College Realignment Report for July 15, 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 June 30, 2026, and provide updates on previously discussed topics. As a reminder, all official moves starting with the 2026-27 academic year can be found here, and those starting in 2027-28 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

Autonomous Subdivision Recommendation Paused

The NCAA Division 1 Membership Committee has paused its work on creating a new autonomy subdivision. The Committee originally discussed the idea at its February meeting, with the plan to have further discussions. 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.

Dayton and Wichita Selected as March Madness Opening Round Sites

Dayton, Ohio, and Wichita, Kansas, will be the host cities for the expanded men’s basketball tournament. Both cities will host six games total, with three on Tuesday and three on Wednesday. The NCAA expanded the tournament in May, with opening round games consisting of two 11-seed matchups, four 12-seed matchups, two 15-seed matchups, and four 16-seed matchups.

Four Conferences Announce Women’s Basketball Scheduling Partnership

The American Conference, Atlantic 10 Conference, Ivy League, and Missouri Valley Conference announced a women’s basketball scheduling partnership for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons. The 2026 matchups will take place on Friday, November 6, and Sunday, November 8, with each conference competing in two games.

NCHC Extends Commissioner

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) announced a contract extension for Commissioner Heather Weems through the 2029-2030 academic year. Weems took over the NCHC’s top post at the start of the 2022-23 academic year and has seen the addition of two teams during her tenure: Arizona State in 2024 and St. Thomas (MN) in 2026. The NCAA D1 men’s hockey conference is comprised of 10 members: Arizona State, Colorado College, Denver, Miami (OH), Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, St. Thomas (MN), and Western Michigan.

SWAC Signs Media Rights Deal With ESPN

The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and ESPN agreed to a five-year media rights deal through the 2030-31 academic year. 10 regular season football games will be shown on ESPN networks and ESPN+, with the SWAC Football Championship to be shown on ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2 each year. ESPN also announced that the MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff and Celebration Bowl have been extended through 2032. The SWAC men’s and women’s basketball tournament championships will be shown on a linear ESPN network each year, with all other rounds on ESPN+. In addition, four men’s regular season games will be shown on ESPN networks or ESPN+.

West Coast to Sponsor Swimming & Diving

The West Coast Conference will sponsor men’s and women’s swimming and diving beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The WCC anticipates its first swimming and diving championship will be held in February 2028. The WCC did not list the teams that would compete, but assuming no changes to sports sponsorship, the WCC is slated to have six men’s teams and eight women’s teams: Denver (both), Pacific (both), Pepperdine (women), Saint Mary’s (both), San Diego (women), Seattle (both), UC San Diego (both), and UC Santa Barbara (both). All of those teams currently compete as affiliates in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). In April 2026, the Big West Conference announced it would not sponsor men’s and women’s swimming and diving for the 2026-27 academic year due to realignment.

NCAA Division 2 News

Gannon and Ursuline Wage Legal Battle Against G-MAC

Gannon University (Erie, Pennsylvania) and Ursuline College (Pepper Pike, Ohio) are taking the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) to court over the possible expulsion of Ursuline. The two schools announced a merger in early 2025 that would become effective with the 2026-27 academic year. Neither school planned to make any changes to its respective athletic departments, but the G-MAC plans to vote Ursuline out after the 2026-27 academic year, citing scheduling needs. The G-MAC believes that Ursuline is no longer an autonomous institution following the merger and would only allow the women’s softball and women’s volleyball teams to remain as affiliates. At the end of June, the G-MAC announced the University of Indianapolis would join, beginning with the 2027-28 academic year, presumably to replace Ursuline.

Gulf South Names New Commissioner

The Gulf South Conference named Bill Popp as its next commissioner. Popp was previously the NAIA’s Appalachian Athletic Conference commissioner since July 2022. Popp will replace Matt Wilson, who led the GSC since 2014, and left to become the Ohio Valley Conference commissioner earlier this year. The Gulf South has undergone some changes in the last few years, with Trevecca Nazarene joining in 2024, while Loyola New Orleans and Spring Hill are set to join in the 2027-28 academic year. Three schools have departed the GSC in the past few years: Shorter and West Georgia in 2024 and West Florida in 2026. Shorter joined the D2 Conference Carolinas and West Florida and West Georgia left for the D1 ASUN.

The biggest issue for the Gulf South Conference in recent years has been the football sponsorship, which is now down to 3 teams following departures in recent years. Only Delta State, Valdosta State, and West Alabama remain as football teams, and the GSC did not receive an AQ waiver for the 2026 season. The Gulf South’s football past and future are looked at in more depth here.

Membership Process Updates

The NCAA Division 2 Management Council provided an update on schools reclassifying to D2. For the 2026-27 academic year, Jamestown, Point Park, Roosevelt, Sul Ross State, UT Dallas, and UC Merced are full NCAA D2 members starting on September 1. Menlo will be in the third year of the process, while Middle Georgia State advances to the second year. Ferrum is also in the second year of the expedited process. Shawnee State will also pursue the expedited process. Texas A&M-Texarkana will begin its three-year process in the 2026-27 academic year.

Sonoma State Athletics Decision Delayed

Sonoma State University (Rohnert Park, California) has delayed its decision on whether athletics will return. The school planned to announce its decision on June 30, but canceled the press conference because “further deliberation and fact-gathering were needed before providing a campus update.” In January 2025, Sonoma State announced the discontinuation of its athletic programs after the 2024-25 academic year. In June 2025, the California legislature considered giving the school $45 million, with $8 million earmarked for the athletic department. In February 2026, Sonoma State president Michael Spagna stated that athletics could return as soon as the 2027-28 academic year. Sonoma State competed in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). In the CCAA’s history, only two schools have departed the conference and not ended up in NCAA Division 1: Sonoma State in 2025 and Chapman University in 1993 (currently in NCAA D3 SCIAC).

NCAA Division 3 News

Southwestern Returning to SCAC

Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas) will return to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. Southwestern was previously a member of the SCAC from 1994-95 through 2024-25, but left to join the Southern Athletic Association beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. All of Southwestern’s athletic teams, except men’s and women’s lacrosse, will move to the SCAC. It’s not known if the lacrosse teams will remain in the SAA as affiliate members. The SCAC will expand to 12 full members in 2027-28, as Southwestern and Millsaps will join.

MIAA Commissioner Leaving for RRAC

Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) commissioner Jason Horn departed to become commissioner of the NAIA’s Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). The MIAA named Associate Commissioner Lauren Bryne-Dunn as the interim commissioner. Horn had led the MIAA since October 2024. The MIAA has been a stable conference since its inception in 1888, with only four departures in its history: Michigan State in 1907 (Big Ten), Eastern Michigan in 1902 and 1926 (MAC), Hillsdale in 1961 (D2 G-MAC), and Defiance in 2000 (NAIA’s WHAC). The last two full members to join were Saint Mary’s College in 1997 and Trine University in 2004. Both schools are located in Indiana and are the only current members located outside Michigan.

Middle Atlantic Adds Flag Football

The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) will add women’s flag football as a sponsored sport beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Albright, Eastern University (PA), Marywood, and Neumann will compete in the inaugural season. Albright is a new program, while Eastern, Marywood, and Neumann previously competed in the Atlantic East Conference.

Pacific, Willamette Merging

Pacific University (Forest Grove, Oregon) and Willamette University (Salem, Oregon) are officially merging into a single entity. The Board of Trustees at both schools approved the merger in early June. The timeline shows a corporate merger in early 2027, but the institutional merger won’t be completed until 2028. The two schools announced an intent to merge in December 2025 and said the new entity would be called the University of the Northwest, but that remains subject to change. In 2025, it was also announced that each campus “would maintain separate admissions requirements, academic programs, and athletics.” Both schools currently compete in the Northwest Conference.

SCAC and USA South Announce FloSports Media Rights Agreements

The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) announced that its media rights deal with FloSports was extended for another two years through the 2030-31 academic year. The SCAC and FloSports originally agreed to a deal beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. USA South Conference and FloSports announced a five-year media rights agreement beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. The USA South is the 12th NCAA D3 conference to sign a media rights deal with FloSports, and is the 21st across all NCAA divisions.

NAIA News

Appalachian Commissioner Resigning

Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) commissioner Bill Popp will resign on August 2, 2026, to join the NCAA D2 Gulf South Conference as its commissioner. Popp was named AAC commissioner in July 2022 and has seen several changes during his tenure. Pikeville (2023) and Spartanburg Methodist (2025) both joined the conference, while Carolina University is set to join in 2027. Four schools have left: Point (GA) in 2023, Kentucky Christian and St. Andrews (NC) in 2025, and SCAD Atlanta in 2026 (see below for more information about SCAD Atlanta’s move).

Mid-South Names New Commissioner

Chris Wells is the permanent Mid-South Conference Commissioner as of July 1. Wells was named the interim commissioner in May 2025, following the resignation of Eric Leach. The Mid-South currently has seven members in Kentucky and Tennessee. The conference lost 6 full members in 2022 and 2023, including Life University (2022), Pikeville (2023), Shawnee State (2023), Thomas More (2023), Tennessee Southern (2023), and Wilberforce (2023).

RRAC Tabs New Commissioner

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) named Jason Horn as its second commissioner on July 1. Horn previously was the commissioner of the NCAA D3 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) from October 1, 2024, through June 30, 2026. Horn replaces Tony Stigliano, who has led the RRAC since its inception in 1998. The RRAC lost Paul Quinn and Huston-Tillotson to the HBCUAC in 2025, while Jarvis Christian is making the same move in 2026. Xavier University of Louisiana left the RRAC for the SSAC in 2026, while Texas A&M-Texarkana will join the NCAA D2 Lone Star Conference in 2027.

Pair of NCAA Schools to Join NAIA

NAIA President and CEO, Jim Carr, stated that two NCAA Division 2 schools will join the governing body in the coming weeks. Carr declined to name the two schools in the interview, but said, “Division 2 is really about managing cost and kind of getting into a conference with schools, who either fund or just have a smilar approach to athletics than maybe what they’re experience in their divison 2 conference.”

SCAD Atlanta and SCAD Savannah Combine Athletic Departments, Merging Teams

At the end of June, it was reported that SCAD Atlanta had left the Appalachian Athletic Conference. That is not the only news, as SCAD Atlanta and SCAD Savannah have merged their athletic programs, with some teams being eliminated. Men’s and women’s bowling, men’s tennis, and women’s golf have been discontinued at SCAD Atlanta and will move to the SCAD Savannah campus. Meanwhile, men’s golf, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field, and women’s tennis have been discontinued at SCAD Savannah and moved to SCAD Atlanta. SCAD will compete as a member of the Sun Conference. Below is a table showing the sports offered at each campus.

Non-NCAA/NAIA News

Miami University Middletown (Middletown, Ohio) will have its athletic programs merged into Miami University Hamilton beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. Both schools are considered Miami University regional campuses and previously combined the women’s softball and women’s volleyball programs. Middletown will compete in men’s baseball, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball for the 2026-27 academic year before the two campus athletic programs are merged. Middletown and Hamilton are both members of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA). Middletown becomes at least the 30th athletic program to be impacted by an acquisition, closure, merger, or voluntary decision.

Photo courtesy of Southwestern athletics