Quote from: Caz Bombers on March 18, 2026, 05:06:00 PMQuote from: Ralph Turner on March 18, 2026, 04:15:26 PMAs I ran the sponsored sports by member institutions, the Atlantic East does not have Men's or Women's Volleyball, Indoor Track and Field (M & W), Women's Flag Football or Men's golf.
The United East does not have M & W Swimming / Diving.
The AEC only has 5 teams for M & W Tennis, the UEC, 8 & 7.
The AEC has 6 M & W LAX. The UEC has 4 Men's LAX members plus 1 associate; they have 4 women's LAX teams.
Field Hockey - Immaculata, Gwynedd Mercy, and Manhattanville probably just going to affiliate with the UEC going forward.
M/W soccer, women's volleyball, M/W basketball won't lose their AQs until 2029-30 and the remaining 5 will probably affiliate with the UEC at that time.
Baseball and softball won't lose the AQ until 2028-29 and the remaining 5 will probably affiliate with the UEC at that time.
Men's lacrosse likely to go the other way with the United East teams going under the AEC banner. The UEC's 2-year AQ grace period expires after this season.
UEC women's lax I believe has already had their grace period expire and they won't have an AQ to the 2026 NCAA tournament. Their remaining programs definitely need to hop on board with the AEC.
Atlantic East hasn't had men's or women's tennis AQs in a number of years and their remaining members should probably just go over to the UEC as soon as possible. The men's champion plays the AMCC champion for what is technically the AMCC's auto bid.
**down the line, sometime around 2030, maybe the Atlantic East will re-classify itself as a single sport conference for lacrosse (men's and women's). Of course many institutions may close or re-classify or re-align between now and then.
What you're describing sounds pretty much like a merger, which they explicitly say this isn't.