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 September 30, 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 the corresponding section.
| School(s)/Conference | News Item |
|---|---|
| Alverno | Joining C2C |
| Big South Conference | Extends Media Rights Deal with ESPN |
| Cascade Collegiate Conference | Rights Deal with Urban Edge |
| Little Rock | Joining United Athletic Conference in 2026-27 |
| MASCAC | Adding Men’s Lacrosse |
| NCAA Division 1 | New Transfer Policy |
| NCAA Division 2 | Expanded Championships Coverage |
| NCAA Division 3 | Expanded Championships Coverage |
| RMAC | Named New Commissioner |
| SCAC | Adding Women’s Flag Football |
| Southeast Missouri State | May Join UAC |
| UT Martin | May Join UAC |
| WIAC | Commissioner Harris Leaving |
NCAA Division 1 News
Little Rock Joining UAC
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will leave the Ohio Valley Conference after the 2025-26 academic year and join the United Athletic Conference beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Little Rock will move all sports except its men’s wrestling (Pac-12) and women’s swimming & diving teams (ASUN) to the UAC. The UAC is set to become a multi-sports conference in 2026-27, as it takes over the current WAC membership. Little Rock is the 9th member lined up for 2026-27, but more additions are likely. The Trojans do not have a football team and are the second non-football school, along with UT-Arlington. Little Rock may not be the only school exiting the OVC, as Matt Brown of Extra Points reported that Southeast Missouri State and UT Martin could also leave and join the UAC.
Big South, ESPN Extends Media Rights Deal
The Big South Conference and ESPN have agreed to extend their current media rights deal for an additional six years. The deal will run through the 2030-31 academic year. The Big South Conference will continue to see its basketball tournament championship games shown on linear ESPN channels. Six additional events will be broadcast each year on ESPNU, with at least four of those events being men’s basketball games. The Big South also retains the rights to as many as 50 linear events per year for local broadcasts within the conference’s geographic footprint. The same rights were part of the Ohio Valley Conference’s extension with ESPN. The Big South noted that those 50 events will also be shown on ESPN+.
New Transfer Policy
The NCAA Division 1 Administrative Committee has changed the transfer window to 15 days from January 2-16 instead of two separate windows in January and April. The Committee also changed the transfer policy for head coaching changes to 30 days after a coach leaves to 15 days after a new coach is hired.
NCAA Division 2 News
NCAA D2, D3 Championships to Receive Free Streaming Coverage
The NCAA Division 2 and 3 championships will start receiving more free streaming coverage this academic year. The NCAA announced that Hudl and TNT Sports will stream over 1,200 games from D2 and D3 championships this year. Most games will be early rounds from the championships that don’t belong to existing agreements with ESPN and CBS.
RMAC Names New Commissioner
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference named Danielle Harris as the next commissioner. Harris will take over the top spot after former commissioner Chris Graham left to take the leading role with the Sunshine State Conference. Harris was previously the commissioner of the NCAA Division 3 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), having been in the role since 2020. The WIAC is one of the most stable conferences in the NCAA, having only two full memberships since its inception in 1913. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee left in 1964, while the University of Wisconsin-Superior left in 2015. The RMAC hasn’t seen much realignment impact in the last decade. Utah Tech University (then called Dixie State) was the most recent school to leave in 2020, choosing to move up to NCAA Division 1. The most recent addition was Westminster University in Salt Lake City, Utah.
NCAA Division 3 News
Alverno Joining C2C
Alverno College (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) will join the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Alverno is a women’s college and will compete in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference through the 2025-26 academic year. Alverno’s women’s basketball, soccer, and tennis programs will not compete this academic year, but are expected to resume competition in 2026-27. The C2C is at 8 full members for the 2026-27 academic year, while the NACC is at 12, with Concordia University Wisconsin also leaving the conference.
Two Conferences Add New Championships
The MASCAC and SCAC will have new championship sports in 2026-27. The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) will begin sponsoring men’s lacrosse with the 2026-27 academic year. Anna Maria College, Husson University, Maine Maritime Academy, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Salem State University, and Thomas College (ME) will compete in the inaugural season.
The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) will begin sponsoring women’s flag football in the 2026-27 academic year. Centenary College of Louisiana, Concordia University Texas, Hendrix College, and Millsaps College will compete in the first season.
NAIA News
CCC Signs With Urban Edge Network
The Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) has signed a four-year media rights deal with Urban Edge Network. The exclusive deal will include men’s baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s wrestling, women’s softball, and women’s volleyball. Urban Edge has been scooping up NAIA media rights, including the American Midwest, Heart, KCAC, Mid-South, Sooner, SSAC, and Sun. The network also has a partnership with the NAIA to stream some of its championship events.
Photo Courtesy of Little Rock Athletics
