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 May 31, 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.
| School(s)/Conference | News Item |
|---|---|
| Andrew College | Football Joining Appalachian Athletic Conference |
| Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference | Extending Commissioner’s Tenure |
| Faulkner University | Football Joining Appalachian Athletic Conference |
| Loyola University New Orleans | Joining NCAA D2 Gulf South |
| New York Tech | Adding Sprint Football |
| Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) | Adding Women’s Wrestling |
| Saint Francis University (PA) | Changing Nickname |
| Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) | Officially Adding Men’s Wrestling |
| SWAC | New Basketball Tournament Format |
NCAA Division 1 News
SWAC to Have New Basketball Tournament Formats
The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) announced a new format for the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Starting in the 2027 tournaments, the 1 and 2 seeds will automatically receive a bye to the semifinals, the 3 and 4 seeds will receive a bye to the quarterfinals, and the 5 and 6 seeds will receive a bye to the second round. The first round will consist of the 8 versus 9 and 7 versus 10 matchups. In 2026, the top six seeds received a bye into the quarterfinals. The 7 and 8 seeds received a bye into the second round, while the first round consisted of the 10 versus 11 and 9 versus 12 matchups.
NCAA Division 2 News
CACC Extends Commissioner
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) and Commissioner Dan Mara have agreed to a new five-year deal that will keep Mara in the role through the 2030-31 academic year. Mara has led the CACC since 2006, which has seen a few changes during his tenure. As Mara took over in 2006, NJIT departed to join NCAA D1 as an independent. Chestnut Hill joined a year later, in 2007, as the conference would undergo nearly 15 years of stability. Since 2021, four schools have departed due to acquisitions and closures. Concordia (NY) closed in 2021, the University of Sciences (PA) merged with Saint Joseph’s (PA) and dropped athletics in 2022, Alliance University (Nyack College before 2022) closed in 2023, and Bloomfield was acquired by Montclair State and joined the USCAA in 2025. Outside of Chestnut Hill, the only addition the CACC has made was in 2022 when Bridgeport became a full member.
Loyola New Orleans to Join GSC
Loyola University New Orleans (New Orleans, Louisiana) will move from the NAIA’s Southern States Athletic Conference to the Gulf South Conference beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The majority of teams will compete in the GSC, except for men’s swimming, women’s beach volleyball, women’s swimming, and the three coed teams of cheer, dance, and esports. Loyola will enter the two-year expedited reclassification process, allowing the school to become a full D2 member in the 2029-30 academic year.
The Gulf South will have 13 full members at the start of the 2027-28 academic year, with Spring Hill College (Mobile, Alabama) also set to join in 2027-28. Meanwhile, the SSAC will still have 16 full members by the start of the 2027-28 academic year. Loyola does not have a football team, which doesn’t help the Gulf South’s current football membership issue. The GSC will have only three teams for the 2026 season: Delta State, Valdosta State, and West Alabama. West Florida is departing for D1 and the ASUN/UAC in 2026, and the GSC also had its waiver denied for the 2026 season. The future of football in the Gulf South Conference and its three remaining teams is very bleak.
New York Tech Adding Sprint Football
New York Institute of Technology (Old Westbury, New York) is adding sprint football beginning with the 2027-28 academic year and will compete in the Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL). The school is looking to add more intramural and club sports, including lacrosse and soccer. The addition of sprint football is the first for NYIT since it discontinued athletics in 2020. NYIT competed in the East Coast Conference.
The CSFL currently has 11 schools for 2027-28: Army, Caldwell, Chestnut Hill, Cornell, Daemen, Mansfield, Molloy, Navy, NYIT, Penn, and St. Thomas Aquinas. While the CSFL is adding members over the next two years (Daemen will begin competing in 2026), the sport’s other conference is shedding teams. The Midwest Sprint Football League had six teams in the 2025 season, but will be down to just two by 2027. Bellarmine (KY) and Quincy (IL) will be the last two standing, while Calumet College (IN), Midway (KY), Oakland City (IN), and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (IN) will depart. Oakland City (discontinued athletics) and SMWC are departing in 2026, while Calumet and Midway will leave in 2027.
PSAC to Sponsor Women’s Wrestling
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) will sponsor women’s wrestling beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Commonwealth University-Lock Haven (Lock Haven, Pennsylvania), D’Youville University (Buffalo, New York), East Stroudsburg University (East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania), Felician University (Rutherford, New Jersey), Gannon University (Erie, Pennsylvania), PennWest Edinboro (Edinboro, Pennsylvania), and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (Johnstown, Pennsylvania) will join the PSAC. D’Youville and Felician will be associate members, while the remaining five are core members of the PSAC. All seven schools previously competed as independent teams.
NCAA Division 3 News
Saint Francis Changing Nickname
Saint Francis University (Loretto, Pennsylvania) will change its nickname from the Red Flash to the Red Wolves beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. The change coincides with Saint Francis’s move from the NCAA Division 1’s Northeast Conference to the NCAA Division 3 Presidents’ Athletic Conference.
NAIA News
Appalachian Adding Two Football Members
The Appalachian Athletic Conference will add two football affiliates beginning with the 2027-28 academic year: Andrew College (Cuthbert, Georgia) and Faulkner University (Montgomery, Alabama). Both schools will spend the 2026 season as football independents before joining the AAC in 2027. The two additions put the AAC at 9 football members for 2027, assuming no further changes: Andrew, Bluefield, Faulkner, Kentucky Christian, Pikeville, Point, Reinhardt, Rio Grande (Ohio), and Union Commonwealth.
SSAC Officially Adding Men’s Wrestling
The Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) announced the members for its inaugural season of men’s wrestling in the 2026-27 academic year. Andrew College, Brewton-Parker, Life University, Keiser, New College of Florida, Southeastern (FL), and St. Thomas (FL) will compete. The news that the SSAC would add men’s wrestling as a championship sport was reported in March, with Andrew, Brewton-Parker, and Life noted as members. Andrew previously competed in the NJCAA, New College of Florida will be a new program, and Brewton-Parker, Life, Keiser, Southeastern, and St. Thomas competed in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.
Photo credit to Loyola New Orleans Athletics