The Colonial States Athletic Conference office received official notification from five of its 12 core members today that they intend to withdraw from the CSAC effective at the end of the 2017-18 academic year.
The CSAC will continue to be one of 43 NCAA Division III conferences whose champion earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament in each of the sports it sponsors in 2017-18. NCAA bylaws state that a minimum of seven (7) core members in a conference must sponsor a sport in order to receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament. However, an existing conference such as the CSAC shall continue to receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament in each of the sports it sponsors for a grace period of two (2) academic years provided that a minimum of four (4) core members sponsor that sport.
The five schools are Cabrini, Gwynedd Mercy, Immaculata, Neumann and Marywood. As D3sports.com initially reported, they will be joining with three other Division III schools to form a new conference.
The seven remaining CSAC institutions – Cairn, Cedar Crest, Centenary (N.J.), Clarks Summit, Keystone, Notre Dame (Md.) and Rosemont – will retain an NCAA automatic berth from the CSAC in almost all of the conference’s sponsored sports through the 2019-20 season.
The CSAC is committed to continuing the high caliber of intra-conference play. The CSAC office and the CSAC board of directors will work together to address immediate sport sponsorship needs for retaining the conference’s automatic berths to the NCAA Tournament and formulate a strategy to address long-term membership and sport sponsorship goals for the conference.
The CSAC sponsors 17 men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports in NCAA Division III, including men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field and men’s golf.