It was a busy end to the week with a big FCS move, another school closure, lots of legislative news across the NCAA, and plenty of sporting changes across the NCAA and NAIA. Let’s start in NCAA Division 1 and a possible House roadblock.

NCAA Division 1 News

General News

The House, Hubbard, and Carter lawsuits that the NCAA is hoping to settle have been pushed back another 14 days by Judge Claudia Wilken. Wilken wants the NCAA to change its stance on roster limits by grandfathering in current student-athletes. If the NCAA does not comply, Wilken will not approve the lawsuit, leading to a trial that the NCAA will desperately want to avoid. That could also have an impact on the following item…

The NCAA has agreed to use some of its surplus to help defray the costs of the expected House settlement. The NCAA will take $55 million from its surplus to reduce back damages for the upcoming fiscal year, which amounts to roughly 33%. The lawsuit filed by South Dakota Attorney General Mary Jackley in September 2024 that led to this outcome is now considered settled. The NCAA also agreed to host additional championship events within South Dakota as part of this settlement.

The University of Kentucky is planning to spin off its athletic department into an LLC as a result of the anticipated legal settlements. The arrangement would be similar to how universities have hospitals in separate entities. UK is expecting an increase of about $50 million in expenses annually under the terms of the House settlement, assuming it goes through. It wouldn’t be surprising to see more schools follow this trend as the financial realities set in over the next few years.

William & Mary Football Moves to Patriot League

The big news from the FCS was William & Mary leaving the CAA to join the Patriot League for football beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. W&M will keep most of its other sports in the CAA. Men’s gymnastics will stay in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and women’s gymnastics will stay in the Gymnastics East Conference (GEC).

It’s a familiar move in FCS as Richmond is making the same CAA-to-Patriot League change for the 2025-26 academic year. W&M and Richmond are rivals and the move announced last year by Richmond weighed on the minds of the folks at William & Mary. The Patriot League will have 9 football teams in 2026: Bucknell, Colgate, Fordham, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Richmond, and William & Mary.

While the CAA will remain at 13 football members in 2026, there has been a clear erosion at the top of the conference over the past five years. James Madison made the FCS national title game three times before leaving for the FBS in 2022. Delaware is leaving for the FBS in the upcoming 2025-26 academic year and was a national title contender in the 2000 - 2010 decade. Richmond won the 2008 FCS title and made six postseason appearances over the past decade. W&M had three consecutive losing seasons from 2016 through 2018 before Mike London was hired starting in 2019. Since then, they’ve had four straight winning seasons and an FCS quarterfinal appearance in 2022.

The real concern for the CAA is the teams they’ve added to replace the departures… and it hasn’t been great. In 2022, the CAA brought in Hampton and Monmouth. In 2023, they added Campbell and North Carolina A&T. In 2024, it was Bryant that joined the CAA. Of those teams, none have posted a winning record overall or a winning record in CAA games. The table below shows each school’s overall record and CAA record for each season they’ve been a member of the CAA.

The CAA’s decision to opt for quantity over quality has hurt its perception overall. It’s tough to blame the conference for schools wanting to join the FBS but when teams like Richmond and William & Mary are leaving the historically upper-tier CAA for other FCS conferences, it cannot be ignored. Will Villanova be the next to leave the CAA for greener pastures?

NCAA Division 2 News

The NCAA Division 2 Executive Board approved the expansion of the D2 Football Playoffs beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. The bracket will expand from 28 to 32 teams, allowing for every conference to receive an automatic qualification bid to the tournament while also removing the bye for the top seed in each super region. More details from last month’s update here.

Dallas Baptist University (Dallas, Texas) announced it will transition its men’s and women’s tennis teams to club status beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. DBU competed in the Lone Star Conference, which will remain at 9 men’s teams and 11 women’s teams next year with Texas at Dallas joining as a full member. NCAA and NAIA schools have discontinued 21 tennis teams while adding only 12.

NCAA Division 3 News

The NCAA Division 3 Presidents Council approved a new pilot program for student-athletes that allows them to participate in athletics at a different school if there is a formal academic agreement and the current school does not sponsor varsity athletics. If a student is enrolled at College B, which has a teach-out or partnership with College A, and College B doesn’t offer a varsity sports program, they can compete at College A.

There have been quite a few mergers in the past few years, resulting in athletics being shut down at one campus. This pilot program is a sensible opportunity to give the student-athletes a chance to continue competing without having to transfer to a new school. The details are light as usual with most NCAA press releases but the pilot program begins with the 2025-26 academic year.

Lycoming Adds Men’s Volleyball

Lycoming College (Williamsport, Pennsylvania) will add men’s volleyball beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. Lycoming will compete in the Landmark Conference, which will have six members in 2026-27 and be eligible to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division 3 Championship during that season.

Russell Sage to Merge with ACPHS

Russell Sage College (Albany and Troy, New York) and Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Albany, New York) will merge under the Russell Sage name beginning with the 2027-28 academic year. The merger will not impact Russell Sage’s athletics, but ACPHS athletes will have to try out for the Russell Sage athletics in 2027-28, according to the FAQs.

ACPHS competes in 11 sports in the USCAA’s Yankee Small College conference. The merged entity will consider adding junior varsity and club sports. ACPHS competes in basketball (men’s and women’s), cross country (M & W), esports (coed), soccer (M & W), track & field (M & W), and volleyball (M & W). Russell Sage sponsors all 11 of those sports.

Wisconsin-Superior to Join WIAC as Affiliate

The University of Wisconsin-Superior will join the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) as an affiliate member in women’s lacrosse beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. UW-Superior announced the addition of women’s lacrosse in March 2025 but did not specify a conference. The WIAC will have 11 women’s lacrosse teams in 2026, assuming no further membership changes.

NAIA News

St. Andrews to Close

Yet another school will close effective with the 2025-26 academic year, this time it’s St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, North Carolina. The Knights sponsored 17 sports, although the men’s and women’s lacrosse programs didn’t compete in 2024-25. SAU is a member of the Appalachian Athletic Conference, which will have 15 full members next year. Kentucky Christian is also departing but Spartanburg Methodist is joining. The Appalachian Athletic Conference will have 7 members in football with St. Andrews departing and Rio Grande (OH) starting a new team. The Appalachian will have 5 members in men’s wrestling. No other sports will be at or below 6.

The list of closures is at 10 temporarily, depending on the next step with Limestone, as well as any other closures. We’ve listed all 10 schools from the NCAA and NAIA that will be closing or shuttering their athletic department. Note, this does not include dropping to NCAA Division 3, such as Azusa Pacific (from NCAA D2 Pac West) and Saint Francis (from NCAA D1 NEC).

Avila to Add Men’s Volleyball

Avila University (Kansas City, Missouri) will add men’s volleyball beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. It is not known which conference Avila will join as the school’s primary conference - the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) - doesn’t sponsor the sport. Avila is the third team in the KCAC to sponsor men’s volleyball after Kansas Wesleyan and Ottawa (KS). Both of those programs compete as affiliate members of the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC). Men’s volleyball is a popular sport addition - the most added sport by NCAA and NAIA schools - on the men’s side with a net of 14 (18 being added and 4 being discontinued). The second most added sport is men’s wrestling with 10 (15 added, 5 discontinued).

Lindsey Wilson Making Slight Name Change

Lindsey Wilson College (Columbia, Kentucky) will become Lindsey Wilson University on July 1, 2025. It does not appear that the Blue Raiders’ nickname or school colors will change. Lindsey Wilson is a member of the Mid-South Conference.

Peru State Adding Track & Field Programs

Peru State College (Peru, Nebraska) is adding men’s and women’s track & field programs beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. The programs will be focused on distance racing and will compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC). Peru State already has cross country programs, which compete in the HAAC.