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 21, 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.
Editor’s note: The Realignment Report will move to a monthly format starting in July 2025. The new format will provide a big picture look at realignment, focusing less on each sporting change. News items such as full membership moves, commissioner changes, and TV rights deals will continue to appear in the monthly posting.
NCAA Division 1 News
Pac-12 Announces A TV Partner, Adds Texas State
The Pac-12 Conference announced its first TV partner once the league realigns with the 2026-27 academic year. CBS will broadcast at least three regular season football games and three regular season basketball games each year. In addition, CBS will broadcast the Pac-12 football and basketball championships annually. CBS could pick up additional games, but will also show Pac-12 contests on CBS Sports Network. The deal will run from 2026-27 through the 2030-31 academic year. The TV deal is expected to bring a bit less than $10 million annually per school. As part of the deal, Oregon State and Washington State will receive all the College Football Playoff revenue earned from 2026 through 2028 and all the NCAA units allocated for the men’s basketball tournament earned before the 2025-26 academic year.
The Pac-12 also invited Texas State to the conference, with the school expected to formally accept the invitation on June 30 at the Board of Regents meeting. Texas State will leave the Sun Belt and join the Pac-12 beginning with the 2026-27 academic year, giving the Pac-12 the needed 8th football-playing member. The Pac-12 will have 9 full members overall, with Gonzaga not fielding a football team, and could be looking for additional members. The Sun Belt is left with 13 full members, but is expected to add another team to reach 14 members again. That could set off another realignment chain reaction, but nothing is guaranteed in college athletics.
Big Sky Adds Southern Utah and Utah Tech
The Big Sky Conference will add two members from the WAC beginning with the 2026-27 academic year when Southern Utah University (Cedar City, Utah) and Utah Tech University (St. George, Utah) join. That will put the Big Sky at 11 full members in 2026, with 13 football teams. Southern Utah and Utah Tech will bring their football teams over from the United Athletic Conference. Sacramento State is leaving the Big Sky for the Big West in 2026-27 and its football team’s future is still undetermined. Most athletic teams will move to the Big Sky, except for Utah Tech’s baseball and men’s soccer programs. The new home for those two teams will be announced later.
WAC Adds Some ASUN Teams and Will Become the United Athletic Conference
With the WAC on the verge of disintegration, the conference decided to make a bold move: take the current football-playing members in the ASUN and rebrand as the United Athletic Conference. The UAC has been a football-only conference since its inception in 2023, but it will be a multi-sports conference beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Current WAC members Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, and UT Arlington will be joined by Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, and West Georgia.
That will leave the ASUN at 7 schools, with a primary focus on basketball. Bellarmine, Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville, Lipscomb, North Florida, Queens (NC), and Stetson will be the members of the “new” ASUN. The newly reformed ASUN and UAC will be separate conferences, host separate conference championships, and have separate automatic qualifying bids to NCAA championships, but will have a combined media rights deal and scheduling agreements. Both the ASUN and UAC could look to add more schools, with the UAC targeting the Southland Conference… again.
Roster Limits Formally Adopted, D1 Moratorium on the Way?
The NCAA Division 1 Board of Directors formally adopted the roster limits outlined in the House settlement, which will go into effect with the new academic year on July 1, 2025. I wrote at length about those roster limits earlier in June and attempted to game out what might happen as a result. In the NCAA press release about the limits approval, the organization mentioned that there would be a consideration to impose a moratorium on new members into NCAA Division 1.
It would be a curious decision from the NCAA to restrict membership so quickly after the House settlement, and one that would likely bring on more litigation if a D2 or D3 school objects. Of course, litigation does not mean the challenge will succeed. Matt Brown of Extra Points says there is growing support to institute a moratorium from larger and smaller conferences alike. The NCAA also noted it will not change the conference membership requirements at this time. The last time a moratorium was instituted by NCAA Division 1 was in 2007, and that lasted four years. It was also against a much different landscape than the current day with the NCAA embroiled in non-stop legal issues.
The NCAA also had a slew of championship news this week. The fencing championship may be split into men’s and women’s championships. The D1 Council voted to split the championship, but D2 and D3 will vote in July. Flag football will see a proposal to enter the Emerging Sports for Women Program, with a vote to occur in October for D1. NCAA D2 and D3 already voted to have that proposal voted on in the January 2026 Convention. The FCS season will now have a maximum of 12 regular season games, while men’s and women’s basketball will see a 32-game maximum limit starting in 2026-27.
ASUN Adds Divisional Scheduling for Soccer
The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) will introduce a divisional scheduling model for men’s and women’s soccer for the 2025 season. Men’s soccer will split the 8 teams into two four-team divisions, with home-and-away games against each division opponent for six matches. Women’s soccer will be comprised of 12 teams, split into two six-team divisions, with home-and-away games against division opponents for a total of 10 games played.
| Men’s Soccer | Women’s Soccer |
|---|---|
| Gold | Gold |
| Bellarmine | Austin Peay |
| Central Arkansas | Bellarmine |
| Lipscomb | Central Arkansas |
| Queens (NC) | Eastern Kentucky |
| Lipscomb | |
| North Alabama | |
| Graphite | Graphite |
| Florida Gulf Coast | Florida Gulf Coast |
| Jacksonville | Jacksonville |
| North Florida | North Florida |
| Stetson | Queens |
| Stetson | |
| West Georgia |
Big Ten, Big 12 Partner With PayPal
The Big Ten and Big 12 conferences will partner with PayPal to help facilitate payments to student-athletes under the House settlement. While terms were not disclosed, Ross Dellenger stated the Big 12 agreement would provide schools with about $1 million in revenue annually. From the final paragraph of the House settlement article posted June 8 on this website, “…everything that wasn’t already commoditized most likely will be in the near future.” I wasn’t being hyperbolic when I said that because schools need every dollar in this new landscape.
Big South Adds Two Tennis Members
The Big South Conference will add Bryant and New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) as associate members in tennis for the 2025-26 academic year. Bryant will join in men’s tennis and NJIT will join in men’s and women’s tennis. All three programs previously competed as affiliates in the Southland Conference. The additions will put the Big South at six members in each sport.
Sacramento State FBS Waiver Denied
Sacramento State will not be competing in the FBS… for now. The Hornets announced a move out of the Big Sky to the Big West last week while awaiting final word on the FBS waiver. This week, the NCAA Division 1 Council formally denied the waiver request to join the FBS without an invitation from an FBS conference. The next step? The courtroom, which was always the logical outcome if the waiver was denied. Sacramento State still believes it will be an FBS members by the time the 2026 season begins.
Two Schools Join MPSF in Men’s Volleyball, Three for Men’s Swimming & Diving
Jessup University (Rocklin, California) and UC Merced (Merced, California) will join the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) in men’s volleyball beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. Jessup competed as an independent while UC Merced was a member of the NAIA’s California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac). While Jessup (Pacific West) and UC Merced (California Collegiate Athletic Association) are NCAA Division 2 members, there is only one NCAA Division for men’s volleyball, making it a de facto D1 sport.
The MPSF also added three affiliates for men’s swimming & diving: Air Force, UNLV, and Wyoming will leave the WAC to join the MPSF. The MPSF will have six men’s teams for 2025-26 with the three newcomers joining Cal Baptist, Incarnate Word, and Pacific.
NCAA Division 2 News
PSAC Invites Lackawanna
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) invited Lackawanna College (Scranton, Pennsylvania) as the 18th member. Lackawanna will move from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) to the NCAA Division 2 over the next few years. A definitive timeline was not provided; however, Lackawanna will need to transition from a two-year school to a four-year institution as part of the process. PSAC commissioner Steve Murray said in May that the conference had extended an invitation, but declined to publicly state which school.
Shawnee State Joining Mountain East
Shawnee State University (Portsmouth, Ohio) will leave the NAIA’s River States Conference to join the NCAA Division 2 Mountain East Conference beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Shawnee State used Collegiate Consulting to assist with the move, as reported here in February, which listed the Mountain East as a likely landing spot if the school moved. Both conferences will have 12 full members when the 2026-27 academic year starts, assuming no further changes.
The press release stated, “Shawnee State will maintain all current sports offerings that are MEC Championship sports, in addition to sport sponsorship expansion that will include football.” Football will be added and begin competition in the Mountain East no later than the 2028-29 academic year. Based on the wording of the release, men’s and women’s bowling may be discontinued, as those are the only two sports not sponsored by the MEC.
Lewis Cuts Tennis
Lewis University (Romeoville, Illinois) will transition its varsity men’s and women’s tennis teams to club status beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. Both programs competed in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). 42 tennis programs across the NCAA and NAIA will be discontinued over the next few years, while only 12 will be added.
Saint Augustine Removed from CIAA, Adds Baseball Championship
The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) did not extend the membership of Saint Augustine’s University (Raleigh, North Carolina). The CIAA suspended SAU for the 2024-25 academic year due to accreditation and compliance issues. In December 2024, SAU was removed from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which handles accreditation. The CIAA has 12 full members, while SAU will be considered a D2 independent. The CIAA will also bring back its baseball championship.
Sonoma State Athletics Returning?
Sonoma State University (Rohnert Park, California) may receive a lifeline that could see some athletics programs return. The California legislature is looking to give the university $45 million in funds to help sustain the school in the long term. $8 million of those funds are earmarked for the athletics department over the next three years. The school already announced that if the bill is passed, athletics will not return for 2025-26 and a report on the future of athletics at Sonoma State is due by January 2026. It’s too early to tell if sports will return, given that many athletes and coaches left the school under the impression the teams were eliminated. The school announced it would drop athletics in January 2025, effective with the 2025-26 academic year. SSU could revive athletics for the 2026-27 academic year and rejoin the NCAA if it has at least 10 intercollegiate teams, pending the report due in January 2026. Sonoma State was a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
Cuts in Western Washington’s Future?
Western Washington University (Bellingham, Washington) provided a press release regarding an athletic director change. Current AD Jim Sterk will move into a half-time role and share duties with Steve Brummel to help the university reduce its budget deficit. The school also added the following: “The university also announced the athletics portfolio of 15 varsity sports will be evaluated to ensure long-term sustainability and continued success at the conference, regional and national level.” Cuts may be needed to help WWU further reduce its deficit.
NCAA Division 3 News
Marywood Joining the MAC Commonwealth
Marywood University (Scranton, Pennsylvania) will leave the Atlantic East Conference to join the Middle Atlantic Conferences beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. The move will put the MAC at 18 full members, with Neumann University (Aston, Pennsylvania) also joining the MAC in 2026-27. Neuman will be in the MAC Commonwealth, while Marywood will join the MAC Freedom. The Atlantic East will have 8 members for 2025-26, as Saint Elizabeth (NJ) joins, but will fall to 6 members in 2026-27 when Marywood and Neumann depart.
Albright, Regent Adding Sports
Albright College (Reading, Pennsylvania) will add varsity women’s flag football beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. The school did not disclose a conference affiliation. Albright is the third Middle Atlantic Conference school to add flag football, with Eastern University being the first, and future MAC member Marywood being the second.
Regent University (Virginia Beach, Virginia) will add women’s beach volleyball beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. It’s not known which conference the team will compete in. Regent is moving from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) to the NCAA Division 3 Coast-to-Coast Conference in the 2025-26 academic year.
NAIA News
XULA Joins Southern States
Xavier University of Louisiana (New Orleans, Louisiana) is on the move. XULA will move from the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) to the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. XULA’s coed competitive cheer, men’s indoor track & field, and women’s indoor track & field teams will join the SSAC a year early in 2025-26, followed by the remaining teams in 2026-27. The RRAC will be down to 11 full members by 2026-27, as Huston-Tilltson and Paul Quinn are leaving for the HBCUAC in the upcoming 2025-26 academic year. The SSAC will grow to 13 full members when XULA joins in 2026-27.
College of Idaho Drops Varsity Skiing
The College of Idaho (Caldwell, Idaho) will not bring back varsity skiing for the 2025-26 academic year. The school cited low roster numbers as the reason, while leaving the possibility of the team competing as a club team. The Coyotes competed in the Northwest Collegiate Ski Conference (NWCSC) in the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) against British Columbia, Gonzaga, Idaho, Oregon, Oregon State, Puget Sound, Washington, Washington State, and Whitman. The Coyotes were the only NWCSC member to compete as a varsity team. (H/T to Delane Bowman for the link).
Governors State Adds Softball
Governors State University (University Park, Illinois) will add women’s softball beginning with the 2026-27 academic year and compete in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC). The CCAC will have 11 softball teams when GSU begins competition in the 2027 season.
Photo by Ralph Freso / AP Photo