College Realignment Report for February 28, 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 February 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 happening 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

Horizon League, ESPN Extend Media Rights

The Horizon League and ESPN have extended their media rights deal. ESPN will broadcast the Horizon League’s men’s basketball tournament semifinal and championship games, six regular season men’s basketball games, and the women’s basketball tournament championship game. The two parties have been aligned since 1988, when the Horizon League was known as the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. The MCC became the Horizon League in 2001.

NCAA Division 2 News

Texas Wesleyan to Join NCAA D2

Texas Wesleyan University (Fort Worth, Texas) will move from the NAIA to NCAA Division 2 beginning with the 2028-29 academic year. The school currently competes in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC). Texas Wesleyan did not disclose which Division 2 conference it will attempt to join, but the school made it clear that the lack of Texas-based NAIA programs in the SAC was a driving factor in its decision. Based on that, the Lone Star Conference seems like the most likely destination, which is also being reported elsewhere. If Texas Wesleyan does join the LSC, it would give the conference 20 full members across New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Central Washington, Western Oregon Football Future?

With Texas Wesleyan likely moving to the Lone Star Conference, it appears that spells trouble for Central Washington and Western Oregon, according to Cory Hogue. Both schools are football-only affiliate members of the LSC, having begun the unusual geographic arrangement in 2022 following the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s decision to stop sponsoring football. Based on a copy of the agreement between the LSC and Western Oregon, the schools are eligible to stay affiliates for two-year periods. Hogue is reporting that the agreement will come to an end after the 2027 season, meaning Central Washington and Western Oregon will leave the Lone Star Conference beginning with the 2028-29 academic year.

In any case, Central Washington and Western Oregon will need to find a new home for football. The obvious choice is the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), but there’s no indication that the RMAC would be willing to add them as football affiliates. I run down some of the issues facing Central Washington and Western Oregon, as well as some of the possible outcomes, in a separate post.

Pac West to Sponsor STUNT

The Pacific West Conference will sponsor women’s STUNT beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Concordia University Irvine (Irvine, California), Fresno Pacific University (Fresno, California), Hawaii Pacific University (Honolulu, Hawaii), Jessup University (Rocklin, California), Vanguard University (Costa Mesa, California), and Westmont College (Santa Barbara, California) will compete in the inaugural season. The conference noted that additional affiliate members in the western part of the country are possible.

NCAA Division 3 News

Pratt Leaving Atlantic East

The Pratt Institute (New York City, New York) will leave the Atlantic East Conference to join the CUNYAC members in a new conference. In April 2025, the CUNYAC announced the formation of a new conference comprised of current members and new schools. The new conference has yet to be named. At the time, New Jersey City University was expected to be part of the new conference, but things have changed as NJCU is eliminating varsity athletics beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. That puts Pratt in line to be the first full member added outside the five boroughs footprint in conference history… if they don’t make a drastic alteration to their athletic program.

The future CUNYAC conference is at 9 members: Baruch College, Brooklyn College, City College of New York, Hunter College, John Jay College, Lehman College, Medgar Evers College, Pratt, and York College (NY). More schools are expected to be added in the coming months as the new conference is set to launch beginning with the 2027-28 academic year.

As for the Atlantic East, things are beginning to look tenous… again. This is a recurring theme for the conference and one highlighted in April 2025 at the same time as CUNYAC’s new conference announcement. Marywood (Scranton, Pennsylvania) and Neumann (Aston, Pennsylvania) are set to leave the AEC beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. That leaves the conference with 6 members for the 2026-27 academic year: Centenary (NJ), Gwynedd Mercy, Immaculata, Marymount, Pratt, and Saint Elizabeth (NJ). That number dwindles to five as Pratt will leave in 2027-28.

The AEC was quick to respond to the departures of Wesley (2021) and Cabrini (2024) when both schools were acquired. The conference added Centenary (NJ) in 2021, Pratt in 2024, and Saint Elizabeth in 2025. However, the AEC has yet to announce replacements for either Marywood and Neumann, while Pratt puts them below the demarcation line of 6 full members.

NAIA News

St. Ambrose Moving to HAAC

St. Ambrose University (Davenport, Iowa) will join the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. SAU competes in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CACC), but already has five sports in the HAAC as an affiliate: esports, football, men’s lacrosse, men’s wrestling, and women’s lacrosse. The CCAC will be down to 11 members with St. Ambrose departing and Trinity Christian College (Palos Heights, Illinois) closing. The HAAC will have 16 full members in 2026-27, assuming no additional changes. (St. Ambrose’s point on the map below is showing in Illinois, but is in fact in Iowa if zoomed in.)

Georgia Southern East Georgia Campus to Apply for NAIA

Georgia Southern University’s East Georgia campus will launch an athletics program and apply for membership in the NAIA. The East Georgia campus will be known as the Georgia Southern Golden Eagles. The school did not provide additional details on the sports that will be added or which conference the school plans to apply for membership in. More information will be provided in the future, with a community event scheduled for Monday, April 27.

River States Selects New Commissioner

The River States Conference named Tommy Fletcher as its new commissioner, starting on April 1, 2026. Fletcher has been the athletic director at Oakland City University (Indiana), which competes in the RSC. Fletcher will replace Michael Schell, who sadly passed away in May 2025. The conference has seen its share of realignment this decade, with Oakland City (2020), Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (2021), Shawnee State (2023), Indiana University Columbus (2023), and Kentucky Christian (2025) joining. Leaving the conference were Cincinnati Christian (2019) and Ohio Valley (2021), which both closed, while Asbury (2021), Carlow (2023), Point Park (2024), Ohio Christian (2024), and Alice Lloyd (2025) also departed. Shawnee State is leaving in 2026 after a short three-year tenure and will join the NCAA. The River States Conference will have 11 members located in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia.

USHP to be Acquired

The University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis (Missouri) will be acquired by NCAA Division 3 member Washington University in St. Louis. The acquisition will result in the elimination of UHSP’s academic programs and athletics beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. UHSP will compete in the NAIA’s American Midwest Conference through the 2026-27 academic year, with the AMC dropping to 9 full members in 2027-28 (assuming no additional changes). All members of the AMC are located in Arkansas and Missouri.

UHSP becomes the latest school to see its athletics program end due to an acquisition, closure, merger, or voluntary decision. 18 schools have seen athletics end since the 2025-26 academic year or will in the next two academic years. Half of those schools were or are members of the NAIA: Cal Maritime, Concordia Ann Arbor, Lourdes, Multnomah, Providence Christian, Siena Heights, St. Andrews (NC), Trinity Christian (IL), and UHSP. Not included on this list are other small schools without athletic programs that are also facing financial issues, such as Labouré College in Massachusetts. Expect to see the list of closures continue to climb in the coming years as the enrollment cliff finally begins to take hold on higher education.

Photo Courtesy of Texas Wesleyan Athletics