2021–2026 NCAA conference realignment
The 2021–2026 NCAA conference realignment is an ongoing set of extensive changes occurring in NCAA conference membership, primarily at the Division I level, that began in the 2021–22 academic year. Most of these changes have involved conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of Division I. All 10 FBS conferences that existed at the start of the realignment cycle have seen or will see changes in their core membership.
In July 2021, drastic changes in the FBS power conferences were triggered following reports of Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 Conference for the Southeastern Conference by the 2024–25 academic year for the opportunity of increased media exposure and revenue. The Pac-12 Conference lost ten of its twelve members ahead of the 2024–25 academic year, leading to lawsuits and to ad hoc arrangements for its remaining two members until newly invited members could join in 2026. The Associated Press named conference realignment, and in particular the collapse of the Pac-12, as the 2023 story of the year in U.S. sports. At the Group of Five level, six members of Conference USA (CUSA) announced departures for the American Athletic Conference, now known as the American Conference, to also receive improved media exposure, which caused three other CUSA members to leave and join the Sun Belt Conference in fear of the conference folding. As a result, CUSA took in six FCS members and two FBS independents over a three-year span to remain as an FBS competitor.
The Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) also saw significant changes, most notably the beginning of football sponsorship by the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN); the return of football by the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), which previously sponsored football at the FBS level until the end of the 2012 season; and two football-only conference mergers, one involving the ASUN and WAC and the other involving the Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). A third FCS change was the creation of a formal relationship between the Missouri Valley Football Conference and two non-football leagues, the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and Summit League. In 2026, the Western Athletic Conference will rebrand as the United Athletic Conference, with the existing ASUN–WAC football alignment continuing within the rebranded all-sports conference. Since 2021, six FCS members have transitioned to FBS conferences, and two more will join FBS conferences in July 2026.
Other conference sports sponsorships saw significant changes as well, which affected school conference alignments for participants in men's baseball, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, volleyball, water polo, wrestling, and women's gymnastics.