The shifting map of college football
College football’s lower‑division landscape is undergoing a period of intense movement, with a cascade of programs announcing shifts that will reshape conference compositions through 2026. The changes span from teams leaving the Colonial Athletic Association for the Sun Belt to institutions preparing to elevate to the Football Bowl Subdivision, creating a ripple effect across the sport.
Among the most visible transitions, James Madison will depart the CAA for the Sun Belt in 2022, while Sam Houston and Jacksonville State are set to join the FBS a year later. Kennesaw State is slated to follow a similar path in 2024, and Missouri State University and the University of Delaware aim to make the jump to the FBS by 2025, illustrating how the boundary between FCS and FBS is becoming increasingly fluid.
Conference realignments and rebrands
The realignment schedule also includes a series of conference swaps and new entrants. UC Davis will join the Mountain West in all sports except football in 2026, and North Dakota State plans to transition to the FBS as a football‑only member of the same conference that year. Sacramento State is slated to enter the Mid‑American Conference as a football‑only participant in 2026, while Saint Francis (PA) will eventually drop to Division III across all sports.
Conference identities are being renegotiated as well. The Western Athletic Conference will rebrand itself as the United Athletic Conference in 2026, and Southern Utah, after a brief stint in the WAC, will return to the Big Sky. Utah Tech is set to leave the WAC for the Big Sky, and Sacred Heart will join the CAA for football in 2026, illustrating a complex web of affiliations that includes moves to the Patriot League, the Mid‑Eastern Athletic Conference and the Northeast Conference.
Playoff implications
These realignments carry implications beyond bragging rights. Several conferences are teetering on the edge of the minimum team thresholds required for automatic bids to the FCS playoffs, prompting discussions about the future of postseason access and the competitive balance within the division. As programs shift, the calculus for qualifying for the playoffs will continue to evolve, shaping the narrative of college football’s lower‑division landscape for years to come.