College Sports Realignment Tracker for the 2027-28 Academic Year

Editor’s note: This post has been updated as of Saturday, May 23, 2026. Note that this list only reflects changes in effect beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. A list of changes in effect for the current 2026-27 academic year can be found here. This article will be updated throughout the academic year as more changes become known.

Schools making a full membership change will be highlighted in red, while schools making individual sport changes will be highlighted in purple.

Another new academic year is upon us as the calendar turns to July 1. That means we can begin looking to the future for the changes in the 2027-28 academic year. We will list the known changes for Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, and the NAIA below. A list of changes taking place in the current 2026-27 academic year can be found here. This list will not include previous years’ changes from 2025-26 or earlier realignment moves. We also have a companion article showing the current membership in 2026-27, along with future changes for every conference in the NCAA and NAIA.

The table below shows each school, sport(s), previous conference, new conference, first season in the new conference, and change type (conference change, sport added, or sport discontinued) in separate columns. Clicking the hyperlink in the new conference for the school (4th column in the table) will take you directly to the day of the update. An external link to the news is provided in the 5th column called “First Season in New Conference”. A search function is provided below the table name, and the table is limited to 50 entries at a time due to the large number of entries. An (M) or (W) denotes whether the sport listed is men’s or women’s. Columns “Team”, “Sport(s)”, “Old Conference”, and “Change Type” can be sorted. For mobile users, you can scroll to the right to find additional columns shown in the table.

NCAA Division 1 Realignment Changes

Full Membership Change – Individual Sport Change

5/23/26 Update: The Big South Conference will begin sponsoring women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. Charleston Southern University (Charleston, South Carolina), Gardner-Webb University (Boiling Springs, North Carolina), Radford University (Radford, Virginia), UNC Asheville (Asheville, North Carolina), and USC Upstate (Spartanburg, South Carolina) will compete in the inaugural season.

Binghamton University (Binghamton, New York) will add varsity women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The school is likely to join the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and will confirm that at a later date.

Bradley University (Peoria, Illinois) will add three women’s club sports beginning with the 2027-28 academic year: soccer, stunt, and wrestling.

Chicago State University (Chicago, Illinois) will join the Northeast Conference (NEC) in football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year after playing as an FCS independent for the 2026-27 academic year.

Fairleigh Dickinson University (Teaneck, New Jersey) will add men’s fencing beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It’s not known which conference the team will compete in.

Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa) will add women’s wrestling beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The school did not disclose any conference affiliation.

Kent State University (Kent, Ohio) will add women’s wrestling beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It’s not known which conference the team will compete in.

Marshall University (Huntington, West Virginia) will add women’s STUNT beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It’s not known which conference the team will compete in.

Maryville University (St. Louis, Missouri) will elevate one of its men’s hockey club teams to varsity status beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It’s not yet known which conference the team will compete in.

Morgan State University (Baltimore, Maryland) will add men’s and women’s golf programs beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).

Sacred Heart University (Fairfield, Connecticut) will add women’s acrobatics and tumbling beginning with the 2027-28 academic year.

Stonehill College (Easton, Massachusetts) will add men’s golf beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Northeast Conference (NEC).

The University of California, San Diego and the University of California, Santa Barbara will leave the Big West Conference and join the West Coast Conference as full members effective with the 2027-28 academic year.

The University of Nebraska (Lincoln, Nebraska) will add varsity women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year.

NCAA Division 2 Realignment Changes

Full Membership Change – Individual Sport Change

5/23/26 Update: Barry University (Miami Shores, Florida) will add men’s beach volleyball beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. Barry did not announce any conference affiliation, although it’s likely to be independent, with only 10 men’s programs in the country.

Daemen University (Amherst, New York) will elevate its women’s flag football club team to varsity status beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The team plans to compete in the East Coast Conference.

Flagler College (St. Augustine, Florida) will move from the Peach Belt Conference to the Sunshine State Conference beginning with the 2027-28 academic year.

Fresno Pacific University (Fresno, California) will add women’s beach volleyball beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It’s not known which conference the team will compete in.

Kentucky Wesleyan College (Owensboro, Kentucky) will add four sports beginning with the 2027-28 academic year: men’s cross country, women’s cross country, women’s STUNT, and coed club archery, trap, and skeet. The cross country and SUTNT programs will compete in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).

Northeastern State (Tahlequah, Oklahoma) will add four sports (6 teams in total) beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. Men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s track & field (indoor and outdoor) will be launched and will compete in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA).

Quincy University (Quincy, Illinois) will add women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The school did not disclose any conference affiliation.

Shaw University (Raleigh, North Carolina) will join the Conference Carolinas in men’s soccer beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. Shaw previously competed as an independent.

Shawnee State University (Portsmouth, Ohio) will add a football team and compete in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) no later than the 2028-29 academic year.

Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada) plans to leave the NCAA and join the Canada West Conference of U Sports beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. Simon Fraser is a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Slippery Rock University (Slippery Rock) will add varsity women’s flag football and men’s wrestling beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It’s not known which conference the teams will compete in.

Spring Hill College (Mobile, Alabama) will leave the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) to join the Gulf South Conference beginning with the 2027-28 academic year.

Texas A&M University-Texarkana (Texarkana, Texas) will leave the NAIA’s Red River Conference and join the NCAA Division 2 Lone Star Confernece beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The school will also add a football team beginning with the 2027-28 academic year.

The University of Jamestown (Jamestown, North Dakota) will join the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) as an affiliate member in men’s soccer beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. Jamestown was previously an independent.

NCAA Division 3 Realignment Changes

Full Membership Change – Individual Sport Change

5/23/26 Update: The CUNYAC currently has 8 members, all of whom will move to the newly formed conference in 2027-28. Those schools are located in the boroughs of New York City: Baruch College, Brooklyn College, City College of New York, Hunter College, John Jay College, Lehman College, Medgar Evers College, and York College. In 2027-28, the current CUNYAC teams and several additional to-be-determined schools will create a new NCAA Division 3 athletic conference.

Both the Pratt Institute (New York City, New York) and Saint Elizabeth University (Morristown, New Jersey) will move from the Atlantic East Conference to join the CUNYAC teams in the newly established conference beginning with the 2027-28 academic year.

Albright College (Reading, Pennsylvania) will add women’s ice hockey beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Middle Atlantic Conference.

Arcadia University (Glenside, Pennsylvania) will add men’s and women’s fencing beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The school did not state which conference, if any, the teams will compete in.

Averett University (Danville, Virginia) will suspend its wommen’s tennis program beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The team competes in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).

Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, California) will elevate its women’s flag football club team to varsity status beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It’s not known which conference the team will compete in.

Concordia University Wisconsin (Mequon, Wisconsin) will leave the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) and join the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) beginning with the 2027-28 academic year.

Dean College (Franklin, Massachusetts) will elevate its women’s flag football club team to varsity status beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. No conference affiliation has been disclosed.

D’Youville University (Buffalo, New York) will add men’s indoor and outdoor track & field beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the East Coast Conference.

Elizabethtown College (Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania) will add a women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The school did not state which conference the team will compete in.

Fitchburg State University (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) will add a women’s hockey team beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC).

Gettysburg College (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) will add women’s acrobatics and tumbling and women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It is not known which conference the teams will compete in.

Juniata College (Huntingdon, Pennsylvania) will add men’s and women’s varsity wrestling beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It’s not known which conference the teams will compete in.

Kenyon College (Gambier, Ohio) will add men’s and women’s squash beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the College Squash Association (CSA).

Keuka University (Keuka Park, New York) will leave the Empire 8 and join the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) as a full member beginning with the 2027-28 academic year.

Knox College (Galesburg, Illinois) will elevate its women’s flag football club team to varsity status beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It is not known which conference the team will compete in.

Lawrence University (Appleton, Wisconsin) will add women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC).

Lebanon Valley College (Annville, Pennsylvania) will add men’s volleyball beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and will compete in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC).

Lesley University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) will add men’s volleyball and women’s golf beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The school will announce conference affiliations at a later date.

Manhattanville University (Purchase, New York) will add women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. Manhattanville plans to compete in the Skyline Conference.

McMurry University (Abilene, Texas) will add men’s and women’s gymnastics beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It is not known which conference the team will compete in.

Randolph College (Lynchburg, Virginia) will add women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The school did not confirm the conference it will compete in.

Saint Anselm College (Goffstown, New Hampshire) will leave the NCAA Division 2 Northeast-10 Conference to join the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) beginning with the 2027-28 academic year.

St. Catherine University (St. Paul, Minnesota) will add women’s lacrosse beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It is not known which conference the team will compete in.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (Dartmouth, Massachusetts) will elevate its women’s flag football club team to varsity status beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It’s not known which conference the team will compete in.

The University of Olivet (Olivet, Michigan) will elevate its women’s wrestling club team to varsity status beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. It’s not known which conference the team will compete in.

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh will add men’s soccer beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC).

Utica University (Utica, New York) will add women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Empire 8.

Wisconsin Lutheran College (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) will add women’s flag football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC).

NAIA Realignment Changes

Full Membership Change – Individual Sport Change

5/23/26 Update: Bismarck State College (Bismarck, North Dakota) will add football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Frontier Conference.

Bushnell University (Eugene, Oregon) will add men’s and women’s wrestling beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.

Calumet College of St. Joseph (Whiting, Indiana) will transition its sprint football team to a full-sized varsity program beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA).

Champion Christian College (Hot Springs, Arkansas) will join the American Midwest Conference after one year as a member of the Continental Athletic Conference.

Florida Polytechnic University (Lakeland, Florida) will join the NAIA and Sun Conference after spending the 2026-27 academic year without an affiliation. FPU launched an athletics program in the 2026-27 academic year.

Georgia Southern University – East Georgia Campus (Swainsboro, Georgia) will join the Southern States Athletic Conference after one year as a member of the Continental Athletic Conference.

Hannibal-LaGrange University (Hannibal, Missouri) will add men’s wrestling beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The school did not provide a conference affiliation.

Midway University (Midway, Kentucky) will transition its sprint football team to a full-sized varsity program beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA).

SCAD Savannah (Savannah, Georgia) will add women’s beach volleyball beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and compete in the Sun Conference.

United States Sports University (Daphne, Alabama) will join the Southern States Athletic Conference after one year as a member of the Continental Athletic Conference.

The University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis (St. Louis, Missouri) will be acquired by the NCAA Division 3 Washington University in St. Louis. UHSP will continue competing in the NAIA’s American Midwest Conference through the 2026-27 academic year, but its athletic programs will be eliminated beginning with the 2027-28 academic year.

Photo Courtesy of UC San Diego Athletics