There were two pieces of college sports realignment news for Tuesday, February 25, 2025. First, Kean University (Union, New Jersey) will add women’s flag football beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. The Cougars are a member of the NCAA Division 3 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). Kean is the second NJAC school to add women’s flag football with Montclair State also announcing it will field a team starting in the 2025-26 academic year. The NJAC doesn’t sponsor women’s flag football and it is not known which conference, if any, either Kean or Montclair State will compete in.

As noted in the February 21 post, five NCAA conferences have announced sponsorship of women’s flag football. The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and Conference Carolinas have done so at the NCAA Division 2 level. The Atlantic East, Empire 8, and United East are three conferences that currently sponsor or will sponsor the sport in 2025-26.

Women’s flag football is the most popular addition to athletic departments around the United States. With Kean’s announcement, there are currently 50 schools adding the sport in 2025-26 and that number will continue to grow. The second most popular sport to add for athletic departments in 2025-26 is women’s wrestling at 17.

Texas A&M-Texarkana Eyeing NCAA D2 Move

Texas A&M University-Texarkana (Texarkana, Texas) broke ground on a new athletic center and also made it known that it is planning a move from the NAIA to NCAA Division 2. The Eagles are a member of the NAIA’s Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) and there will be several potential destinations in D2. The school will announce its future conference affiliate “very, very soon,” according to President Ross Alexander. A move away from the RRAC would leave that conference with 13 full members.

Although a timeline wasn’t given for when the reclassification process would start, TAMUT said it hopes to complete the athletic center within 18 months. That would put the completition date at the start of the 2026-27 athletic season. The Eagles plan to add five sports in 2025-26 in addition to the existing 17 varsity programs.