With every off-season comes the inevitable reshuffling of teams between conferences and divisions. A mess of them were announced last year, but we’ll go over what’s already changed, and who’s on their way out at the end of the season.
FCS
(Basketball moves ignored, since we don’t cover Division I basketball here)
Big Sky: Nothing changes for this season. Next year, the conference will welcome Cal-Davis and Cal Poly-SLO as affiliate members for football only, and North Dakota and Southern Utah as full members.
Big South: no football changes.
Colonial: Old Dominion officially joins the league, expanding the field to 11 teams. Georgia State, still technically an independent, will again be covered alongside the CAA teams pending their official arrival in 2012, which will coincide with the departure of Massachusetts (to FBS and the MAC). Rhode Island will stick around another year before departing to join the NEC in 2013.
Great West: No changes in football for this season, but the conference will cease to exist as a football conference at season’s end as South Dakota moves to the MVFC and the remaining teams join the Big Sky.
Ivy: Haha, right.
Mid-Eastern: North Carolina Central and Savannah State officially begin conference play this year.
Missouri Valley: As noted, South Dakota joins after season’s end.
Ohio Valley: no football changes.
Patriot: no changes, but Fordham remains ineligible for the conference title because they’ve gone scholarship.
Pioneer: no changes this year, or next, but Mercer and Stetson are restarting their football programs and will join the conference in 2013.
Southern: no changes.
Southland: Lamar officially rejoins the league this year. Texas State will not participate in conference play this year, as they’re in their transition year on the way up to FBS and the WAC (along with Texas-San Antonio, who are conference members but will never have played as members in football).
Southwestern: no changes.
Independents: South Alabama officially becomes an FCS independent this year (the first of two transition years before joining the Sun Belt in FBS in 2013). Georgia State, Texas State, and Texas San-Antonio are technically independent this season, but will be covered with their basketball conferences in weekly reports.
D-II
California (non-football): no changes.
Central: St. Paul’s, which had just reinstated football in 2005, completely abolished its athletic program over the summer.
Central Atlantic (non-football): no changes.
Conference Carolinas (non-football): King joins the league this fall.
East Coast (non-football): District of Columbia joins the league this fall.
Great American: This is a brand-new conference which begins play this fall. Arkansas Tech, Arkansas-Monticello, Harding, Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist, and Southern Arkansas (all formerly in the Gulf South) join former Lone Star schools East Central, Southeastern Oklahoma State, and Southwestern Oklahoma State. Next year, Southern Nazarene joins; in 2013, Northwestern Oklahoma State will join. (Both of the latter two schools will be ineligible for NCAA post-season play until 2014, as they’re moving from the NAIA.)
Great Lakes: no changes this year, but Indianapolis will leave following the season to join the Great Lakes Valley conference (in which it is already a member for all other sports).
Great Lakes Football: no changes, but following this season the conference will be absorbed into the Great Lakes Valley Conference, which will begin sponsoring football in 2012.
Great Lakes Valley: William Jewell begins competing as a conference member in basketball this year, and in football next year when the conference begins sponsoring the sport. McKendree also joins next year in all sports, as will Central State (OH) and Urbana for football. All existing conference members with football teams (Kentucky Wesleyan, Missouri S&T, Saint Joseph’s (IN), Quincy, and Indianapolis) will compete in the conference for football as well.
Great Northwest: no changes this year, but Azusa Pacific will complete its transition from the NAIA and join for football only in 2012.
Gulf South: As mentioned above, the six Arkansas schools departed over the summer to join the Great American Conference. There will be no teams to replace them this year, but in 2012 Shorter and Union (TN) will move from the NAIA to join in all sports, and New Orleans will complete its downgrade from Division I and the Sun Belt to also join in all sports except football. (New Orleans has no football team, but will start one and join the conference in that sport in 2015.) Florida Tech will join for football only in 2013.
Heartland (non-football): no changes this year, but McMurry will complete its move to D-II from D-III and the ASC next summer and join. (McMurry’s football team will remain independent for now, as will Oklahoma Panhandle State.)
Lone Star: As noted above, East Central, Southeastern Oklahoma State, and Southwestern Oklahoma State departed over the summer for the Great American Conference. Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State had announced that they were also leaving for the MIAA in 2012; in order to ease the conference schedule for the remaining schools, all in Texas, these two schools will compete as independents in 2011.
Mid-America: Nebraska-Omaha left (dropping football in the process) over the summer to move to Division I and join the Summit League. In 2012, Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State from the Lone Star, Nebraska-Kearney from the RMAC, Southwest Baptist will return from a brief period as an independent, and Lindenwood from the NAIA will join.
Northeast Ten: no changes; they’ve still got 16 teams.
Northern Sun: no changes this year, but in 2012 former NAIA schools Minot State and Sioux Falls will join.
Pacific West (non-football): Cal Baptist joins this fall from the NAIA. In 2012, they’ll be joined by former NAIA schools Azusa Pacific, Fresno Pacific, and Point Loma Nazarene.
Peach Belt (non-football): no changes this year, but Young Harris College will join in 2012.
Pennsylvania: no changes.
Rocky Mountain: no changes this year, but in 2012 Nebraska-Kearney leaves to join the MIAA; they’ll be replaced by Black Hills State, moving from the NAIA.
South Atlantic: no changes.
Southern IAC: no changes.
Sunshine State (non-football): no changes.
West Virginia: no changes.
Independents: A multitude of schools in the process of moving from the NAIA to Division II are technically new to the D-II independent ranks this year, and many of them are on their way to existing conferences as noted above. The new D-II football independents this year are Azusa Pacific, Black Hills State, Lindenwood, Malone, McKendree, McMurry, Minot State, Shorter, Sioux Falls, South Dakota Tech, Southern Nazarene, Union (TN), and Walsh. New non-football independents include Cedarville, Fresno Pacific, Point Loma Nazarene, Roberts Wesleyan, Trevecca Nazarenem and Young Harris. Many of these schools which have not been mentioned prior to this paragraph are hoping to form an Ohio-based D-II conference in 2013. The only existing independents whose status is changing is Southwest Baptist, who will rejoin the MIAA in 2012.
next: Division III and NAIA changes.