Conference changes

[Gregory Sager]

I think in this era, it may sound crazy but private schools in general with under $50M in endowment should see cautionary signs.  Money doesn't go as far as it once did and the explosion in administrative staff combined with flat or falling enrollment puts institutions on the brink.

It strikes me as especially strange in this era of computers, automation, and AI, that it takes more non-teaching staff than before all of this existed.  I'm not naive about institutional hiring, but trustees would have to explain to me how it is in the school's interest to close doors permanently instead of righting the ship when bells and whistles were sounding.

Alverno has canceled all or part of the seasons of multiple Inferno sports over the past couple of years because of insufficiently-sized rosters. There's your "cautionary sign" right there. Soccer was canceled completely this past fall because the Inferno was down to only six players on the roster. Then basketball packed it in for 2026-27 because there were only two players. This spring Alverno canceled its track & field season, and also canceled all of its non-conference softball games shortly after the season started, due to the fact that there's only 11 players and the softball coach wants to make sure that he can keep the team intact for NACC play.

North Park's softball team was one of the non-conference Alverno foes that saw those two games dropped from the schedule too late for the Vikings head coach to secure an alternate opponent for 2026. When I asked if NPU would consider rescheduling Alverno in the future (since I have misgivings about having to call softball games with scores like 23-0 or 21-1, even if the Vikings are the team winning such a blowout), the reply was, "Alverno has no future."

It seems like a legit diagnosis. The widespread evidence that Inferno athletics has fallen apart do appear to be a symptom of the institution's terminal illness. I hate to see it happen, just as I hated to see Trinity Christian College -- the local NAIA school whose imminent closure caused NPU's softball coach to have to resort to playing Alverno as a late replacement in the first place -- announce that it was shutting its doors. My heart goes out to all of the people -- students, faculty, staff, alumni(ae) -- who have to suffer through the loss of their school.

[Patrick Coleman]

The Conference Shuffle continues, as Keuka will be moving to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference for the 2027-28 season.

https://d3sports.com/notables/2026/04/keuka-to-join-amcc

[ziggy]

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
Expecting 42 automatic bids, 22 at-large bids (C2C loses MBB AQ)

Conference Changes Starting in 2027-2028
Concordia (WI) leaves the NACC for the CCIW
Keuka leaves the Empire 8 for the AMCC
Pratt leaves the AEC for the CUNYAC
St. Elizabeth leaves the AEC for the CUNYAC
Expecting 42 automatic bids, 22 at-large bids (C2C remains without MBB AQ)