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 31, 2024, and provide updates on previously discussed topics. As a reminder, all official moves starting with the 2024-25 academic year or later can be found here and all changes – full membership or individual sport changes – starting in 2025-26 can be found here. Please note that individual sports changes occurring in 2025-26 or later will be listed in the standalone article only.
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. If a division is not highlighted, there has been no news in the preceding two weeks. We’ve also summarized the news items in a table below if you are more interested in a summary or specific news item rather than having to scroll to find it.
| School(s)/Conference | News Item | Realignment Change / Effective Year | Current Conference | New Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Ten | Not Looking to Expand | No | N/A | N/A |
| Boise State | Joining Pac-12 | Yes – 2026-27 | Mountain West (D1) | Pac-12 (D1) |
| Cal Poly Humboldt | Men’s Wrestling to MPSF | Yes – 2024-25 | New Program | MPSF (D2) |
| Central Oklahoma | Possible D1 Future? | TBD | N/A | N/A |
| Colorado State | Joining Pac-12 | Yes – 2026-27 | Mountain West (D1) | Pac-12 (D1) |
| Dominican (CA) | Women’s Lacrosse Joining MEC | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (D2) | Mountain East (D2) |
| Fresno State | Joining Pac-12 | Yes – 2026-27 | Mountain West (D1) | Pac-12 (D1) |
| Kutztown | Acrobatics & Tumbling Joining MEC | Yes – 2024-25 | Independent (D2) | Mountain East (D2) |
| Menlo | Men’s Wrestling to MPSF | Yes – 2024-25 | CCC (NAIA) | MPSF (D2) |
| Menlo | Women’s Wrestling to MPSF | Yes – 2024-25 | CCC (NAIA) | MPSF (D2) |
| MIAA (D3) | New Commissioner | Yes – 2024-25 | N/A | N/A |
| Missouri Valley Conference | Extends Rights Deals | No | N/A | N/A |
| Mountain West / 2PAC | Not Extending Scheduling Agreement | No – 2025-26 | N/A | N/A |
| NCAA | May Allow Redshirts for All sports | TBD – 2025-26 | N/A | N/A |
| North Central University (MN) | Esports Joining New League | Yes – 2024-25 | NACE (Non-NCAA) | Playfly League (Non-NCAA) |
| OAC | Names New Commissioner | Yes – 2024-25 | N/A | N/A |
| Presidents’ Athletic Conference | Will not have Divisions in Football | Yes – 2025-26 | N/A | N/A |
| San Diego State | Joining Pac-12 | Yes – 2026-27 | Mountain West (D1) | Pac-12 (D1) |
| San Francisco State | Men’s Wrestling to MPSF | Yes – 2024-25 | RMAC (D2) | MPSF (D2) |
| Shawnee State | Esports Moving to GLEC | Yes – 2024-25 | NACE (Non-NAIA) | GLEC (Non-NAIA) |
| UConn | Big 12 Move on Hold | No | N/A | N/A |
| Vanguard | Men’s Wrestling to MPSF | Yes – 2024-25 | CCC (NAIA) | MPSF (D2) |
| Vanguard | Women’s Wrestling to MPSF | Yes – 2024-25 | CCC (NAIA) | MPSF (D2) |
Pac-12 Adds Four New Members
The Pac-12 will add Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State from the Mountain West beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Additional teams are expected to join the Pac-12 as the conference needs two more members to maintain its status as an FBS conference. The latest move is likely to kick off a chain reaction of further realignment moves that could reach the NCAA Division 2 level or lower.
Connecticut to Big 12 on Hold
The Big 12-UConn soap opera is back on hold after both parties agreed to table further discussions. UConn has been a frequent target of the Big 12 in the past few years and was reportedly “seriously considered” as a Big 12 expansion target last month. Had UConn joined the Big 12, it would have been effective with the 2026-27 academic year while football would have joined in 2031-32.
Redshirt Rules May Change for All Sports
The NCAA may change its redshirt rules for all sports, modeled after the current football bylaw. The NCAA would allow athletes in all sports to redshirt a season provided that the athlete does not breach a certain percentage of games. For football, it is 4 contests and does not count postseason games towards the countable contests. Other than football, only wrestling athletes are permitted to redshirt.
The NCAA is also considering the elimination of the National Letter of Intent and allowing athletes to earn prize money before college enrollment with both a noticeable shift away from the amateurism doctrine held by the NCAA since its creation. Elimination of the National Letter of Intent could occur as soon as October 2024 and would apply to the current 2024-25 academic year.
Big Ten Not Looking To Expand
Iowa president Barbara Wilson says the Big Ten is not looking to expand any further… right now. The Big Ten is up to 18 members following the additions of Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington for the 2024-25 academic year.
Missouri Valley Conference Extends Rights Deals
The Missouri Valley Conference has extended its rights deals with CBS and ESPN. The CBS deal will cover men’s college basketball games including CBS keeping the broadcast rights to the men’s championship game. CBS will also air additional men’s basketball games in an ESPN sublicense deal through the 2026-27 academic year. The ESPN deal will run through the 2028-29 academic year and cover the MVC’s other sports including the men’s basketball games and women’s basketball tournament. In August 2023, the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) also announced an extension of its rights deal with ESPN as the MVFC deal will run through the 2029 season (2029-30 academic year).
NCAA Division 1 Sports Changes
The Mountain West, Oregon State, and Washington State are not expected to continue their scheduling agreement for the 2025 season. For the 2024 season, OSU and WSU will play up to 8 Mountain West opponents but those games will not count in the conference standings nor will OSU and WSU be eligible for MWC Championship Game. The Mountain West and 2Pac could come to an agreement that will extend the scheduling alliance with a different number of games.
NCAA Division 2 Sports Changes
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) will sponsor men’s and women’s wrestling beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Cal Poly Humboldt, Menlo, San Francisco State, and Vanguard will compete in men’s wrestling while Menlo and Vanguard also competing in women’s wrestling. Cal Poly Humboldt is a new program for 2024-25, San Francisco State is moving from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), and the duo of Menlo and Vanguard previously competed in the NAIA’s Cascade Collegiate Conference before beginning the move to NCAA Division 2’s Pacific West Conference in 2024-25.
Dominican University of California (San Rafael, California) will join the Mountain East Conference for women’s lacrosse beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. The Penguins previously competed as an independent for the 2023-24 academic year. Dominican is a full member of the Pacific West Conference but the PacWest does not sponsor women’s lacrosse.
Kutztown University (Kutztown, Pennsylvania) is joining the Mountain East Conference for Acrobatics & Tumbling beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. Kutztown will compete against Fairmont State, Frostburg State, Glenville State, West Liberty, West Virginia State, and Wheeling. Kutztown is a primary member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), which doesn’t sponsor Acrobatics & Tumbling.
Central Oklahoma to Division 1 in the Future?
Central Oklahoma (Edmond, Oklahoma) may be a Division 1 team in the future. Or they may not, according to a recent article in The Oklahoman. UCO’s VP for athletics, Stan Wagnon, did not rule out the possibility of making a move to Division 1 and the FCS but the current litigation with the House lawsuit needs to be settled before a decision is made. Wagnon also said moving within Division 2 is a possibility depending on how the House case transforms the D2’s top-tier football programs. Central Oklahoma is currently a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), which is already considered one of the top conferences in D2 football.
NCAA Division 3 Sports Changes
The Presidents’ Athletic Conference is scrapping its plan to have football divisions following the departure of football affiliate Carnegie Mellon to the Centennial Conference. In August, the PAC announced the divisional format for basketball, football, and women’s volleyball with a championship game for football. The PAC will have an unbalanced, 8-game football schedule for 2025 and 2026.
North Central University (Minneapolis, Minnesota) will move its Esports team from the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) to the Playfly College Esports League beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. The NCAA oversees neither organization as it doesn’t sponsor esports.
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Names Commissioner
The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association announced Jason Horn as its next commissioner, effective October 1. Horn was previously at Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens, Florida where he was athletics director since 2021 and assistant vice president since 2023. In 2021, FMU completed its first full football season since 1958 and posted a winning record in 2023 going 6-4. After competing in the Mid-South Conference in 2020 and 2021, the football program moved to the Sun Conference starting in 2022. Horn will take over for Chris Brown, who left the MIAA after two years in charge.
Ohio Athletic Conference Names Commissioner
A day after the MIAA announced its new commissioner, the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) followed suit. Bethany Dannelly will start her term as the OAC commissioner on September 30 and will replace the retiring Tim Gleason. Dannelly was most recently the Deputy Director of Athletics at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. The OAC has been one of the most stable conferences with no full membership changes since Wilmington joined the OAC in 2000 but that will end in 2025 when John Carroll leaves to join the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC).
NAIA Sports Changes
Shawnee State (Portsmouth, Ohio) will move its Esports program from the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) to the Great Lakes Esports Conference (GLEC) for the 2024-25 academic year. Neither organization is overseen by the NCAA or NAIA. SSU is a primary member of the River States Conference, which does not sponsor esports.
Photo Courtesy of Connecticut Athletics