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List of NCAA Division I conference changes in the 2020s

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of NCAA Division I conference changes in the 2020s
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See also: List of NCAA Division I conference changes in the 2010s, List of NCAA Division I conference changes in the 2000s, and List of NCAA Division I conference changes before 2000

Since 2020 many college or university athletic programs have changed membership from one National Collegiate Athletic Association athletic conference to another.

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National Collegiate Athletic Association logo

Announced future changes

Notes
  • The "year" column indicates the calendar year in which the conference change will take place, which in the case of spring sports will differ from the year in which competition will begin.
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  1. The NCAA does not sponsor a Division II championship in men's ice hockey. The Northeast-10 Conference, in which American International is a full member, operates a men's ice hockey league under Division II regulations, and does not participate in the Division I championship.
  2. Acrobatics & tumbling does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  3. When Delaware announced the addition of women's ice hockey, it announced that it would join the women-only College Hockey America (CHA). However, CHA had already announced plans to merge with the men-only Atlantic Hockey Association after the 2023–24 season. The merged conference now operates as Atlantic Hockey America, with Delaware joining on the announced schedule.[10]
  4. Women's wrestling, previously part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program, becomes an official NCAA championship sport in 2025–26. The first championship meet will be a single meet open to all NCAA members regardless of division.
  5. Francis Marion is a Division II member that plays Division I men's golf.
  6. Jamestown and Jessup are set to start a transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2024–25, and will align fully with the NCAA in 2025–26. The NCAA's top-level men's volleyball championship is open to members of Divisions I and II.
  7. Women's rugby does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  8. Women's triathlon does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  9. Marquette's program will initially feature swimmers only, with no divers.
  10. Pacific already sponsored swimming for both sexes, but had not included diving in its aquatics program.
  11. The new men's track & field programs will be distance-focused, building on Radford's current men's cross country programs.
  12. UC Merced will begin a transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2024–25, and will align fully with the NCAA in 2025–26. The NCAA's top-level men's volleyball championship is open to members of Divisions I and II, and the NCAA water polo championships for both men and women are open to members of all three NCAA divisions.
  13. The CalPac (in full, California Pacific Conference) does not officially sponsor men's water polo, but its members that sponsor the sport hold a season-ending round-robin event that serves as a de facto conference championship.
  14. UC Merced competes in women's water polo both as an NAIA independent and as a member of the club division of the Collegiate Water Polo Association.
  15. Several months after UMass announced its all-sports move to the MAC, that conference announced it would add women's rowing, also sponsored by UMass, in 2025–26.[12]
  16. UTRGV initially planned to house football in the United Athletic Conference, a partnership between its then-current primary home of the Western Athletic Conference and the Atlantic Sun Conference.[56][57] It joined the Southland Conference in July 2024, shortly before starting its first exhibition-only football season.
  17. GCU was initially scheduled to join the WCC in 2025.[42] However, GCU later announced it would join the Mountain West instead.[63]
  18. Hawaiʻi has been a football-only member of the Mountain West since 2012.
  19. UC Davis football will remain in FCS as a football-only member of the Big Sky.[72]
  20. While Chicago State has yet to set a definitive date for the start of football, it expects to start play in 2026.[78]
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History

Main article: 2021–2026 NCAA conference realignment

2024–2025

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  1. Merger of the men-only Atlantic Hockey Association and the women-only College Hockey America.
  2. This school is a Division II member. Beach volleyball has a single national championship event open to members of all NCAA divisions.
  3. The Ivy League had technically sponsored men's wrestling before 2024–25, but the six members that sponsored the sport competed as members of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association. The 2024–25 season is the first for a separate Ivy League conference championship event.
  4. When the addition of women's lacrosse was announced, Charlotte was a member of Conference USA, but had already announced its move to The American effective in 2023.
  5. Women's triathlon does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  6. Acrobatics & tumbling does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  7. Menlo and Vanguard began transitions from the NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2023–24, and will align fully with the NCAA in 2024–25. The NCAA's top-level men's volleyball championship is open to members of Divisions I and II.
  8. Before announcing their moves to the MAAC, Merrimack and Sacred Heart had been announced as members of the NEC's reinstated men's lacrosse league.[104]
  9. Acrobatics & tumbling and stunt do not have NCAA championship events, but are recognized as part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  10. Stunt does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  11. Notre Dame suspended its men's swimming & diving program after an external investigation found that several team members violated NCAA gambling rules by wagering among themselves on results of their competitions.
  12. Oklahoma remains a Big 12 member in men's wrestling, a sport not sponsored by the SEC.
  13. Oklahoma and Texas women's rowing are listed separately because the SEC did not officially add the sport until nearly two months after the two schools officially joined the conference.
  14. Because Oregon State and Washington State are joining the WCC as affiliate members in twelve sports, each sport is listed one at a time.[citation needed]
  15. When the addition of beach volleyball was announced, Sam Houston was a member of the Western Athletic Conference, but had already announced its move to Conference USA effective in 2023.
  16. While UTRGV left the WAC for the Southland Conference after the 2023–24 school year, it remained a WAC associate in men's soccer and women's swimming & diving, neither of which the SLC sponsors.[153]
  17. Valparaiso aquatics for both men and women fields swimmers, but not divers.

2023–2024

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  1. At the time this change was announced, the merged football league of the Atlantic Sun (ASUN) and Western Athletic Conferences was known by the placeholder name of "ASUN–WAC Football Conference". The permanent name of United Athletic Conference was announced in April 2023.[158]
  2. This school was an NCAA Division II member. The NCAA's top-level championship in men's volleyball is open to members of Divisions I and II.
  3. Women's triathlon does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  4. Assumption joined the NEWHA for administrative purposes in 2022, but did not start varsity play until 2023–24.
  5. Not to be confused with Augustana College in Illinois, an NCAA Division III member also nicknamed Vikings.
  6. CAA Football is a separate entity from the multi-sports Coastal Athletic Association, known before the 2023–24 school year as the Colonial Athletic Association.
  7. Stunt, a women-only cheerleading discipline, does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but competition in Divisions I and II became part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program in 2023–24.
  8. This school is a Division II member. Beach volleyball has a single national championship event open to members of all NCAA divisions.
  9. Women's triathlon does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  10. Beach volleyball, a sport not sponsored by The American, remains in CUSA.
  11. Hartford's new Division III home, then known as the Commonwealth Coast Conference and now as the Conference of New England, sponsors golf only for men.
  12. Women's wrestling does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  13. Kentucky had a club team in place before elevating stunt to varsity status in 2022–23, a year before the sport was added to the Emerging Sports for Women program in Divisions I and II.
  14. Le Moyne's new home of the Northeast Conference sponsors lacrosse only for women.
  15. Acrobatics & tumbling does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  16. The NCAA currently operates a single coeducational team championship in fencing, with all bouts involving members of the same sex. At the time of announcement, LIU sponsored varsity fencing, but only for women.
  17. Murray State was an OVC affiliate member in football for the 2022 season before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023.
  18. At the time Robert Morris announced its reinstatement of men's and women's hockey, neither team had a confirmed conference home, but shortly thereafter both teams were reinstated to their former home conferences, respectively Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America.[218][219]
  19. Thomas More, which was a provisional Division II member in 2022–23 while competing in the NAIA, fully aligned with Division II in 2023. The NCAA organizes a joint national championship event open to D-I and D-II members, and scholarship limits are identical in both divisions.
  20. UT Martin competed in stunt on an exhibition basis in the 2022–23 school year while awaiting NCAA Division I approval to add stunt to the Emerging Sports for Women program.
  21. The NCAA currently operates a single coeducational team championship in fencing, with all bouts involving members of the same sex. At the time of announcement, Wagner sponsored varsity fencing, but only for women.

2022–2023

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  1. Although Bryant is a Division I member, its bowling team competes in a Division II conference. The NCAA bowling championship is open to members of all NCAA divisions, and scholarship limits in that sport are the same for D-I and D-II members.
  2. Dallas Baptist is an NCAA Division II member, but competes in Division I baseball.
  3. CAA Football is a separate entity from the multi-sports Coastal Athletic Association, known before the 2023–24 school year as the Colonial Athletic Association.
  4. Hobart is a Division III member that competes in Division I men's lacrosse.
  5. At the time Lindenwood announced the addition of the sport, it was a Division II member and had not announced a future affiliation for that sport. By the time Lindenwood's program started play, it joined a beach volleyball-sponsoring conference.
  6. The Ohio Valley Conference merged its men's tennis league into that of the Horizon League shortly after Lindenwood and Southern Indiana officially joined the OVC. The two schools had competed in their former home of the Great Lakes Valley Conference in the 2021–22 season.
  7. Because the MVC does not sponsor football, Murray State remained in OVC football in the 2022 season until joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference (a separate though related entity) in 2023. It remains in the OVC as a rifle-only member.
  8. While North Carolina A&T became a full CAA member, that membership did not include football. The CAA football league, branded as CAA Football, is a separate entity from the all-sports CAA, despite sharing the same administration. NC A&T joined CAA Football in 2023.
  9. Simpson is an NCAA Division III member. The NCAA holds single national championship events in men's and women's gymnastics that are open to members of all three NCAA divisions.
  10. Stony Brook was already a member of CAA Football, which is a separate entity from the all-sports CAA.
  11. West Virginia had originally announced that it would join Conference USA men's soccer in 2022.[310] However, later conference realignment led to the demise of C-USA men's soccer after the 2022 season.

2021–2022

Main article: 2021–2024 NCAA conference realignment
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  1. These particular moves were originally announced for 2022.[296] However, they were moved forward to 2021 after the Southland Conference expelled four schools that had announced their departure for the WAC.
  2. Augusta is an NCAA Division II member, but competes in Division I men's and women's golf.
  3. Not to be confused with Augustana College in Illinois, an NCAA Division III member also nicknamed Vikings.
  4. Acrobatics & tumbling, a women-only sport at the NCAA level, does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  5. This conference is a revived Central Collegiate Hockey Association, inheriting the name of a conference that had operated from 1971 to 2013.
  6. Equestrianism, a women-only sport at the NCAA level, does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  7. While Brown had sponsored fencing for both men and women before dropping the sport effective in 2020–21, the reinstatement of fencing applies only to women.
  8. Dixie State University changed its forward-facing name to Utah Tech University in May 2022, ahead of the legal name change on July 1 of that year.
  9. Francis Marion is an NCAA Division II member, but competes in Division I men's golf.
  10. In addition to the sports named in this listing, George Washington also dropped varsity teams in the non-NCAA sports of men's rowing, sailing, and men's and women's squash.[344]
  11. Initially, men's swimming & diving was included in the list of programs to be dropped, but this decision was reversed on May 3, 2021.
  12. Women's wrestling is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  13. At the time UConn made this announcement, it was a member of the American Athletic Conference.
  14. UConn had also announced that it would drop women's rowing, but after a judge's ruling in a Title IX lawsuit brought by team members, the university reinstated rowing for a minimum of two years.[375]
  15. At the time Valparaiso's move was announced, it had abandoned its previous nickname of Crusaders and had yet to adopt a new one. By the start of the 2021–22 NCAA swimming season, Valparaiso had adopted its current nickname of Beacons.
  16. The Valparaiso men's aquatics program has swimmers but no divers.

2020–2021

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  1. Brown dropped three other sports, namely women's skiing and men's and women's squash. Brown did not compete within the NCAA structure in skiing, and squash is not an NCAA-sanctioned sport.
  2. Brown continues to field teams in all sports that it dropped, but at club level instead of varsity level.
  3. In addition to the sports named, Brown initially dropped its entire men's program in the sport of athletics, encompassing three NCAA-sanctioned sports: cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field. However, the school decided to reinstate all three teams without interruption.[389]
  4. Equestrian, a women-only sport at the NCAA level, does not have an NCAA-sanctioned championship, but is currently part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
  5. While Chicago State is a full WAC member, it will not play a full conference schedule in men's soccer until 2021.
  6. Dartmouth also dropped the non-NCAA sport of men's lightweight rowing.
  7. When D'Youville announced its move to D-II, its nickname was Spartans. The nickname was changed to Saints effective in 2020–21.[398]
  8. At the time, Paine was an NCAA Division II member. The NCAA operates a single men's volleyball championship open to both Division I and Division II members. Scholarship limits in that sport are the same in both divisions.
  9. Paine ultimately never played volleyball in the SIAC. The conference did not play volleyball in 2020–21 due to COVID-19 concerns, and Paine left the NCAA for the National Christian College Athletic Association after the 2020–21 school year.[427]
  10. Robert Morris originally planned to play the 2020 football season as a Division I FCS independent and join Big South football in 2021.[431] After COVID-19 led the Big South to move its football season from fall 2020 to spring 2021, with three football members choosing not to play at all in 2020–21, Robert Morris became a Big South football member ahead of schedule.
  11. Robert Morris' new home of the Horizon League does not sponsor lacrosse for either sex.
  12. Urbana was an NCAA Division II member. The top-level NCAA men's volleyball championship is open to members of both Divisions I and II.
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