College Sports Realignment Roundup for April 3, 2025

Realignment is in full swing to start the month of April and there are news items to report across all three NCAA divisions as well as the NAIA. We start in NCAA Division 1 where Sacramento State is seeking a waiver to join the FBS in a move that may lead to a full membership change in the future.

Sacramento State Seeks FCS-to-FBS Reclassification Waiver

Sacramento State will file a waiver with the NCAA in an attempt to transition from the FCS to the FBS. The Hornets are attempting to use the “Liberty method” of moving to the FBS without an invitation from an FBS conference. The Hornets are a member of the Big Sky Conference.

If the waiver is approved, Sacramento State is looking at a two-year reclassification process. In 2025, the school would remain a member of the FCS and the Big Sky Conference but would be ineligible for the FCS playoffs. In 2026, the school would be ineligible for the FBS postseason and become eligible for a bowl game or CFP starting in 2027.

It’s not clear whether the NCAA will grant the waiver at this time and don’t be surprised if this ends up in court should the NCAA deny the waiver. The NCAA opened the door with Liberty, albeit with institutional differences compared to Sacramento State.

If Sacramento State’s waiver (or possible legal battle) is successful, the Big Sky would have 11 football members. However, the pending dominoes of realignment may shrink that further as UC Davis is moving from the Big West to the Mountain West as a full member in 2026-27. UC Davis’s football team is an affiliate member of the Big Sky and is working towards its own FCS-to-FBS reclassification.

Another uncertain aspect is whether the rest of Sacramento State’s sports will remain in the Big Sky (and other current conferences) or seek to join a different conference. Stay tuned…

Conference Carolinas Expands Flag Football Membership

The NCAA Division 2 Conference Carolinas will add three schools to its flag football membership. Mars Hill University (Mars Hill, North Carolina), Mount St. Mary’s (Emmitsburg, Maryland), and Wingate University (Wingate, North Carolina) will compete in the Conference Carolinas beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. A total of 11 teams will compete in the Conference Carolinas for flag football in 2025-26

Flag football has exploded in popularity across the country. Over 60 NCAA and NAIA colleges are set to add the sport in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 academic years. One of those future teams will be discussed in the NAIA section. The Conference Carolinas is one of four NCAA conferences that have or will sponsor flag football along with the Atlantic East (D3), CIAA (D2), and Empire 8 (D3).

The NCAA has recommended that flag football join the organization’s Emerging Sports for Women program. The program could lead to the eventual adoption of the sport as a championship sport. Beach volleyball, bowling, hockey, rowing, water polo, and women’s wrestling were part of the Emerging Sports program and later became NCAA Championship sports. In the case of women’s wrestling, it will conduct a championship starting in the 2025-26 academic year after approval during the NCAA’s January 2025 convention.

Penn State Altoona Bringing Back Cross Country

Penn State Altoona is bringing back men’s and women’s cross country for the 2025-26 academic year. The school discontinued the sport at the end of the 2015-16 academic year. Both teams will compete in the NCAA Division 3 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), putting the AMCC at 9 teams for both sports.

Penn State Altoona also noted in its press release that track & field teams could be added as sponsored sports as soon as the 2026-27 academic year as a result of the cross country teams returning. The AMCC doesn’t currently sponsor men’s or women’s track & field. Only three AMCC schools sponsor men’s and women’s track & field: Alfred State, Carlow, and Penn State Behrend.

Rockford Adds Track & Field

Rockford University (Rockford, Illinois) is adding men’s and women’s track & field programs beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. Rockford will compete in the NCAA Division 3 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC). Rockford was one of two NACC schools that did not sponsor track & field along with Alverno College. Alverno is a women’s college and doesn’t sponsor a women’s program.

Aquinas College Adds Two Sports

Aquinas College (Grand Rapids, Michigan) is adding two sports beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. The first sport is a men’s club hockey team, which will compete in the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s (ACHA) Michigan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC). Aquinas already has a men’s varsity hockey team that competes in NAIA’s Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC).

The second varsity team that will be added in 2025-26 is women’s STUNT, a sport closely related to cheerleading. Aquinas didn’t specify a specific conference they would compete in. Only two WHAC members - Concordia Ann Arbor and Siena Heights - currently offer STUNT as a varsity sport. However, Concordia Ann Arbor is dropping varsity athletics at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, which may have played a role in Aquinas offering the sport.

Benedictine Mesa Adding Flag Football

Benedictine University Mesa (Mesa, Arizona) will add women’s flag football beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. Benedictine did not disclose any future conference affiliation for the sport. The Redhawks are a member of the NAIA’s Great Southwest Athletic Conference (GSAC). Four GSAC schools will sponsor flag football beginning 2025-26: Arizona Christian, Benedictine Mesa, Hope International, and Ottawa-Arizona.