FCS/Mid-Major Conference Shuffling

[ST_Lawson]

Strong rumors that the WAC is going to be raided by another conference in the near future (next couple of weeks) to the point where the WAC will be no more.

Current members of the WAC w/ football: Abilene Christian, Southern Utah, Tarleton State, Utah Tech
Current members without football: Cal Baptist, UT Arlington, Utah Valley

Also, Seattle is leaving for the West Coast Conference this year and Grand Canyon university is leaving for the Mountain West next year.

Could affect the WCC, Big West, Summit League, Southland, maybe ASUN (because they currently have a football-only conference with the WAC schools).

[ST_Lawson]

They'll be down to 5 total members with the Texas schools also making overtures towards moving elsewhere.


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[ST_Lawson]

Started a new thread with the last couple of posts and renamed it, since it's not just FCS, but also mid-major non-football schools/conferences that could also have an impact.
Related...more info about the Cal Baptist and Utah Valley to the Big West situation: https://www.extrapointsmb.com/p/here-s- ... of-the-wac

[ST_Lawson]

Sounds like Southern Utah and Utah Tech are likely to be added to the Summit League soon. Their football programs remaining in the UAC for now, although it gives a strong boost to the often-mentioned "Summit League Football".

[meganeck]

Sounds like Southern Utah and Utah Tech are likely to be added to the Summit League soon. Their football programs remaining in the UAC for now, although it gives a strong boost to the often-mentioned "Summit League Football".

 

How long was Southern Utah in the Summit previously?

[wiu712]

Southern Utah was in the Summit League 1997-2012.

[ST_Lawson]

[ST_Lawson]

I'd seen some rumors of something like this, but it's now official for at least one school.

St. Francis (PA), currently DI of the NEC, will be transitioning down to DIII: https://sfuathletics.com/news/2025/3/25 ... etics.aspx

SFU competed in one of the first four games of the NCAA tournament this year, falling 70-68 to Alabama State.

[ST_Lawson]

In reference to the St. Francis news, Matt Brown (https://www.extrapointsmb.com/) had been hinting at a number of schools dropping divisions because of the new House settlement (affects paying players, roster/scholarship limits, etc.) and likely means a larger investment for many schools.

I would not be surprised if we see more schools make similar moves. Specifically small private schools mostly in the northeast and smaller public schools. Referencing the latter, I've only heard rumors of HBCU public schools moving down, like NC Central, SC State, and Mississippi Valley State, but I'm sure there's quite a few others looking at the possibility. At this point though, it looks like neither the MEAC nor NEC might survive this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Easte ... er_schools
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast ... er_schools

In addition to the previously-mentioned NC Central, SC State, and MVSU, I'd say that schools like Wagner, UMES, and Coppin State, are ones to watch for upcoming announcements.

Here's more info from Matt Brown: https://www.extrapointsmb.com/p/here-s- ... g-to-d-iii

[meganeck]

I'd seen some rumors of something like this, but it's now official for at least one school.

St. Francis (PA), currently DI of the NEC, will be transitioning down to DIII: https://sfuathletics.com/news/2025/3/25 ... etics.aspx

SFU competed in one of the first four games of the NCAA tournament this year, falling 70-68 to Alabama State.

 

One of the reasons given was the travel and specifically mentioned traveling to Chicago. Which I agree Chicago St being part of the NEC is kinda stupid.