Conference changes

[jmcozenlaw]

IF we had most of the D2 schools move down to D3, that may necessitate a split to maintain competitive balance in the division.

My baseline assumption is programs coming to D3 from 'higher' levels will struggle for a while as they adjust to turning over their roster and recruiting without scholarships to offer.

For the average student-athlete (those not going to highly selective nor selective schools), in the case of the PSAC in PA, maybe the differential could be tuition/room & board/fees coming in at about half the cost of many D3 schools in PA. I know many PSAC grads who have done extremely well for themselves in a variety of fields and if I was a coach at any of the PSAC schools (after the move to D3), I am selling the student-athlete (again, the non-selective, non-highly selective school student athlete) on a variety of factors......facilities (if and where applicable), academics and cost. Add in decent financial aid packages and the all-in cost factor of a PSAC school will be much more reasonable than the all-in cost of your average, garden variety, tuition dependent, D3 school.

[Patrick Coleman]

The PSAC is huge.  I wonder what d3 would do with a request to bring 17 schools into the division all at once?

I'm not sure the procedure for a whole conference changing affiliation.  Would they be considered individually?

Certainly a conference of this size joining en masse is unprecedented.

Once upon a time, the Northwest Conference came in all together, but these days a conference has to sponsor a school before they can gain entry to D-III. Not sure how that would work.

[Patrick Coleman]

IF we had most of the D2 schools move down to D3, that may necessitate a split to maintain competitive balance in the division.

My baseline assumption is programs coming to D3 from 'higher' levels will struggle for a while as they adjust to turning over their roster and recruiting without scholarships to offer.

For the average student-athlete (those not going to highly selective nor selective schools), in the case of the PSAC in PA, maybe the differential could be tuition/room & board/fees coming in at about half the cost of many D3 schools in PA. I know many PSAC grads who have done extremely well for themselves in a variety of fields and if I was a coach at any of the PSAC schools (after the move to D3), I am selling the student-athlete (again, the non-selective, non-highly selective school student athlete) on a variety of factors......facilities (if and where applicable), academics and cost. Add in decent financial aid packages and the all-in cost factor of a PSAC school will be much more reasonable than the all-in cost of your average, garden variety, tuition dependent, D3 school.

Also, PSAC schools vary widely in the amount of athletic aid they currently give, with a number of them giving lower than the maximum. They distance between some of these programs and Division III isn't super large.

[ronk]

IF we had most of the D2 schools move down to D3, that may necessitate a split to maintain competitive balance in the division.

My baseline assumption is programs coming to D3 from 'higher' levels will struggle for a while as they adjust to turning over their roster and recruiting without scholarships to offer.

For the average student-athlete (those not going to highly selective nor selective schools), in the case of the PSAC in PA, maybe the differential could be tuition/room & board/fees coming in at about half the cost of many D3 schools in PA. I know many PSAC grads who have done extremely well for themselves in a variety of fields and if I was a coach at any of the PSAC schools (after the move to D3), I am selling the student-athlete (again, the non-selective, non-highly selective school student athlete) on a variety of factors......facilities (if and where applicable), academics and cost. Add in decent financial aid packages and the all-in cost factor of a PSAC school will be much more reasonable than the all-in cost of your average, garden variety, tuition dependent, D3 school.

 Having done 15+ years of evaluations of HS girl prospects for college basketball in the Mid-Atlantic area, I've found that a significant number each year choose PSAC and its nearby competitors(SUNYAC and NJAC) over the private schools for the reasons that you mention.

[jeffconn]

Looks like Anna Maria of the MASCAC shut down last week. They announced it about two weeks before the end of the semester.

[ziggy]

Bringing this back forward with the news of VTSU Castleton (or whatever) moving from the Little East to fill the Anna Maria-sized hole in the MASCAC. (Also added a note about VWU's name change which happens July 1).

Provisional Pipeline for 2026-27 (expected)
3rd year provisional members: Carlow, Penn State-Brandywine
2nd year provisional members: Regent, Johnson and Wales (NC)
1st year provisional members: Azusa Pacific (reclassification from D2), St. Francis (PA) (reclassification from D1)
Exploratory year: Maine-Augusta

Provisional Pipeline for 2027-28 (expected)
Full Membership: Carlow, Penn State-Brandywine
3rd year provisional members: Regent, Johnson and Wales (NC)
2nd year provisional members: Azusa Pacific (reclassification from D2), St. Francis (PA) (reclassification from D1)
1st year provisional members: St. Anselm (reclassification from D2)

*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 2026-2027
Alfred State leaves the AMCC for the SUNYAC
Alverno (Women only) leaves the NACC for the C2C
Anna Maria (MASCAC) closes
Azusa 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
Virginia Wesleyan becomes Batten University (effective July 1, 2026)
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. Anselm joins the NEWMAC (full D3 member 2029-2030 academic year)
St. Elizabeth leaves the AEC for the CUNYAC
Vermont State Castleton leaves the LEC for the MASCAC
Expecting 42 automatic bids, 22 at-large bids (C2C remains without MBB AQ)