D3 – United East | Dropping Athletics |
| Cal Maritime | NAIA – Cal Pac | Merging with Cal Poly? |
| Concordia Ann Arbor | NAIA – WHAC | Dropping Athletics |
| Fontbonne | NCAA D3 – SLIAC | Closing |
| Limestone | NCAA D2 – South Atlantic | Dropping Athletics (Closing?) |
| Multnomah | NAIA – CCC | Dropping Athletics |
| Northland College | NCAA D3 – UMAC | Closing |
| Rosemont College | NCAA D3 – United East | Merging with Villanova |
| Sonoma State | NCAA D2 – CCAA | Dropping Athletics |
| St. Andrews | NAIA – Appalachian | Closing |
Avila to Add Men’s Volleyball
Avila University (Kansas City, Missouri) will add men’s volleyball beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. It is not known which conference Avila will join as the school’s primary conference – the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) – doesn’t sponsor the sport. Avila is the third team in the KCAC to sponsor men’s volleyball after Kansas Wesleyan and Ottawa (KS). Both of those programs compete as affiliate members of the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC). Men’s volleyball is a popular sport addition – the most added sport by NCAA and NAIA schools – on the men’s side with a net of 14 (18 being added and 4 being discontinued). The second most added sport is men’s wrestling with 10 (15 added, 5 discontinued).
Lindsey Wilson Making Slight Name Change
Lindsey Wilson College (Columbia, Kentucky) will become Lindsey Wilson University on July 1, 2025. It does not appear that the Blue Raiders’ nickname or school colors will change. Lindsey Wilson is a member of the Mid-South Conference.
Peru State Adding Track & Field Programs
Peru State College (Peru, Nebraska) is adding men’s and women’s track & field programs beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. The programs will be focused on distance racing and will compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC). Peru State already has cross country programs, which compete in the HAAC.
Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash