Division III conference shuffle

March 31, 2025 Rosemont starts long merger process Another D-III school is lost to Villanova, as Rosemont, which is adjacent to Villanova, will become part of the institution in the next few years.

March 25, 2025 St. Francis coming to Division III Another Division I school is coming to NCAA Division III, as St. Francis, of the Northeast Conference, will be reclassifying and joining the Presidents' Athletic Conference. The news, analysis, and a recent history of D-I to D-III.

March 18, 2025 Two schools return to ASC McMurry, which just left a few months ago, and Schreiner, which has been gone for a little more than a decade, are returning to the American Southwest Conference, amid a promise of a 10-year commitment.

March 17, 2025 SCIAC gains 10th member Azusa Pacific, a member of the NAIA in the greater Los Angeles area, is coming to Division III, joining the SCIAC, and bringing football back in the process.

January 15, 2025 C2C adds seventh school The Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference continues to hang on, announcing it will add another school which won't be a full D-III member until the fall of 2028.

July 19, 2024 Maryville moving to SAA Maryville has accepted an invitation to join the Southern Athletic Association, and one of the drivers of the creation of the College Conference of the South has announced a new home after just two years in its new league.

July 2, 2024 NJAC expands north of the border The New Jersey Athletic Conference is adding a full member for the first time in more decades, and that new member is from New York, rather than New Jersey. SUNY New Paltz will be joining the NJAC ... in two years.

July 1, 2024 Clarks Summit joins list of closing schools The list grows ever longer as some of the smallest schools in NCAA Division III are unable to hang on until the fall.

June 11, 2024 Hendrix going back to SCAC After a little more than a decade away, the Warriors are returning to the conference they called home for 20 years and will bolster the SCAC's claim to a football automatic bid.

April 29, 2024 Wells to close at semester's end "Revenues, unfortunately, are not projected to be sufficient for Wells’ long-term financial stability."

April 25, 2024 LeTourneau follows ASC-to-SCAC pipeline Concordia (Texas), McMurry and the University of the Ozarks have all announced moves from the American Southwest Conference to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, and it turns out LeTourneau will join them as well, as the ASC continues to dissolve.

April 23, 2024 Hiram coming back to the PAC The conference shuffle continues to hit the former Great Lakes region, as in the fall of 2025, Hiram will return to the Presidents' Athletic Conference after more than 35 years away.

April 5, 2024 Ferrum accepts invite to D2 A member of NCAA Division III since the 1980s, Ferrum announced that it has accepted a bid to join Conference Carolinas in NCAA Division II.

January 5, 2024 NCAC to gain member from OAC The North Coast Athletic Conference was formed by members leaving the Ohio Athletic Conference in the early 1908s. One school made that transition as recently as 2000, and John Carroll will be joining them soon.

August 21, 2023 Brockport, Geneseo to join Empire 8 In an era where few conferences mix state and private schools, the Empire 8 is bringing in two SUNY schools to join its nine private institutions, starting in the fall of 2024.

July 20, 2023 ASC breakup continues: UTD to D2 Texas-Dallas, the largest school in the American Southwest Conference and one of the two non-football schools that had not yet announced a new home, is choosing the Lone Star Conference and NCAA Division II.

June 22, 2023 Pratt to join Atlantic East An eighth school expands the Atlantic East's footprint, as the AEC will now span from suburban D.C. to Brooklyn. The move cuts into the size of the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference for the fall of 2024.

June 2, 2023 Berea jumps to HCAC Berea, which just ended its first academic year in the brand-new Collegiate Conference of the South, will be joining the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in the fall of 2024.

May 15, 2023 SCAC makes another move The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference will have a whole new look in the fall of 2024, as two more schools make the jump from the American Southwest Conference, leaving the ASC at risk of falling apart.

March 9, 2023 Trinity, Southwestern, to join SAA as full members Trinity and Southwestern will already be playing football in the SAA this fall. But starting in 2025, the rest of their sports will leave the SCAC for the SAA as well.

January 9, 2023 Eastern Nazarene is last out of NECC; will join NAC The slow dissolution of the New England Collegiate Conference as an all-sports group will be complete, as Eastern Nazarene will become the 14th member of the North Atlantic Conference in the fall of 2023.

December 19, 2022 More shuffle coming: CSAC, UEC looking to merge Higher-education shakeups surely coming, as the number of college-age students is headed for a decline, and the Colonial States Athletic Conference and United East Conference are ready to announce a merger to create a much larger conference which could future-proof these schools' playoff chances.

November 2, 2022 SCAC announces football plans A new full member, an associate member, a member adding football and bringing its teams playing elsewhere back home have the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference looking to get an automatic bid again by 2026. More on D3football.com.

November 1, 2022 McMurry moves to SCAC, opening door for SCAC football The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference will be adding McMurry University in the fall of 2024, which would give the SCAC six football programs and take another automatic bid to an already-crowded football postseason.

September 13, 2022 GNAC gets even bigger; NECC even smaller There is just one school left in the New England Collegiate Conference for next fall, as two of the remaining three schools have been taken in by the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. The GNAC will number 16 schools in the fall of 2023.

August 23, 2022 Lyon to join SLIAC Lyon, an NAIA school in Arkansas moving to Division III, will play the majority of its sports in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

July 28, 2022 Warren Wilson joins C2C One of Division III’s newest members found a home, as Warren Wilson College announced it will join the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference effective this upcoming season. More on D3hoops.com.

July 13, 2022 Salve Regina moving to the NEWMAC As we originally reported on June 30, Salve Regina will be moving from the CCC to the NEWMAC. That will shore up the NEWMAC's football membership and continue the conference shuffling in New England.

July 6, 2022 Carlow comes from NAIA to AMCC The Celtics of Carlow University, located in Pittsburgh, will be located in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference when they join D-III from the NAIA.

June 21, 2022 Hartford finds its Division III home The University of Hartford made waves when it announced it was moving from Division I to Division III. Today, the Hawks have a Division III conference to call home.

March 31, 2022 Conference alignments keep changing, and here's why Why do conferences align, and realign so frequently? There are multiple reasons, and any change, whether it's a conference being torn in two or just a move of a school or two, could be attributed to any of them. Pat Coleman has more on the never-ending Conference Shuffle.

March 1, 2022 NAC to add two in '23 Morrisville State and Lesley are joining the North Atlantic Conference, which continues to expand, while the NECC seems fated to dwindle away.

February 16, 2022 USA South Athletic Conference to split in two The USA South is the largest conference in NCAA Division III, and at 19 schools, has more than enough for two conferences. So starting this fall, they will be, D3sports.com has learned.

February 9, 2022 Landmark looking to add two for football AQ Lycoming and Wilkes are on the verge of switching conferences and joining the Landmark Conference, D3sports.com has learned, which makes six conference schools sponsoring football, all which is now needed to take an automatic bid. More on D3football.com.

February 8, 2022 Lyon applyin' to join D-III There could soon be three Division III schools in the state of Arkansas, as Lyon College, an NAIA member in Batesville, Arkansas, which has 16 NCAA-sponsored sports, is putting in an application.

January 22, 2022 D3 votes to reduce AQ requirements Going forward, conferences who have six members playing a sport will be able to gain or retain their automatic bids in those sports, reducing the standard from seven, where it had been for nearly a quarter-century.

November 22, 2021 Belhaven moving to USA South Belhaven, in Jackson, Mississippi, will be joining the USA South Athletic Conference, expanding the league's size to 19 schools and spreading the footprint even further to the west.

August 26, 2021 Medaille makes move to Empire 8 Starting in the fall of 2022, Medaille will become the 10th member of the Empire 8, as the school in Buffalo, N.Y., will leave the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

August 25, 2021 Allegheny going back to the PAC Allegheny will return to its roots and rejoin the Presidents' Athletic Conference in 2021-22. Before becoming charter members of the NCAC, the Gators were PAC members from 1958-1984.

June 18, 2021 Cyclones touch down in AEC Four months after losing Wesley, the Atlantic East Conference announced that Centenary (N.J.) will leave the CSAC and keep the AEC's membership at seven teams this fall.

March 29, 2021 Becker adds to D-III closures Becker College, just outside of Worcester, Mass., confirmed what was reported earlier in March: It will add its name to the ever-growing list of Division III schools closing its doors.

March 8, 2021 Averett shuffling off to ODAC The Old Dominion Athletic Conference has approved Averett as a full member of the conference. The Cougars will officially become a member on July 1, 2022, and begin active league participation in the 2022-23 academic year.

February 15, 2021 Delaware State pulls plug on Wesley Division III sports is done at Wesley, effective the end of this academic year, D3sports.com has learned. The school was acquired by its neighbor, Delaware State, a Division I member.

November 17, 2020 E&H sets sights on D-II Emory & Henry, a charter member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, is jumping ship after 45 years en route to Division II.

October 8, 2020 Elms slated to join GNAC The GNAC will grow again by one more member in the fall of 2022, when Elms leaves the NECC. The move will leave the NECC with six schools, five of which sponsor men's sports.

July 10, 2020 Bound for D'2ville D'Youville College, a Division III school in Buffalo, New York, has announced it is joining a Division II conference and moving to Division II.

July 1, 2020 Louisiana College headed for NAIA A school of under 900 full-time students, Louisiana College currently sponsors 15 sports. They won't have to do so in the NAIA, as the school is leaving NCAA Division III.

June 26, 2020 JWU to close down Denver campus Johnson & Wales, which has campuses competing in Division III sports in Providence, Rhode Island; as well as Denver, will close its Colorado campus after the 2020-21 academic year, with athletics to be terminated immediately.

June 9, 2020 Iowa Wesleyan leaving D-III Iowa Wesleyan, one of the smallest schools in NCAA Division III, has announced it will be leaving in order to return to the NAIA. IW only recently became eligible in Division III after leaving the NAIA in 2013.

May 27, 2020 St. Scholastica takes a spot in the MIAC St. Scholastica will expand the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's reach to Duluth as the Saints leave the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference effective the 2021-22 season. In addition, Macalester football will return to the MIAC.

May 26, 2020 New CAC absorbs schools nationwide The long-discussed merger has been announced, and the Capital Athletic Conference will absorb six schools from the American Collegiate Athletic Association -- five schools once Pine Manor closes.

March 27, 2020 MacMurray closing down at end of spring Already in danger of not being able to stay open, MacMurray, in Jacksonville, Illinois, became the first school to announce its closure since the COVID-19 spread starting forcing schools to go online-only for the spring.

December 12, 2019 St. Mary's leaving CAC as well St. Mary's (Md.) becomes the second school to announce it is leaving the Capital Athletic Conference in as many days, as the Seahawks, on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay, will join up with schools in Pennsylvania and New York in the NEAC in the fall of 2021.

December 11, 2019 Southern Virginia on the move The Capital Athletic Conference loses another member, as Southern Virginia University moves to the USA South for all sports. That means that, effective the fall of 2021, the USAC will have 19 member schools.

October 4, 2019 Tommies invited to D-I conference St. Thomas, which was involuntarily uninvited from the conference in which it was a founding member, has received an invitation to join a Division I conference.

August 25, 2019 NAC expands to 12 members Three NEAC member schools will be leaving the conference after the upcoming season, and Cazenovia, SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Poly will join the North Atlantic Conference effective July 2020.

June 6, 2019 Suffolk moving to CCC in 2020 The Commonwealth Coast Conference announced the addition of Suffolk University as its 10th core conference member, starting in the 2020-21 academic year. Suffolk is currently a full member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

May 22, 2019 St. Thomas tossed from MIAC After nearly a century, founding member University of St. Thomas will be leaving the MIAC after a coalition of college and university presidents decided they could no longer compete with the Tommies.

April 20, 2019 Franciscan jumps to the PAC In a year in which the Conference Shuffle has not been combined to the Northeast Corridor, Franciscan, of Steubenville, Ohio, announced it will be joining the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

April 3, 2019 St. Norbert moving to NACC The athletics program at St. Norbert will join the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, the conference announced. Currently members of the Midwest Conference, the Green Knights will compete in the NACC beginning in the 2020-21 school year.

April 2, 2019 York (Pa.) latest to leave CAC The Capital Athletic Conference will be down to five full members when the fall of 2020 rolls around. York, one of the founding members of the conference, will be joining the MAC Commonwealth at that time.

March 1, 2019 Staten Island applies for D-II membership Up to four schools could be leaving Division III at the end of the year, with Staten Island looking to join Frostburg State in moving to NCAA Division II.

September 22, 2018 Benedictine pulls 180, will return to D-III When the fall season started, there were three Division III schools in various stages of moving to Division II. But one is already returning, as Benedictine University, in Lisle, Illinois, has decided to not leave Division III after all, sources tell D3sports.com and Hoopsville.

August 11, 2018 Stevens making a move for Freedom Originally a founding member of the Landmark Conference, Stevens left that conference before play began to join the Empire 8. Now the Ducks are returning to a conference a little closer to home and are joining the MAC Freedom, sources tell D3sports.com.

July 9, 2018 Another program leaving Capital Athletic Conference Penn State-Harrisburg, which has been in the CAC for the past six years, is returning to its old home. PSH joins Frostburg State as programs announcing a departure from the CAC for 2019-20.

July 5, 2018 AMCC adds Alfred State The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference has schools in Ohio, Pennsylvania and western New York, and Alfred State will add to the latter.

July 5, 2018 Frostburg State set to join D-II conference The Mountain East Conference, a collection of Division II schools in West Virginia, Virginia and Ohio, is ready to add a state school in Maryland to its membership by welcoming Frostburg State into the fold.

May 9, 2018 Manhattanville returning to Skyline In 2007-08, Manhattanville left the Skyline Conference for the MAC Freedom, even though Purchase, New York, is well within sight of the New York City skyline. In 2019-20, the Knights will return.

April 17, 2018 Thomas More admitted to NAIA Unable to find any Division III conference willing to take them as members, Thomas More will leave the NCAA altogether in the fall of 2019.

April 16, 2018 SUNY-Delhi brings six sports to NAC Six of the Broncos' spring sports will be joining the North Atlantic Conference, a possible prelude to the provisional D-III member joining for the rest of its sports down the line.

March 1, 2018 Atlantic East has name, formal announcement Back in June 2017, D3sports.com announced a new conference would be forming, and cited the members' names. Finally, the conference has made its announcement.

January 16, 2018 Benedictine looking to D2 Having gained approval from its board of trustees, and found a sponsoring conference in Division II, Benedictine has made its application and will await word from the Division II membership committee.

September 8, 2017 CSAC restocks with two new schools Over the summer, five schools announced they would be leaving the Colonial States Athletic Conference after the 2017-18 school year, leaving the conference with no schools that had ever won its all-sports title. But the CSAC is starting to patch the holes.

June 30, 2017 CSAC confirms: Five schools withdraw Earlier in June, we wrote that a new conference was being formed, and the Colonial States Athletic Conference would be the hardest hit. On June 30, the conference confirmed the story.

June 27, 2017 ODAC expands to add Ferrum The Old Dominion Athletic Conference is adding another all-sports member, but perhaps most importantly, Ferrum brings with it an eighth football program.

June 6, 2017 A new conference shuffle coming A decade ago, a Mid-Atlantic Shuffle created a new conference and remade six others. Now, the process looks ready to start again, with eight schools from three leagues in the process of signing on for another new group.

June 1, 2017 Thomas More to withdraw from PAC After 12 years, Thomas More will be leaving the Presidents' Athletic Conference following the upcoming school year. And the school did not announce a new home.

May 4, 2017 Castleton to join Little East in 2018 The Little East, a collection of state schools in New England, is expanding to Vermont for the first time with the addition of Castleton for the 2018-19 academic year.

May 3, 2017 Illinois Tech finds home in NACC The Illinois Tech athletic department should be full members of Division III in two years, and its baseball team will play in the WIAC next spring, but the following year, IIT will become full NACC members.

April 8, 2017 Eastern Nazarene to move to NECC Eastern Nazarene is already an associate member of the NECC in men's volleyball. Starting in 2018, ENC will be joining in everything else as well as schools continue to realign.

February 21, 2017 Three schools line up to join Division III Each year, a group of schools starts the five-year process to join NCAA Division III. Not all of them finish the process, but one of the three already has a Division III conference to call home.

February 17, 2017 New Division III conference approved Seven unaffiliated schools, mostly in and near New York but as far-flung as Northern California, will be members of the American Collegiate Athletic Association.

July 21, 2016 Sage set to join Empire 8 It's been a long trip for Sage from Albany to play every Skyline Conference road opponent in the New York City area and beyond. Starting in 2017-18, the Gators will look more to the north and west.

May 10, 2016 USA South expansion continues Two more schools coming into Division III are finding a home in the USA South Athletic Conference, which is slated to have 19 schools.

December 17, 2015 Ithaca moving to Liberty League The Bombers will participate in 24 of the Liberty League's 26 sports, but the move is really about football. The LL still needs to find one more member in order to keep its automatic bid in football down the line.

July 20, 2015 NWU gives up NAIA status, will join IIAC Nebraska Wesleyan, the lone remaining dual member of the NAIA and NCAA Division III, is giving up its NAIA affiliation effective July 2016 and joining the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference that fall.

May 22, 2015 Merchant Marine returns to Skyline Conference The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy left the Skyline Conference to help form the Landmark Conference back in 2007. Now the school will be coming back home.

April 25, 2014 Carroll to return to CCIW After a 22-year absence, Carroll is returning to the CCIW in 2016. That gives the CCIW an odd number in most sports and will limit the Midwest Conference in football.

April 22, 2014 Superior looks to jump to UMAC UW-Superior could be leaving the rest of the WIAC for every sport except hockey, joining a neighboring conference.

March 14, 2014 ASC adding Belhaven, McMurry For one program, it's a return, while for the other, it's their first step into Division III. Both will help shore up the American Southwest Conference's football membership.

September 7, 2013 On further review, MC gets into D-II Mississippi College was turned down for Division II membership earlier this year, but on appeal, they were accepted. This has playoff imapcts for all of their sports this season.

July 12, 2013 Mississippi College does not make cut for D2 Last September, Mississippi College announced it was returning to Division II. Before Feb. 1, it formalized that with an application. This week, however, that application was denied.

June 6, 2013 Northern Athletics Conference changes name From the moment the conference announced its name, one with the exact same initials as an existing D-III conference, D-III fans were looking for a change.

April 2, 2013 Elizabethtown to join Landmark Conference After a 63-year association with the MAC, Elizabethtown is leaving for the Landmark Conference, where it will become the ninth full member in 2014-15.

January 20, 2013 Finlandia joins Great South One of the northernmost schools in Division III is joining the Great South for women's sports as the GSAC tries to hang onto its automatic bids.

November 1, 2012 Spelman to drop athletics Spelman, a women's college in Atlanta, will be dropping athletics entirely following the 2012-13 academic year.

September 27, 2012 Mississippi College chooses Division II Mississippi College came to Division III from Division II in 1997. Now D3sports.com has learned it will be returning there in 2014.

September 15, 2012 Great South expands its borders Following the departure or announced departure of every school with men, the GSAC has gone looking for ways to keep its automatic bid.

July 29, 2012 Penn State-Harrisburg to join CAC For the third time this year, the CAC announced a new member will join the conference in 2013-14. Penn State-Harrisburg will make the jump from the NEAC.

June 25, 2012 Southern Virginia to join CAC Southern Virginia, which has been exploring Division III membership, seems likely to follow through with the process after having been granted a spot in the Capital Athletic Conference.

May 10, 2012 Huntingdon, Covenant to join USA South After waiting an extra year, Huntingdon finally will get to follow its GSAC rivals into the USA South and have a home for all sports, including football. Covenant will join the conference as well.

March 20, 2012 RIT women's hockey leaves for D-I On the heels of their first D-III women's ice hockey championship, Rochester Tech announces its women will join its men in Division I starting next season. More on D3hockey.com.

March 4, 2012 Emerson to join NEWMAC In the first change since the conference took its current form, the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference is bringing in Emerson as its 11th member in 2013-14.

February 16, 2012 CNU leaving USA South for CAC Christopher Newport has notified the USA South of its intention to withdraw and pursue membership in the Capital Athletic Conference.

February 16, 2012 SCAC adds Texas Lutheran The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference continued its rebuilding process by announcing that Texas Lutheran has accepted an invitation to join the conference.

February 9, 2012 NEFC splits, will get two football bids The New England Football Conference is splitting after the 2012 season, with the groups getting a second automatic bid after a two-year waiting period and taking one at-large bid away from the field.

January 23, 2012 Schreiner to join SCAC Schreiner will move from the American Southwest Conference to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference in the fall of 2013, ensuring the conference will retain its automatic bids in most sports.

December 8, 2011 Iowa Wesleyan to join SLIAC The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced today that Iowa Wesleyan has been approved for membership, provided it completes the exploratory year and comes to D-III from the NAIA.

November 1, 2011 Southwestern adding football The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference will gain one more member in the fall of 2013 when football returns to Southwestern.

October 16, 2011 Iowa Wesleyan to apply to Division III The school's trustees voted to apply for membership in this academic year and hopes to gain membership in a D-III conference. Iowa Wesleyan is currently a member of the NAIA.

September 28, 2011 Centenary (La.) moves to SCAC Having just entered the American Southwest Conference this fall, Centenary is moving and the SCAC gets a much-needed member for after the split.

August 19, 2011 New southern conference picks a name The schools that broke away from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference will be known as the Southern Athletic Association.

July 21, 2011 NYC Tech drops athletics New York City Tech has dropped intercollegiate athletics effective immediately, D3sports.com has learned.

June 7, 2011 Seven break away from SCAC The geographic footprint of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference was so big DePauw decided to leave more than a year ago. Now seven others are doing the same, and Berry is joining the group.

May 20, 2011 Maryville makes it three for USA South The third member of the Great South Athletic Conference has accepted an invitation to join the USA South, as Maryville's other sports will join football as conference members.

May 12, 2011 Chapman joins the SCIAC After more than a decade of trying, Chapman finally will get into the SCIAC. But the Panthers won't be eligible for conference titles right away.

April 21, 2011 LaGrange follows Piedmont to USA South The second of three Great South Athletic teams invited to join the USA South has accepted membership, as LaGrange finds a more permanent home for its football program and others.

April 14, 2011 Houghton to join Empire 8, D-III Houghton, currently an NAIA institution, is in the process of applying for Division III membership and will become a member of the Empire 8 beginning in 2012-13.

April 11, 2011 Piedmont to jump from GSAC to USA South The dominoes are starting to fall in the long-rumored Great South/USA South collaboration as Piedmont is set to join the USAC in the fall of 2012. Could others follow?

December 18, 2010 McMurry to move to Division II McMurry announced late Friday night that it was planning to move from Division III to NCAA Division II.

October 15, 2009 HCAC formally welcomes Earlham The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference has announced that Earlham College will join the membership beginning in the 2010-11 academic year.

June 16, 2009 It's official: Bard and RIT to the Liberty League Bard and Rochester Tech will join the Liberty League as full members, beginning in the 2011-12 season.