Conference changes

[Patrick Coleman]

St. Elizabeth is following Pratt to the "NEWNYAC" in the fall of 2027-28.
https://d3sports.com/notables/2026/03/st-elizabeth-to-newnyac

[ziggy]

This leaves the AEC with just four schools for 27-28?

If we are to believe the UEC-AEC "it's not a merger" announcement, seems to me we will see some UEC schools move over to balance membership numbers to retain two AQs between the partner (is that what we call it?) conferences.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

This leaves the AEC with just four schools for 27-28?

If we are to believe the UEC-AEC "it's not a merger" announcement, seems to me we will see some UEC schools move over to balance membership numbers to retain two AQs between the partner (is that what we call it?) conferences.

I suspect this is a "can we get to 27-28 with 14 total schools so we can keep two AQs in everything" situation.

[Ralph Turner]

This leaves the AEC with just four schools for 27-28?

If we are to believe the UEC-AEC "it's not a merger" announcement, seems to me we will see some UEC schools move over to balance membership numbers to retain two AQs between the partner (is that what we call it?) conferences.

Are we hearing rumbles of financial troubles amongst the "13 plus 4" schools

I suspect this is a "can we get to 27-28 with 14 total schools so we can keep two AQs in everything" situation.

Or the current UEC-13 plus Gwynedd Mercy, Immaculata, Marymount and Centenary NJ to split into 2 conferences for the core number of sports?

Or are we hearing rumbles of any of the 13 + 4 schools having financial troubles?

[Patrick Coleman]

We are, yes.

[jeffconn]

Aren't ALL small private liberal arts colleges having monetary issues these days?

Also, haven't there been talks about merging some of the smaller Penn State's?

[thebear]

Aren't ALL small private liberal arts colleges having monetary issues these days?

Also, haven't there been talks about merging some of the smaller Penn State's?

More than talks, they have announced the closure of seven of the "Commonwealth Campuses" at the end of Spring 2027.  I only see the following as D3 schools and none of them appear to be closing.  PSU-Abington, PSU-Altoona, PSU-Behrend, PSU-Berks, PSU-Brandywine, PSU-Harrisburg
 

[Gregory Sager]

Aren't ALL small private liberal arts colleges having monetary issues these days?

Also, haven't there been talks about merging some of the smaller Penn State's?

More than talks, they have announced the closure of seven of the "Commonwealth Campuses" at the end of Spring 2027.  I only see the following as D3 schools and none of them appear to be closing.  PSU-Abington, PSU-Altoona, PSU-Behrend, PSU-Berks, PSU-Brandywine, PSU-Harrisburg

Like Illinois, California, and several other states, Pennsylvania has two separate sets of public schools. One is the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which consists of all of the schools that compete athletically in D2's PSAC (Kutztown, Slippery Rock, Millersville, etc.), and the other is the Commonwealth System of Higher Education, which consists of the various branches of the Pennsylvania State University (including the main Big Ten campus in State College, PA, as well as all of the D3 branches) and the three public/private hybrids (Temple, Pitt, and Lincoln).

The PSSHE schools have been contracting and consolidating over the past few years, and on the one hand it would thus seem to me that they are the ones that are ripe for closure. It's therefore slightly surprising that it's Commonwealth System campuses that are going to close instead, especially since the PSU diploma confers much more academic cachet than the PSSHE schools can offer; Penn State's Carnegie Classification rating is R1 (highest rank among research universities), and it's a member of the prestigious AAU, which is a consortium of America's top-level research universities.

But, on the other hand, the decision likely came down to economies of scale, since the PSSHE schools tend to be bigger on average than the PSU branch campuses in the Commonwealth System. Some of those PSU branches are quite tiny; fifteen of them have student populations under 1,000, including the ones that are closing (PSU-DuBois, PSU-Fayette, PSU-Mont Alto, PSU-New Kensington, PSU-Shenango, PSU-Wilkes-Barre, and PSU-York). Fortunately, all of the D3 branches are bigger; PSU-Brandywine is the smallest, at a little over a thousand students, and the others are either over 2,000 or close to it.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

They essentially closed the 2-year campuses.  I'd heard Brandywine was also on the chopping block, but it's proximity to Philadelphia kept it alive.

[Patrick Coleman]

Bringing this back forward:

Provisional Pipeline for 2025-26 (now confirmed)
Full Membership: Hartford, Lyon
3rd year provisional members: none
2nd year provisional members: Carlow, Penn State-Brandywine
1st year provisional members: Regent, Johnson and Wales (NC)

Provisional Pipeline for 2026-27
1st year provisional members: Azusa Pacific (reclassification from D2), St. Francis (PA) (reclassification from D1)
Exploratory year: Maine-Augusta

*Games against Year 3 provisional members count the same as games against full-members for NPI and tournament selection purposes (possibly changing to include provisionals that conform to all D3 bylaws but may be earlier in the pipeline)

Conference Changes Starting in 2025-2026
Anna Maria leaves GNAC for the MASCAC
Bryn Athyn (UEC) drops athletics
Ferrum leaves the ODAC for D2
Fontbonne (SLIAC) closes
Hendrix leaves the SAA for the SCAC
Hiram leaves the NCAC for the PAC
John Carroll leaves the OAC for the NCAC
Johnson & Wales (NC) joins the C2C
Johnson & Wales (RI) leaves the GNAC for the CNE
Keystone (UEC) is doing the limbo, but allowed to play
LeTourneau leaves the ASC for the SCAC
Northland closes
Regent joins the C2C
Southwestern leaves the SCAC for the SAA
St. Elizabeth leaves the UEC for the AEC
Trinity (Texas) leaves the SCAC for the SAA
Expecting 43 automatic bids, 21 at-large bids

Conference Changes Starting in 2026-2027
Alfred State leaves the AMCC for the SUNYAC
Alverno (Women only) leaves the NACC for the C2C
Asuza Pacific joins the SCIAC (full D3 member 2028-29 academic year)
Luther leaves the ARC for the MWC
Maryville leaves the CCS for the SAA
Marywood leaves the AEC for the MAC Freedom
McMurry leaves the SCAC for the ASC
Neumann leaves the AEC for the MAC Commonwealth
New Jersey City leaves the NJAC for the CUNYAC merges into Kean (no NJCU NCAA D3 athletics)
Rosemont (UEC) ceases athletics (merging into Villanova)
St. Francis (PA) joins the PAC (full D3 member 2028-29 academic year)
Schreiner leaves the SCAC for the ASC
SUNY Cobleskill leaves the NAC for the SUNYAC
SUNY Delhi leaves the NAC for the SUNYAC
SUNY New Paltz leaves the SUNYAC for the NJAC
Wesleyan (Ga.) (Women only) leaves the D3 for NAIA

Conference Changes Starting in 2027-2028
Concordia (WI) leaves the NACC for the CCIW
Pratt leaves the AEC for the CUNYAC
St. Elizabeth leaves the AEC for the CUNYAC

[ziggy]

Alverno movingnto the C2C saves the WBB AQ but MBB will lose it staring nextbseason until Regent and JWU Charlotte are full D3 members?

[Gregory Sager]

I'd be shocked if Alverno survives this decade. I think it'll close in a year, two tops.