2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment

The seven remaining non-FBS football schools, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova, announced in December 2012 that they would leave as a group and form a new non-football conference under the Big East name.

[36] There remained speculation regarding the timing of the change until March 12, 2013, when it was announced that the Big East would allow Notre Dame to leave for the ACC after the 2012–13 academic year.

On April 19, 2011, several media outlets reported that the University of Massachusetts Amherst (also known as UMass) would upgrade its football program to FBS level and become an affiliate member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), effective in 2013, for that sport only.

However, UMass declined, and shortly afterward, the MAC announced the Minutemen would no longer be an affiliate with them effective for the 2015 season, instead playing as an FBS Independent.

The core membership was initially unaffected by the early-2020s realignment, but that changed in 2024 when the MAC announced that UMass would return to the conference in 2025, this time as a full member.

The Sun Belt initially reloaded by adding new FBS member Texas State and non-football UT Arlington, both from the WAC, effective in 2013.

Their move to the Big Sky gave them the chance to compete for an automatic bid in the FCS playoffs, which the Great West did not have at any time in its football history.

From the Big Sky's perspective, the move expanded their presence in California (Sacramento State was already a full member), and also gave the conference the ability to contend for more at-large berths in the FCS playoffs.

[57] Ultimately, South Dakota decided to turn down the offer of Big Sky membership after receiving an invitation to join the MVFC on November 3, 2010.

Realignment reached still further into the ranks of mid-major schools when Boston University, a charter member of the America East Conference,[78] announced on June 15, 2012 that it would depart for the Patriot League in 2013.

At the time of BU's announcement, it had won the previous seven America East Commissioner's Cups for all-sports performance, collecting 40 conference championships in that period.

We believe we're going to a conference that values both very highly, and we know we can be successful"[84] Former Loyola AD Joe Boylan noted that the school had first discussed joining the Patriot League in the late 1990s.

[85] In a postscript, Stony Brook would eventually join the all-sports CAA in 2022,[77] a year before the conference changed its name to Coastal Athletic Association.

[93] Once BYU came on board, the WCC then sought to add a 10th member to ease scheduling, with Pacific becoming an obvious choice, especially after Seattle (also a Catholic institution) chose to join the WAC.

Also, the WCC's profile in Pacific's major revenue sport of men's basketball had steadily increased in recent years, with the conference's highest-profile program of Gonzaga joined by Saint Mary's and (through 2022–23) BYU as frequent NCAA tournament entrants.

Because Northern Kentucky came to the Atlantic Sun from the Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference, the Norse had to undergo a four-year transition period (with the exception of their cross country, golf, and track and field programs), with all teams gaining postseason eligibility for the 2016–17 academic year.

[101] These moves were closely monitored by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), which at the time was the only member of the Great West Conference that had not announced plans to join another league for the 2013–14 school year.

The moves of Monmouth and Quinnipiac opened up potential NEC slots, while the America East was set to lose Boston University to the Patriot League in July 2013.

Houston Baptist then committed to join the Southland Conference in 2013, and the rebuilding WAC took Chicago State, Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley.

The sole remaining full member, New Jersey Institute of Technology, was reported to be seeking a new home,[101] effectively ending the Great West.

Butler's spot in the Horizon League would eventually be filled in 2015 with the addition of Northern Kentucky University, which also served to expand the conference into the Upland South.

Traditionally, its primary membership criterion has been academics, with geography being only secondary—all of its members have been private, with admissions policies ranging from fairly selective to highly so.

[110] These schools were joined by Berry College,[111] at that time an independent D-III program, to form what would eventually be called the Southern Athletic Association.

Commissioner Dwayne Hanberry remained with the conference to oversee that effort, which was complicated by the paucity of unaffiliated Division III schools in the SCAC's new region of Texas and Colorado.

[115] In late April, the Skyline Conference announced that it would be adding its 11th full-time member as Sarah Lawrence College accepted an invitation to join the league based primarily in the New York City area.

The school, located in Yonkers, N.Y., had previously competed in the Hudson Valley Men's and Women's Athletic Conferences and would change leagues following the 2013–14 season.

With the departures of Denver, North Dakota, Minnesota–Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, and Colorado College, the WCHA would have been reduced to five members (from their then-current 12), all of which were Division II universities.

After that season, it joined the PCSC, which was still home to the other four softball-sponsoring WCC members (Loyola Marymount, Saint Mary's, San Diego, and Santa Clara).

[127] The second and final wave was triggered by Pacific's return to the WCC, giving that conference the six softball schools needed for an automatic NCAA bid.

In the 2015 season (2014–15 school year), the women's teams and the men's teams (with the addition of formerly independent Johns Hopkins for men's lacrosse only) started competing as Big Ten lacrosse, leaving their former conferences (the ECAC for Ohio State and Michigan, the CAA for Penn State, the Big East for Rutgers, the ACC for Maryland, and the ALC for Northwestern).