College Realignment Report for March 31, 2026

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 March 15, 2026, 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.

NCAA Division 1 News

New Subdivision Discussed

The NCAA Division 1 Membership Committee discussed the creation of a new autonomy subdivision at its February meeting. No action was taken, while the group is laying the groundwork for more robust discussions in the future. Part of the future discussions will include sponsored sports, areas of autonomy, legislation to support the autonomous subdivision, defining what constitutes an autonomy conference, governance structure, enforcement within the subdivision, committees, and rules.

FCS-to-FBS Transition Changes Proposed

The NCAA FBS Oversight Committee is recommending legislation that will remove the postseason waiting period for FCS-to-FBS teams, provided they meet certain criteria. Under the proposal, reclassifying teams would be eligible for a bowl game if they are at least 6-6 and can fill one of the conference’s bowl commitments. The current rules allow reclassifying teams to play in a bowl game if they are 6-6 and there are not enough teams to fill bowl slots. The proposed legislation comes three years after James Madison was controversially denied a bowl game waiver in 2023, despite being 10-0 at the time of the NCAA’s decision. JMU was in line for a potential spot in the College Football Playoff had it received a waiver. The Dukes wound up finishing the regular season 11-1 overall and did not compete in the Sun Belt title game due to the FCS-to-FBS rules. However, JMU did play in a bowl game in 2023 due to the lack of bowl-eligible teams, losing 31-21 to Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl.

The Committee also recommended a change for APR and five-win teams. The new proposals would allow teams with 5 wins and a qualifying Academic Progress Rate (APR) to be eligible for a bowl game. This would allow conferences to select a 5-7 team to fulfill the bowl commitment instead of having to offer the slot to the 5-7 team with the highest APR. Both proposals will be reviewed in May and potentially approved in June.

Atlantic 10 Names New Commissioner

The Atlantic 10 Conference named Dan Leibovitz as its next commissioner, effective May 4, 2026. Leibovitz was previously the Big East Conference‘s senior associate commissioner. He will replace Bernadette McGlade, who is set to retire later this spring. McGlade led the A-10 for nearly two decades, overseeing the additions of VCU (2012), George Mason (2013), Davidson (2014), and Loyola Chicago (2022). Butler, Charlotte, Temple, and Xavier departed in 2013, while Massachusetts left in 2025.

Big South Adding Women’s Flag Football; Big 12 Exploring Sponsorship

The Big South Conference will sponsor varsity women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The Big South is the first D1 multi-sport conference to sponsor the sport. Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Radford, UNC Asheville, and USC Upstate will compete in the inaugural season. The Big South indicated that additional members will add the sport and the conference will add affiliate members ahead of the first season.

The Big 12 Conference is also looking to sponsor flag football as soon as 2028, according to a report by Sports Business Journal. The first season would start with at least six teams, although the report didn’t identify which 6 schools. Currently, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and UCF have club teams.

Big Ten Sets New Baseball Tournament Format

The Big Ten Conference will implement a new baseball tournament format in 2026. The bottom eight seeds (5 through 12) will play a double-elimination tournament to determine the four seeds advancing to the quarterfinals. Those four teams will then play in a single-elimination bracket against the top four seeds to determine the champion. The double elimination portion will take place Tuesday, May 19, through Thursday, May 21. The single elimination bracket will be held Friday, May 22, through Sunday, May 24.

Big West, Pac-12 Announce Men’s Soccer Partnership

The Big West Conference and the Pac-12 Conference announced a partnership that will allow both conferences to sponsor men’s soccer. Incoming Big West schools Cal Baptist, Cal Poly, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego will be affiliates in the Pac-12. As a result, both conferences will have 7 teams and will also have a scheduling alliance for non-conference games. Had the Big West not loaned out four teams, it would have been at 11 programs, with the Pac-12 sitting at just 3. Of note, UC San Diego is moving to the West Coast Conference beginning with the 2027-28 academic year, and the WCC will sponsor men’s soccer. That will leave the Pac-12 at 6 members in 2027-28, assuming no additional changes.

Patriot League Extends ESPN Deal

The Patriot League and ESPN have agreed to a media rights extension. ESPN+ will broadcast all home games for football, men’s basketball, men’s lacrosse, women’s basketball, and women’s lacrosse. The two parties originally agreed to the deal in 2020 and extended it in 2023. Earlier this year, the Patriot League extended its CBS Sports deal, which broadcasts 24 live events in men’s basketball, men’s lacrosse, and women’s basketball.

UMBC Cancels Softball Season

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, Maryland) has canceled the remainder of its women’s softball season. The school cited low participation numbers as the main reason. An explosive report published earlier this week by Sports Illustrated recounted the team’s alleged “toxic culture” under former managers Angie and Rick Nicholson. UMBC will hire a new manager and bring the softball program back for the 2027 season.

UT Arlington Cancels Men’s Tennis Season

The University of Texas Arlington has canceled the remainder of its men’s tennis season. The school noted that a high number of injuries this season led to the cancellation. UTA was 0-9 on the season before the cancellation, with matches against Abilene Christian (twice), Rice, St. John’s, and the ASUN tournament remaining. UTA made it clear that men’s tennis will return in the 2026-27 academic year.

NCAA Division 2 News

Spring Hill Moving to Gulf South

Spring Hill College (Mobile, Alabama) will move from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) to the Gulf South Conference beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. SHC already competes in the GSC as an affiliate member in men’s soccer, women’s golf, and women’s soccer. The SIAC will have 14 members in the 2027-28 academic year, while the Gulf South will have 13 members, assuming no additional changes for either conference.

The one sport that Spring Hill does not sponsor is football, which keeps the GSC in a rough spot for football membership. Currently, the GSC only has four football teams: Delta State, Valdosta State, West Alabama, and West Florida, which has resulted in a scheduling agreement with Conference Carolinas in 2025 and 2026. West Florida has been linked with a possible realignment move in 2026, with an announcement of its move to D1 expected on April 2. UWF’s departure would leave the GSC with only three football members and likely hasten its football demise if no new football teams are added. The logical home for the three remaining GSC football teams would be the Conference Carolinas, which has 7 football teams.

NCAA Division 3 News

Saint Elizabeth Joining New CUNYAC Conference

Saint Elizabeth University (Morristown, New Jersey) will leave the Atlantic East Conference to join a newly created conference, comprising current CUNYAC members and the Pratt Institute, beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. SEU will move all its sports, except women’s STUNT, to the new confernece. The new CUNYAC, as I will refer to it until a name is formally announced, will have 10 members: Baruch College, Brooklyn College, City College of New York, Hunter College, John Jay College, Lehman College, Medgar Evers College, Pratt, Saint Elizabeth, and York College (NY). The press release indicated that additional schools will be added to the new conference. Below is a map showing the 10 known members of the new CUNYAC.

Atlantic East, United East to Form Strategic Partnership

The Atlantic East Conference and the United East Conference will explore a strategic partnership to help maintain automatic qualification access to NCAA tournaments. The partnership is expected to have terms completed this summer and implementation would start in the 2026-27 academic year. The two conferences will then be fully aligned for the 2027-28 academic year. While the press release stated this is not a merger, it will feel like it, especially for the Atlantic East, which will have 6 full members in 2026-27. That number drops to 4 in 2027-28 when Pratt and Saint Elizabeth leave to join the new CUNYAC. The United East will have 14 full members starting in 2026-27.

The AEC has struggled to maintain high membership numbers since its founding in 2018. Originally, seven schools joined the conference, but it took only three years for that to change when Wesley College was acquired by Delaware State in 2021. Centenary (NJ) took Wesley’s place for the 2021-22 academic year to maintain seven members. A similar situation occurred in 2024 when Cabrini was acquired by Villanova, leading to the addition of Pratt. Saint Elizabeth joined in 2025, briefly giving the AEC 8 teams, but that was undone by the departures of Marywood and Neumann to the Middle Atlantic Conference. Both Pratt and Saint Elizabeth are departing at the start of the 2027-28 academic year. It will be interesting to see how the two conferences end up splitting the AQ sports. The map below shows the current Atlantic East Conference membership.

NJAC to Implement Divisions in Men’s Lacrosse

The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) announced two new affiliate men’s lacrosse members for the 2026-27 academic year. Centenary College of Louisiana (Shreveport) and Colorado College (Colorado Springs) will join next academic year. Both compete as independents. The two new affiliate programs will join the established NJAC schools Kean, Montclair State, Stockton, and SUNY New Paltz. The conference announced two divisions, each comprising three teams, but there’s a wrinkle.

The Gold Division will feature Centenary and Colorado College permanently, with the third member to be determined on a rotating basis every two years. The remaining three teams will be in the Blue Division. Given the geographic expanse of the two new affiliates, the rotating basis makes sense to keep costs even across the members over the eight-year rotation period. The two division winners will compete in the NJAC Championship Game on the Saturday before the NCAA selection show. The NJAC champion will not be eligible for the 2027 NCAA tournament due to a mandatory one-year waiting period for new AQs, but will be eligible to compete in 2028.

Penn College Cancels Baseball Season

The Pennsylvania College of Technology (Williamsport, Pennsylvania) canceled the remainder of the baseball season due to an investigation. The college received reports last week involving the team, which led to roster and coaching staff changes, along with the eventual cancellation of the season. The school plans to continue sponsoring baseball despite this year’s canceled season.

NAIA News

Nevada State Plans to Apply for NAIA Membership

Nevada State University (Henderson, Nevada) is planning to apply for NAIA membership in 2027, according to a local report. NSU laid the foundation for an athletics program in late 2024 by adding a $9-per-credit-hour fee. In March 2025, the school officially announced its first teams: men’s track & field and women’s flag football. The logical destination would be the Great Southwest Athletic Conference, which currently has 10 members located in Arizona and southern California. There’s also the California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac), although recent membership changes have put the conference’s long-term stability in doubt.

SSAC Eyes New Members; Will Sponsor Beach Volleyball and Men’s Wrestling

The Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) will sponsor women’s beach volleyball beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Brewton-Parker, Loyola New Orleans, Mobile, Spartanburg Methodist, Truett McConnell, Wesleyan (GA), and William Carey are the seven teams that will compete in the inaugural season. Brewton-Parker will be a new program, Wesleyan will join from the NCAA D3 CCS, and the other five programs will move from the NAIA’s Sun Conference. As it stands, the Sun Conference will have 7 beach volleyball programs remaining in 2026-27. The NAIA held its first beach volleyball season in 2022 and is currently considered an “invitational” sport.

In an interview with Cascade Hoops Talk, commissioner Mike Hall discussed the future of the conference and mentioned the addition of three new sports: women’s beach volleyball (see above), women’s flag football, and men’s wrestling. Current members Brewton-Parker (Appalachian) and Life (Appalachian), plus future member Andrew (NJCAA), sponsor the sport. No additional details were provided on the additional men’s wrestling teams that could compete in the SSAC next season.

Hall also stated, “In 2027-28, we’re going to add 2 more members, maybe 3.” Andrew College, Wesleyan College (GA), and Xavier University (LA) are already joining the SSAC in 2026-27 to bring the conference to 15 teams. The 2-3 new members could come from the Appalachian Athletic Conference, Mid-South Conference, or schools joining the NAIA. That would bring the SSAC up to as many as 18 full members by the start of the 2027-28 academic year.

College of Alameda Dropping Athletics

Outside the NCAA and NAIA landscape, the College of Alameda (Alameda, California) will discontinue its athletics program. Alameda competed in the California Community College Athletic Association‘s (CCCAA/3C2A) Bay Valley Conference. The school had only a men’s basketball program, with its women’s basketball not having competed in the previous seasons. The women’s volleyball team has not competed in the last two years. Title IX requires equal opportunities for men and women athletes. Since the school is unable to field any women’s sports teams, the men’s team can no longer be offered. Nearly two dozen schools across the NAIA, NCAA, NJCAA, and now CCCAA have seen their athletics impacted since the start of the 2025-26 academic year due to closings, mergers, or voluntary decisions.

Photo Courtesy of Spring Hill Athletics