NEWS: Division I Saint Francis will move to Division III
Currently in the NEC, Saint Francis will join the Presidents' Athletic Conference starting in 2026-27
For the second time in two weeks, Division III’s membership is increasing. Saint Francis University, currently a Division I institution competing in the Northeast Conference (NEC), announced its intention to reclassify to Division III and join the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) on Tuesday morning.
The press release from the PAC indicates that Saint Francis will remain in the NEC as a full member through 2025-26 before beginning the transition process to full D-III membership on July 1, 2026. Of course, as with any transition between NCAA divisions, that is contingent upon Saint Francis being formally approved to start its reclassification by the Division III Presidents Council.
Once approved, the reclassification process takes three years before active D-III membership is achieved. However, Saint Francis will be included in PAC scheduling beginning in 2026-27, and is expected to play a Division III schedule through the transition process.
"This is another key step towards our vision of the PAC continuing to build its foundation as one of the elite NCAA Division III conferences in the nation," said PAC Commissioner Joe Onderko in the press release. "With the addition of four new full members in the past six years, as well as recent additional varsity sport offerings, I believe the PAC has never been stronger at any point in its 70-year history.”
Saint Francis will become the 13th member of the PAC, with the league seeing a significant increase in membership over the last six years, with Franciscan and Allegheny joining, in addition to Hiram, who returns to the PAC in this upcoming academic year (2025-26).
“The PAC comprises peer institutions that share our faith-based foundations and educational philosophy,” said Father Malachi Van Tassell T.O.R, Ph.D, President of Saint Francis University, in a release. “Its geographic proximity—consisting of member schools located within a three-hour radius of Loretto—will enable us to cultivate stronger regional rivalries, enhance community engagement, and significantly reduce the travel demands placed on our students.”
The news of the reclassification notably comes only a week after Saint Francis’ men’s basketball team played in the First Four of the Division I men’s tournament in Dayton, having won the NEC Tournament title. This announcement mirrors that of the University of Hartford in the spring of 2021, as the university’s men’s basketball program reached the NCAA Tournament in March and announced its move to D-III in May.
The “student-athlete experience” was cited by Van Tassell in the statement from the Saint Francis Athletic Department as a primary reason for making the move to D-III. The NEC currently includes institutions in six states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania), requiring multiple trips by plane during conference play.
"The Board and I have been concerned about the student-athlete experience for many years,” Van Tassell noted. “The geography of our conference is huge. Our students travel either to Chicago or to Boston or to points in between. That's a lot of time not spent on campus, developing friendships or in the classroom. This change allows our students to be present on campus and lets their friends attend more of their home and away games. This decision is about creating and maintaining community and allowing our student-athletes to thrive in the classroom and their chosen sport."
From a women’s basketball standpoint, Saint Francis won its most conference games since 2019-20 with this past year’s 9-7 record in NEC play. The Red Flash went 11-19 overall, and finished fourth in the NEC standings. The women’s basketball program’s last season above .500 came in 2018-19, when they went 16-15. Head coach Keila Whittington resigned just five days ago after six seasons at the helm and a 56-155 overall record.
It will be interesting to track this coaching search with the news of Saint Francis’ impending move to D-III, as that should absolutely play a role in who takes the reins of the program. Hartford notably hired famed UT-Dallas head coach Polly Thomason as its reclassification process unfolded, with Thomason guiding the program into its D-III era.
That said, Saint Francis has historically had success on the court and is the winningest program in the NEC’s history, with 12 conference tournament titles to its name.
» Full press release from Saint Francis University (link)
» Full press release from the PAC (link)
» D3Sports.com story (link)
I think that this is a great move for Saint Francis.
Hope it expands its swimming and water polo to include men's teams next.