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 August 15, 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 and those starting in 2026-27 are 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.
| School(s)/Conference | News Item |
|---|---|
| ASUN | Possible Realignment Moves |
| CCIW | Launching Network via Hudl |
| Conference of New England | Adding Men’s Volleyball |
| Conference of New England | Commissioner Resigning |
| Empire 8 | Adding Men’s Volleyball |
| New England Volleyball Conference | Being Absorbed by CNE |
| NEWMAC | Adding Men’s Volleyball |
| Pac-12 | Extends Rights Deal with CW |
| Pioneer Football League | Looking to Expand |
| Southland Conference | Basketball Media Rights Deal with CBS |
| United Athletic Conference | Possible Realignment Moves |
| United Volleyball Conference | Being Absorbed by NEWMAC |
| UT Martin | Leaving OVC? |
| Virginia Wesleyan | Changing Name to Batten University |
NCAA Division 1 News
Pac-12 Extends Deal with the CW
The Pac-12 and the CW Network will extend the current rights deal through the 2030-31 season. The Pac-12 will see a rebirth starting in 2026-27 with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, San Diego State, Texas State, and Utah State joining Oregon State and Washington State. The deal will see CW show 13 regular season football games, 15 women’s basketball games (plus the women’s tournament semifinals and championship games), and 35 men’s basketball games.
Possible D1 Realignment Moves
Matt Brown of Extra Points provided an update on some possible D1 realignment moves, particularly those involving the previous report of Lincoln Memorial, Nova Southeastern, and West Florida possibly moving up from D2. Brown confirmed the moratorium on D1 reclassifications through February 2027, unless a school submitted a letter of interest before August 5, 2025. Brown is reporting that those three schools have not been invited to the ASUN or UAC.
Beyond the ASUN, Brown stated that UT Martin could leave the Ohio Valley Conference for the United Athletic Conference (UAC), the Southern Conference could add more schools, and the Pioneer Football League (PFL) would like to expand. The PFL is a non-scholarship conference, which means that at least one school could be kicking the tires on dropping scholarship football. Other possibilities include that the PFL may have talked with a D2/D3 school about moving up before August 5, or a current D1 school is planning to add non-scholarship football. There are plenty of realignment possibilities to watch in the FCS.
Southland Basketball Deal with CBS
The Southland Conference and CBS Sports have agreed to a media rights deal that will allow CBS Sports Network to broadcast up to five basketball games each year. The deal will begin with the 2025-26 academic year. Earlier in August, the Southland and ESPN agreed to extend their media rights deal through the 2030-31 academic year, which could allow for ESPN to broadcast more Southland games in baseball, basketball, football, and softball.
NCAA Division 2 News
There were no news stories for NCAA Division 2.
NCAA Division 3 News
CCIW Launches Network
The Collegiate Confernece of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) announced it will launch its own network via Hudl for the 2025-26 academic year. The streaming platform will be free of charge.
CNE Commissioner Resigns
The Conference of New England Commissioner Patrick Colbert will resign on September 15 to join the Patriot League as deputy commissioner. Colbert joined the CNE in 2023 when it was known as the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The CCC rebranded to the Conference of New England in August 2024. The CNE has seen relatively stable membership in recent years. Salve Regina University (Newport, Rhode Island) departed in 2023, while the University of Hartford (Connecticut) joined the same year, and Johnson & Wales University (Providence, Rhode Island) joined in 2025.
Men’s Volleyball Conference Sponsorship Changes
Men’s volleyball in the Northeast will look a little different in 2026-27 after a series of changes were announced. The New England Volleyball Conference (NEVC) and the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) will be absorbed, and the Conference of New England (CNE), Empire 8, and NEWMAC will begin sponsoring men’s volleyball. The table below shows the breakdown of each men’s volleyball conference membership with the previous affiliation in parentheses.
Note: The UVC’s press release doesn’t state that it’s disbanding or ceasing operations, but the NEWMAC press release states the remaining UVC members (minus Hobart) will join the NEWMAC as associate members. NEWMAC Executive Director Patrick B. Summers will become commissioner of the UVC as the NEWMAC begins sponsoring the sport in 2026-27. Finally, there’s no mention of Hobart in the NEWMAC’s press release, but the UVC’s statement indicates that the school will remain in the UVC (effectively, the NEWMAC).
| CNE (Previous Conference) | Empire 8 (Previous Conference) | NEWMAC (Previous Conference) |
|---|---|---|
| Bard (NEVC) | Elmira (UVC) | Emerson (Great Northeast) |
| Curry (NEVC) | Hartwick (Independent) | Hobart (TBC) (UVC) |
| Endicott (NEVC) | Houghton (AMCC) | MIT (UVC) |
| Nichols (NEVC) | Nazareth (UVC) | New York University (UVC) |
| SUNY Potsdam (NEVC) | SUNY Poly (NEVC) | Springfield (Independent) |
| Vermont State Johnson (NEVC) | Russell Sage (NEVC) | SUNY New Paltz (UVC) |
| Wentworth Tech (Great Northeast) | St. John Fisher (UVC) | Vassar (UVC) |
| Wheaton (MA) (Great Northeast) |
Virginia Wesleyan Will Change Name
Virginia Wesleyan University will change its name to Batten University beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. The name change is in honor of Jane Batten, who has provided financial support to the university over the last decade. Jane Batten is currently Trustee Emerita for Virginia Wesleyan.
NAIA News
There were no news stories for the NAIA.
Photo Courtesy of Springfield Athletics