There were two pieces of college realignment news on Friday, February 28, 2025, as Beloit College and Bethany College announced some new sports that will begin competing over the next two academic years.

Beloit College Adds Hockey Teams

Beloit College (Beloit, Wisconsin) announced it would add men’s and women’s hockey teams beginning with the 2025-26 academic year. Beloit is adding the teams in response to the closure of Northland College (Ashland, Wisconsin) after the 2024-25 academic year. The hockey head coaches from Northland have already agreed to join Beloit in the same roles. Both of Northland’s teams competed in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). Beloit did not state in the press release whether both teams would also join the WIAC but confirmed via an email to Sports Enthusiasts that it has applied for affiliate membership in the WIAC. Below is a table showing the WIAC membership with the departing Northland College in red and Beloit’s possible addition in green.

Bethany Adds Flag Football

Bethany College (Bethany, West Virginia) is the latest school to add women’s flag football. The school plans to have a club team for the 2025-26 academic year and transition to a varsity squad for the 2026-27 academic year. Bethany is the first school from the NCAA Division 3 Presidents’ Athletic Conference to add the sport. There are currently six schools that will field a varsity women’s flag football team starting in 2026-27: Bethany (D3), Cal Lutheran (D3), Concordia Texas (D3), Lourdes (NAIA), Ripon College (D3), and Saginaw Valley State (D2).