July 1 - Moving Day 2024

[Tech Boys]

This year's edition cannot start without plenty of prayers, lots of positive thoughts, and a big get well soon to our fearless leader Brandon. Can't wait to see you back at the controls.

We sadly had to say farewell to a legend. BlazerLady is already missed here but we know she now has the best seats in the house to see her beloved Blazers in action. Till we meet again.

South Atlantic Conference Carolinas adds Beach Volleyball as a Championship Sport. The charter teams are Carson-Newman, Catawba College, Emmanuel, Erskine College, Lincoln Memorial, and Tusculum. The SACC also adds Women's Wrestling as a Championship Sport. Charter members are Allen, Bluefield State, Emmanuel, Emory & Henry College, King, Lincoln Memorial, Mount Olive, and Newberry College.

Sunshine State Conference adds three Championship Sports. Beach Volleyball, Men's Track & Field Outdoor, and Women's Track & Field Outdoor will start moving into trophy cases. The SSC becomes the first D2 conference to solely sponsor Beach Volleyball.

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation adds D2 Men's Wrestling and D2 Women's Wrestling to their Championship Sports. California State Poly-Humboldt, Menlo College, San Francisco State, and Vanguard are inaugural members on the men's side. This is the first season for California State Poly-Humboldt. Menlo College and Vanguard are joining from NAIA. San Francisco State is ending a long affiliate membership with the RMAC. Menlo College and Vanguard are the inaugural members on the women's side and are also joining from NAIA.

Davenport moves Men's Lacrosse and Men's Wrestling from the GLVC to the GMAC.

Dominican (CA) Men's Lacrosse leaves Independent status to affiliate the RMAC.

Erskine College Football moves from the SAC for their 1-year tour of the GSC.

Frostburg State Field Hockey affiliates the PSAC after being Independent.

Northeastern State Football will play as an Independent while the rest of the teams remain in MIAA competition.

Oklahoma Christian Bowling affiliates with the GLVC after competing as an Independent in their first varsity season.

Post Football was Independent and now has affiliated with the NE10.

Lincoln (PA) moves Baseball and Women's Soccer from the ECC to the CACC.

In Memoriam:
* Notre Dame College in South Euclid, OH (2012-2024). The Falcons entered D2 as an Independent in 2012 before becoming a MEC charter member in 2012.
* College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY (2000-2024). The Golden Knights joined the NE10 in 2000.

A new school name coming soon. Effective on August 1, Emory & Henry College will become Emory & Henry University.

Logos that debuted in 2023-24.

Chaminade	Eastern New Mexico	Florida Tech
Kentucky State	Rockhurst	Sonoma State

Shorter moves from the GSC to the CC. Football will play as an Independent for one year.

Roosevelt joins the GLIAC from the NAIA. Bowling and Men's Volleyball will be Independent.

Lincoln (MO) leaves the MIAA for the GLVC. Football also moves to the GLVC after being an Independent in 2023-24. The Blue Tigers will also debut Baseball, Men's Soccer, and Women's Soccer with GLVC membership.

Trevecca Nazarene moves from the GMAC to the GSC. The Trojans are also adding Women's Lacrosse.

Sul Ross State joins the LSC from D3. All Lobo sports will compete in the LSC.

Arkansas-Fort Smith leaves the LSC for the MIAA. All Lion sports make the move.

Jessup joins the PWC from the NAIA. All Warrior sports except Men's Volleyball will compete in the PWC.

Menlo College joins the PWC from the NAIA. Men's Volleyball, Men's Wrestling, and Women's Wrestling will join the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Men's Track & Field Indoor and Women's Track & Field Indoor are Independent.

Vanguard joins the PWC from the NAIA. Men's Volleyball, Men's Wrestling, and Women's Wrestling will join the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Beach Volleyball is Independent.

Leaving for D1 are Mercyhurst to the Northeast Conference and West Georgia to the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Bloomfield College has announced dropping Bowling, Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Men's Track and Field Outdoor, Women's Track and Field Outdoor, and Women's Soccer. This move has made them non-compliant with sport sponsorship policy and their D2 membership is uncertain.

Saint Augustine's has suspended Football. This makes them non-compliant with sport sponsorship policy along with accreditation issues leaves their D2 membership status uncertain. Their athletics site has been gone for a while.

Not near as many teams being added as last year. Men's Volleyball, Men's Wresting, and Women's Wrestling still making big gains.

New teams announced for 2024.

California State Poly-Humboldt	(M) Wrestling — (Mountain Pacific Sports)
Shorter	(M) Wrestling
Young Harris College	(M) Track & Field Outdoor (W) Track & Field Outdoor
Felician	(M) Wrestling — (IND)
Georgian Court	Baseball
Virginia State	(M) Soccer — (IND)
D'Youville	Field Hockey — (IND)
East Central	(M) Golf (W) Golf
Saginaw Valley State	(W) Lacrosse
Indianapolis	Bowling
Rockhurst	(M) Volleyball — (IND)
Northwood	(M) Lacrosse (W) Lacrosse
Seattle Pacific	(W) Golf
Salem	(M) Swimming & Diving (W) Swimming & Diving (M) Wrestling
St. Edward's	(M) Track & Field Indoor (W) Track & Field Indoor
Pittsburg State	(M) Golf (W) Soccer
Washburn	(W) Golf
Bentley	(W) Golf
Jessup	(M) Volleyball — (Mountain Pacific Sports)
Kutztown	(M) Swimming & Diving
Regis	(W) Track & Field Indoor (M) Track & Field Outdoor (W) Track & Field Outdoor
Anderson	Football
Catawba College	(M) Volleyball — (IND)
Emory & Henry College	(M) Lacrosse
LeMoyne-Owen College	(M) Volleyball
Barry	(M) Volleyball — (IND)
Saint Leo	(M) Cross Country (W) Cross Country

New Emerging Sport teams

Felician	(W) Wrestling — (IND)
Indianapolis	Triathlon — (IND)
Upper Iowa	(W) Wrestling — (IND)
Montevallo	Acrobatics & Tumbling — (IND)
Fort Hays State	(W) Wrestling — (IND)
American International College	Acrobatics & Tumbling — (IND)
Newberry College	Acrobatics & Tumbling — (CC) (W) Wrestling — (IND)

Dropped teams

William Jewell College	(M) Wrestling
Kentucky Wesleyan College	(M) Cross Country (W) Cross Country (M) Track & Field Indoor (W) Track & Field Indoor (M) Track & Field Outdoor (W) Track & Field Outdoor
Lake Erie College	(M) Golf
Oklahoma Christian	(W) Golf

The Membership Committee meets on July 9-10. The 2023 applicants are,
* California-Merced — CCAA
* Jamestown — NSIC
* Point Park — MEC
* Texas-Dallas — LSC

[Tech Boys]

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[Finchwidget]

Conference Carolinas also begins sponsorship of women's wrestling this season in partnership with the SAC as well, with inaugural members Allen, Bluefield State, Emmanuel, Emory & Henry, King, Lincoln Memorial, Mount Olive, and Newberry. Also, I believe Salem is starting a men's wrestling program this season as well. Phenomenal job as always though, this is very well documented!

[Bballfan]

Point Park is suppose to be moving to D2 and joining the Mountain East, but a bit confused if they actually are.

https://ppuglobe.com/2024/01/point-p...a-division-ii/

Their athletic director game from Notre Dame College. So he is use to working for struggling universities. And the Mountain East is desperate as who knows how long Wheeling and Davis and Elkins will be around.

[Woodbury]

"Roosevelt joins the GLVC from the NAIA. Bowling and Men's Volleyball will be Independent."


The are actually joing the GLIAC.

[Finchwidget]

Point Park is suppose to be moving to D2 and joining the Mountain East, but a bit confused if they actually are.

https://ppuglobe.com/2024/01/point-p...a-division-ii/

Their athletic director game from Notre Dame College. So he is use to working for struggling universities. And the Mountain East is desperate as who knows how long Wheeling and Davis and Elkins will be around.

The D2 membership committee hasn't met to approve their application yet. An announcement probably won't be made until the end of next week

[Tech Boys]

Unfortunately I miss something every year but I really stuffed it on the SACC Women's Wrestling. It was to start in 2023 and in the Beach Volleyball announcement they stated Women's Wrestling would be delayed until 2024. So I missed that for two years.

In Salem's release about swimming & diving and wrestling they used the phrase "in the near future" about when wrestling would start and I took that to mean after 2024. It was when they announced the coach was hired which I hadn't seen yet is when they stated that 2024 is when the team would start.

If they are accepted for D2 membership, Point Park will most likely immediately join the MEC in Year 1 of reclassification. Frostburg State did the same thing.

"Roosevelt joins the GLVC from the NAIA." - Bad typo, already fixed.

[Bballfan]

Roosevelt joining the GLIAC shows how desperate that conference is to get somebody with a football team. Of course the Mountain East is very desperate too to replace lost members. It knows what is coming. Point Park doesn't have football though.

[TheBigCat2192]

I know this isn’t the main point of the “Moving Day” thread but every single one of those new logos is hideous. They’re all incredibly generic and seem to exist at the intersection point between refinement culture and clipart.

[laker]

D3 SUNY New Paltz joins the NJAC in 2026-27

SUNY New Paltz to Become a Full Member of the NJAC in 2026-27 - New Jersey Athletic Conference (njacsports.com)

[Bballfan]

26-27 is a lifetime away in college athletics anymore. Who knows what the collegiate landscape will look like this upcoming year let alone in a couple years.

[SW_Mustang]

The thing that interests me for this upcoming year is how many new closures/mergers there could be. '23-'24 seemed to be an unusually bad year - which could honestly become the norm for the next 5-10 years.

The sad part is every time a school with sports closes, it takes away the opportunity for a few hundred students to continue their athletic careers.

[Bballfan]

The sad part is every time a school with sports closes, it takes away the opportunity for a few hundred students to continue their athletic careers.

That's nothing. Wait til the revenue sharing starts. Many school's athletic budgets operate at a loss or break even today. There is only so much money to go around. I expect thousands of student athletes to be disenfranchised by the greed of athletes in sports that operate in the black. Where is the money going to come from to keep all the sports and scholarships that go with them?

And you think last year was bad. I expect the next two years to be even worse. COVID money is running out. Enrollments are down across the board. Churches are cutting back or stopping funding at a number of colleges. College athletics and higher education as a whole are now in a good place right now.

[SW_Mustang]

That's nothing. Wait til the revenue sharing starts. Many school's athletic budgets operate at a loss or break even today. There is only so much money to go around. I expect thousands of student athletes to be disenfranchised by the greed of athletes in sports that operate in the black. Where is the money going to come from to keep all the sports and scholarships that go with them?

And you think last year was bad. I expect the next two years to be even worse. COVID money is running out. Enrollments are down across the board. Churches are cutting back or stopping funding at a number of colleges. College athletics and higher education as a whole are now in a good place right now.

I don't know enough about revenue sharing to comment on it.

On your second point - people have been beating the apocalyptic drums for the better part of a decade and the predictions always fall flat. Some people who follow closures more closely than I do believe it's largely followed historical rates, though others disagree. One thing that can't be argued is the last 6 months have been some of the worst on record.

It's absolutely going to get worse - that goes without saying, but I take a more middle-ground approach. It'll act more as a slow burn than a bang, and we won't be able to fully see the landscape shift until years down the road.

I think one thing that often gets overlooked is how tone deaf and/or helpess administrations are when it comes to handling these things. Seems like they think they should just exist for the sake of it and don't do anything to make themselves appealing. I've sat in meetings on enrollment issues and it's mindboggling how the highly educated neglect to do... frankly anything.

[laker]

Gallaudet finds conference to call home - D3football