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?

My guess is that the AEC and UEC will have a situation like the USA South and Collegiate Conference of the South have now, with a few UEC schools moving over to keep the AEC above the minimum number necessary to keep an auto bid, with a bunch of affiliates between the two conferences.

Or, the New Jersey AEC schools could join the CUNYAC or NJAC, and the remaining members join one of the other conferences in the area. Any way it goes down, it looks like more movement in the future.

Quote from: Jake Feldman on March 04, 2026, 09:38:33 PMSince the C2C (Formerly Capital Athletic Conference) will be at 8 members with Alverno joining (for women's sports) and 6 core schools in Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas (if they get Bob Jones), do you think that the league decides to go to a regional footprint and make UC Santa Cruz join the NWC or SCIAC? It'd make sense since they usually have to travel to C2C events out on the East Coast, and their athletic budget is among the lowest in D3, adding to the school's $80 million overall budget deficit. A move like that would reduce their travel costs, take the budget squeeze off, and also give birth to new rivalries with other West Coast schools.

Bob Jones gave up on going NCAA D3 a few years ago. The C2C isn't going to kick out any school. They need the bodies.

Quote from: gordonmann on February 25, 2026, 09:25:06 AMPratt will move from the Atlantic East to the CUNYAC in 2027-28

https://cunyathletics.com/news/2026/2/25/general-pratt-to-join-new-and-expanded-division-iii-conference-in-2027.aspx

The AEC is in trouble, unless they can add someone. Neumann and Marywood are joining the MAC, and now Pratt is leaving, too. That leaves just five members.

The Atlantic East, Middle Atlantic, Centennial, United East, and Landmark all exist in essentially the same footprint. So the AEC schools will probably jump to one of the other four. I can't foresee any members of the other four conferences wanting to jump to the sinking ship AEC.

Oh yeah, I'm guessing the new moniker for the CUNYAC will be Big Apple Conference, or Little Apple if they wimp out.

Alverno had cancelled their soccer and basketball seasons this year, and are scheduled to restart in 2026. Those games against CNU are going to be hard to watch.

I'm disappointed about this, as the C2C has a nice core (6 of 7 members) in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina now. What's next, are they finally going to get Trinity Washington and Maranatha Baptist to join?

Quote from: Ralph Turner on October 13, 2025, 02:22:01 PM

Quote from: WLCALUM83 on October 08, 2025, 10:09:33 AMNews about another change here:

https://athletics.alverno.edu/news/2025/10/3/general-c2c-welcomes-al

Quote from: Ralph Turner on October 13, 2025, 02:22:01 PM

Quote from: WLCALUM83 on October 08, 2025, 10:09:33 AMNews about another change here:

https://athletics.alverno.edu/news/2025/10/3/general-c2c-welcomes-alverno-college-as-newest-member.aspx

Thanks to WLCALUM83.

That United East/Colonial States merger is looking like a genius move. Four UEC colleges going under or dropping all athletic programs in less than 3 years!

Quote from: CNU85 on July 09, 2024, 03:31:18 PM

Quote from: jeffconn on July 09, 2024, 12:34:15 PMTo be honest, the only option i see for CNU is moving up to Division 2 and joining the CIAA or Conference Carolinas. UMW and Salisbury may have the NJAC and United East (CIAA or Central Atlantic if they decide to move up) as at least possible places to go. Whether any of these are feasible or not i don't know.

D1 is a better option for CNU than D2. Neither one will happen anytime soon. CIAA consists of HBCUs.

Chowan was a member of the CIAA and isn't a HBCU. Anyway, CNU cannot make the jump from Div. 3 to Div.1 without hanging out in Div.2 for at least 4 years. And that's assuming they get invites from a Div. 2 conference and then a Div. 1 conference.

To be honest, the only option i see for CNU is moving up to Division 2 and joining the CIAA or Conference Carolinas. UMW and Salisbury may have the NJAC and United East (CIAA or Central Atlantic if they decide to move up) as at least possible places to go. Whether any of these are feasible or not i don't know.

Quote from: Pat Coleman on March 27, 2024, 11:39:30 AMThe UEC/CSAC merger was ahead of the curve on this, for sure.

I'd toss in the USA South split and subsequent alliance with the Collegiate Conference of the South as being ahead of the curve too. The NCAA might have to revisit their ban on umbrella conferences like the Middle Atlantic Conferences.

The CSAC and UEC had almost identical footprints. The same footprint as the Atlantic East, Middle Atlantic, the Centennial, and the Landmark. There's a helluva lot of small colleges in eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey! The colleges in the South, on the other hand, are way more spread out geographically.

Quote from: Inkblot on March 26, 2024, 03:12:59 PMBirmingham–Southern is closing. https://www.d3sports.com/notables/2024/03/birmingham-southern-to-close

The Southern Athletic Association will drop to 7 schools this fall, and rise to 9 in 2025. As far as i can tell, none of the team sports will drop below 6 participants.

Is it time for the SAA to talk to the 5 remaining members of the American Southwest Conference? They have to see the writing on the wall, with multiple small liberal colleges closing every year. In my opinion, all lower division conferences with small private colleges should be looking to boost their membership above 10 members, as a buffer against future school closings.

Quote from: Caz Bombers on October 10, 2023, 02:47:15 PM
Dean football to the MASCAC. Only Gallaudet unaccounted for now.

Gallaudet should go to the Landmark. It's the best fit geographically. The Landmark has only 7 football playing members, 6 full members plus Keystone who's also from the UEC. And Catholic U is only 3 miles from Gallaudet. Those two could have a great rivalry.

Quote from: KnightSlappy on October 02, 2023, 03:21:35 PM

Conference Changes Starting in 2024-2025

Texas-Dallas leaves the ASC for D2 (application process pending)

This move is supposed to happen in 2025, right?

Here's Regent's press release about exploring NCAA D3 membership. It doesn't mention anything about an invite from any D3 conferences. Isn't that a requirement to join D3 now?
https://regentroyals.com/news/2023/9/18/general-regent-university-athletics-pursues-ncaa-division-iii-membership.aspx

Quote from: Ralph Turner on September 19, 2023, 11:46:23 PM
Where does Regent (Virginia Beach VA) land about 2028-29?

The C2C, if anywhere. Since radical fundamentalist college Bob Jones had no conferences wanting to take them, I don't see Regent doing any better. I live near there, and they have a LONG way to go to be anywhere near a D3 school. Regent has NO on-campus athletic facilities, no dorms, no field, no gym for basketball or volleyball, no baseball field. All their home games take place at local Christian private high schools and rec centers. I can't see the ODAC or USA South even glancing their way. They are best staying in the NCCAA, or maybe the USCAA if they get some facilities.

Quote from: jlog3000 on August 31, 2023, 10:10:22 AM
Maybe the remaining SUNYAC schools would like to have greener pastures on other nearby conferences like the Empire 8 or the NAC (i.e.: North Atlantic). Or even the UEC (a.k.a. United East) where Morrisville and SUNYIT were former members back when it was the NEAC, as well as Cobleskill.

Plus, the UEC has 4 members out of 17 now (due to its 'merger' with the CSAC, when in actuality it was technically an amalgamation) that are from the State of New York.

In the case of the NAC, if any of the SUNYAC schools would like be next in line to be future expansion members, then it would solidify a newer NAC West (and the rest of the other schools that are east of the NY state boundary line (mostly the New England ones) be a newer NAC East).

As in general, many conferences are on the verge to be squandered with under 6 full members, and lesser than that to keep automatic bids alive, thanks to recent conference realignment changes in this decade alone. So I wonder if somewhat of a 'superconference' format would work on some of the growing conferences like the E8 or the NAC or the UEC, at least in the Northeast U.S. region. Or if any of the schools would like to move upto D-II, which that division hadn't had a school from the SUNY system in ages (the last ones were also former SUNYAC members Albany, Stony Brook and Binghamton before all eventually moved to D-I and compete in the AmEast (I mean America East)).

None of the current UEC members are from New York. Wells and SUNY Morrisville left this summer.  The UEC has 3 affiliates from New York, although that might change with the UEC/CSAC merger.  One of the stated reasons for the merger was having to find affilates to flesh out some sports numbers. And Sweet Briar is no longer a field hockey affiliate as of this fall. UEC's footprint has shifted south, so the New York schools might not be attractive to the UEC.

As far as superconferences go, I figure it's inevitable. When Division 3 conferences see the number of schools closing or on the verge of closing, they have to be thinking that they need numbers. All the talk about "like-minded" colleges, national academic rankings, and sticking with schools of your particular religious affiliation (or lack thereof) will go out the window when the conferences are in danger of losing automatic bids in sports.