Conference changes

[ziggy]

A couple things worth noting...

The Championship Committee's approval of Texas-Dallas to continue to be counted as a Division III opponent (as Sul Ross State was last season) was conditional and that if they were to be accepted in to the expedited Division II membership process it would not be possible for them to maintain the Division III financial model. Now that news has broken that Texas-Dallas has been accepted into a two-year process, it seems we should not expect Texas-Dallas to figure into the upcoming D3 basketball season in any way.

Previously, only third year provisionals counted toward the selection criteria of their opponents but that appears on the verge of changing - if it hasn't already become official. The Membership Committee recommended an amendment to allow provisional and reclassifying institutions to count toward championship criteria in the academic year following attestation of full compliance with Division III bylaws (most notably related to athletic financial aid). This proposal gained the support of the Championships Committee.

[y_jack_lok]

This what I found...

Division II institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women (or four for men and six for women), with two team sports for each sex, and each playing season represented by each sex. Teams that consist of both men and women are counted as men's teams for sports sponsorship purposes.

Thanks for that information. How does that compare to requirements for D3?

[CNU85]

DIII....Pat and gang can correct me if I am wrong...

The NCAA Division III has a few requirements for conferences, including the minimum number of members and the sports sponsored:

Multisport conferences
Must have at least seven members, or at least four active members if some are provisional or reclassifying. The members must also sponsor the sport at the varsity intercollegiate level.

Single-sport conferences
Must have at least six members, or at least four active members if some are provisional or reclassifying.

Sports sponsored
D-III schools must sponsor at least three team sports for each gender, with each season represented by each gender. The number of required sports also depends on the school's full-time undergraduate enrollment. Schools with 1,000 or fewer students must sponsor five men's and five women's sports, while schools with larger enrollments must sponsor six for each gender.

[y_jack_lok]

^^^Thanks.

[ziggy]

Updating to include today's news that Maryville will be leaving the CCS for the SAA. Also making note of pending change to the way provisionals are counted toward their opponents' ranking and selection criteria.

Provisional Pipeline for 2024-25 (Now confirmed)
Full membership: Asbury, Warren Wilson
3rd year provisional members: Hartford, Lyon
2nd year provisional members: Carlow
1st year provisional: Penn State-Brandywine (I don't see a report on this one yet)

Exploratory: Regent, Johnson and Wales (NC)

Mayville State withdrew from the exploratory process. The Membership Committee also recommended reducing the reclassification process from three to two years and asked for more information on the proposed merger of Bluffton University with D2 Findlay.

* Games against Year 3 provisional members count the same as games against full-members for regional-ranking 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 2024-2025
Asbury joins the CCS
Berea leaves the CCS for the HCAC
Birmingham-Southern (SAA) closes
Brockport leaves the SUNYAC for the E8
Cabrini (AEC) closes
Clarks Summit (UEC) closes
Concordia (Texas) leaves the ASC for the SCAC
Defiance (HCAC) leaves D3 for NAIA
Eastern Nazarene (NAC) closes
Fontbonne athletics in limbo? (closing in 2025-26)
McMurry leaves the ASC for the SCAC
Morrisville State leaves the NAC for the SUNYAC
Penn State-Brandywine joins the UEC (provisional pending)
Pratt leaves the C2C for the AEC
SUNY Canton leaves the NAC for the SUNYAC
SUNY Geneseo leaves the SUNYAC for the E8
SUNY Poly leaves the NAC for the E8
Texas-Dallas leaves the ASC for D2 (application accepted)
University of the Ozarks leaves the ASC for the SCAC
Wells (AMCC) closes
CCS expected to gain Pool A bid
Expecting 43 Pool A bids, 0 Pool B bids, 21 Pool C bids

Conference Changes Starting in 2025-2026
Anna Maria leaves GNAC for the MASCAC
Ferrum leaves the ODAC for D2 (application pending)
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 (RI) leaves the GNAC for the CCC
LeTourneau leaves the ASC for the SCAC
Southwestern leaves the SCAC for the SAA
Trinity (Texas) leaves the SCAC for the SAA
Expecting 43 Pool A bids, 0 Pool B bids, 21 Pool C bids

Conference Changes Starting in 2026-2027
SUNY New Paltz leaves the SUNYAC for the NJAC
Maryville leaves the CCS for the SAA

[warriorcat]

New Name for the CCC

https://cnesports.org

[Ralph Turner]

Might Mayville explored D3 and found they would not have a conference? I will appreciate additional insight.

[Pat Coleman]

Might Mayville explored D3 and found they would not have a conference? I will appreciate additional insight.

That seems reasonable. They're 160 miles north of Minnesota-Morris, which is already out on the very edge of the UMAC. They're 280 miles from UW-Superior and even further from Northland. 300 miles from Northwestern and similar distances from the rest of the UMAC members around the Twin Cities.

[ziggy]

Might Mayville explored D3 and found they would not have a conference? I will appreciate additional insight.

This kind of makes it sound like

Might Mayville explored D3 and found they would not have a conference? I will appreciate additional insight.

That seems reasonable. They're 160 miles north of Minnesota-Morris, which is already out on the very edge of the UMAC. They're 280 miles from UW-Superior and even further from Northland. 300 miles from Northwestern and similar distances from the rest of the UMAC members around the Twin Cities.

This sure makes it sound like they were very hopeful for a UMAC invite: https://mayvillestate.edu/about-msu/news/identifying-athletic-conference-home-extremely-important-effort/

I imagine the C2C is open to being an option for anyone, though perfectly reasonable for an institution to not see that as an attractive path for them.

It also may be that they simply were finally able to find a conference to take them in so they could remain in NAIA: https://mayvillestate.edu/about-msu/news/mayville-state-will-join-frontier-conference-naia-starting-2025-26/

[Inkblot]

Mayville's status changed from "conference is falling apart" to "conference is merging with another conference".

[Pat Coleman]

Mayville's status changed from "conference is falling apart" to "conference is merging with another conference".

Relationship status: "It's complicated"

[gordonmann]

No impact on men's basketball, but Mount Mary will be leaving NCAA and joining NAIA in 2025-26.

https://mtmaryathletics.com/general/2024-25/releases/20241008g7tlho

[Greek Tragedy]

Are any teams in the provisional pipeline eligible for regular season or post-season (conference/NCAA) championships?

[KnightSlappy]

Are any teams in the provisional pipeline eligible for regular season or post-season (conference/NCAA) championships?

I believe conferences make up their own rules on whether or not provisional members are eligible for the conference title / conference tournament, but none are eligible for NCAA Tournament selection.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

From what I can tell, both Carlow and PSU-Brandywine games are being counted as conference games, even though they're not eligible for NCAA.  It's possible they won't be in the conference tourneys. but I'm not 100% clear on that.  Conferences play it different ways.  A while back UST won the SCAC tourney, but didn't get to go to the NCAAs.