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 July 31, 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 that specific section. If a division is not highlighted, there has been no news since the most recent post.
| School(s)/Conference | News Item |
|---|---|
| All Colleges | International Enrollment Expected to Decline |
| American Southwest Conference | New Commissioner, Sponsoring Flag Football |
| ASUN | Extends Media Deal with ESPN, Expansion Possibilities |
| KCAC | Partnering with Urban Edge Network |
| March Madness | Staying at 68 Teams for 2026 |
| NCAA Division 1 | Governance Changes |
| NCAA Division 2 | Several Proposals Made |
| Simon Fraser | Moving out of NCAA? |
| Sooner Athletic Conference | Partnering with Urban Edge Network |
| Southland Conference | Extends Media Deal with ESPN |
| Tennessee Tech | Joining Southern Conference |
| United Athletic Conference | Expansion Possibilities |
NCAA Division 1 News
Tennessee Tech Joins SoCon
Tennessee Tech (Cookeville, Tennessee) will leave the OVC and join the Southern Conference beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. All sports except women’s beach volleyball will move to the SoCon. The change will put the SoCon at 11 full members (10 with football) and the OVC at 10. The OVC-Big South football conference will have 8 members.
ASUN Extends Media Deal with ESPN, Future Realignment Possible
The Atlantic Sun Conference and ESPN have extended their media rights deal through the 2025-26 academic year. As part of the deal, the ASUN’s women’s basketball championship game will be shown on ESPNU in March 2026.
Three NCAA Division 2 schools have notified the ASUN and United Athletic Conference that they wish to make the transition to Division 1: Lincoln Memorial (South Atlantic), Nova Southeastern (Sunshine State), and West Florida (Gulf South). Lincoln Memorial and Nova Southeastern do not sponsor football, which would make them most likely to join the ASUN. West Florida sponsors football and would be placed in the UAC. The NCAA also has a moratorium in place through 2027 that prevents new members from joining.
D1 Board Makes Changes
The NCAA Division 1 Board of Directors has made changes to its governance structure that will decrease the number of committees to 30, while increasing the number of voting seats for student-athletes. The Power 4 conferences – the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC – will have 65% of the voting power, according to Ross Dellenger.
March Madness Not Expanding in 2026
March Madness will stay at 68 teams for the 2026 tournament, but further expansion is likely to begin in 2027. The NCAA couldn’t get the logistics to work on short notice before the 2026 tournament. Future expansion of the tournament would most likely be to 72 or 76 teams, although what that would look like is unclear. The NCAA D1 Board of Directors also proposed that three additional units be awarded for the men’s and women’s tournaments. The winners would receive two additional units, while the runner-up would receive one additional unit.
International Student Enrollment Could Decline
The Chronicle of Higher Education stated that international enrollment could decline by as much as 15 percent for the 2025-26 academic year. Among new international enrollees, the decline could be as high as 40%. The impact has already been felt for individual sports, as previously discussed here and here. A potentially larger impact is how fewer international enrollees will impact entire colleges, especially those with small enrollment numbers to begin with. It’s not inconceivable that small schools may close altogether if international enrollees make up a larger portion of the student population. Without those tuition dollars, schools will have to make some difficult decisions, with athletics likely to be impacted.
Southland Extends ESPN Deal
The Southland Conference extended its media rights deal with ESPN through the 2030-31 academic year. The new deal will show select men’s and women’s basketball games on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU. In addition, ESPN can select additional “marquee games” to broadcast for baseball, basketball, football, or softball. The men’s and women’s basketball tournament championships will be on an ESPN network, as will one of the men’s basketball semifinals, and one regular season men’s basketball game. Games not on linear TV will also be broadcast on ESPN+, keeping in line with the previous agreement.
NCAA Division 2 News
D2 Executive Board Makes Several Proposals
The NCAA Division 2 Executive Board made several proposals that will be voted on at the 2026 NCAA Convention in January. The first proposal is to give student-athletes up to five seasons of eligibility. Athletes are currently allowed only four seasons in their first 10 semesters (five years) or 15 quarters of full-time enrollment. The Board is also proposing a D2 women’s bowling championship beginning with the 2027-28 academic year, with the first championship to take place in April 2028. Finally, there will be a proposal to expand the men’s lacrosse championship bracket from 16 to 18 teams.
Simon Fraser Exploring Move out of NCAA
Simon Fraser University (British Columbia, Canada) is exploring a move out of the NCAA to a Canadian governing body. SFU is the only Canadian member of the NCAA and competes in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The school cited increased challenges in crossing the Canada-US border as a potential reason, alongside “evolving changes” in the NCAA’s framework. In August 2024, athletic leader Luc Simard said little would change for the university in the short term, but he did order a comprehensive review of the athletic department. One of those aspects was football, which will not be brought back despite multiple attempts from fans and alumni.
NCAA Division 3 News
American Southwest Conference Names New Commissioner, Will Sponsor Flag Football
The American Southwest Conference has a new commissioner with Leslie Scheumann set to replace David Flores on September 1, 2025. Flores was with the ASC for two years, joining in July 2023. Flores joined just as the conference was bleeding membership and he recently was able to secure a 10-year agreement with McMurry University and Schreiner University to rejoin as a full member. Scheumann was most recently the Deputy Commissioner of the NCAA Division 2 Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
The American Southwest Conference will sponsor flag football beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. None of the six current and future members currently sponsors flag football. The ASC has four full members for 2025-26 but will expand to six in 2026-27 with McMurry and Schriner joining. The full membership roster will be East Texas Baptist, Hardin-Simmons, Howard Payne, Mary Hardin-Baylor, McMurry, and Schreiner. Six NCAA conferences are expected to sponsor flag football in the 2026-27 academic year.
NAIA News
KCAC, Sooner Partner With Urban Edge
The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference and Sooner Athletic Conference will partner with the Urban Edge Network to provide streaming of events, starting with the 205-26 academic year. The KCAC deal will continue through the 2028-29 academic year. All KCAC and SAC championships will be shown on UEN for free, while the KCAC will continue to show events on the KCAC Network.. Urban Edge has been securing many NAIA conferences in recent months, including the Heart, Mid-South, SSAC, Sun, and NAIA Championships.
Photo courtesy of TACA / X