What happens to D-1 athletic departments when colleges merge?

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I’ve spent a lot of time on this newsletter writing about conference realignment. But every so often, schools make even bigger decisions that shape the future of their athletic departments.

They close. Or they buy other schools. Or they merge.

That’s what is happening with Elon University and Queens

Last week, the two schools announced “an intent to merge” the two institutions. They can call it whatever they want, but in practice, this certainly looks like Elon just straight up acquiring Queens. As an institution, Elon has dramatically superior financial footing, and they’ll control the vast majority of the board seats of the merged institution.

On paper, this move makes sense for everybody. Elon, sitting in Burlington County, North Carolina, already has thousands of alumni and supporters in Charlotte. By merging/buying/whatever with Queens, they can access to important real estate and civic connections in a growing market, particularly for graduate education. For Queens, partnering with a larger school solves the institution’s long-term growth and financial challenges.

This sort of thing isn’t uncommon anymore, as tuition-dependent private schools are facing dramatical financial challenges all over the country. But schools have been merging since before COVID or any recent demographic challenges. UTRGV, the school I went to visit a few weeks ago, was born out of a merger between UT-Brownsville and UT-Pan American. Boston College took over Pine Manor College back in 2020. Delaware State University acquired Wesley College in 2021. I imagine we’ll see more of these moves over the coming years.

But one thing is unique about the Elon/Queens situation. Both schools currently play D-I sports

Usually, when one larger school is acquiring a smaller one, the two institutions aren’t both participating at the same level of college athletics. In the UTRGV situation, for example, Brownsville was competing in the NAIA, not D-I.

Elon competes in the CAA. Queens recently reclassified to D-1, and competes in the ASUN. Elon sponsors college football, Queens does not.

ASUN Commissioner Jeff Bacon told me last week that the plan is for both institutions to continue to operate independent athletic departments. But WCNC also reported that “details on conference alignment/branding will be determined this fall.”

According to the FAQ page that both institutions published, both schools intend to spend the next two months on a listening tour with students, alumni and staffers, with the goal of the boards approving the final partnership parameters in November. But at the conclusion of the merger, the website says that “Elon University will operate Queens.”

Athletics does not appear to be mentioned specifically anywhere on the merger website.

Based on what I’ve learned about higher education since running Extra Points, this would be my educated guess. I don’t actually think leadership at both schools really knows exactly what they want their athletic departments to look like in five years. There are massive unknowns that still need to be decided on the academic side, the business side and the governance side, and while athletics are important…neither of these schools are Alabama or Texas. That’s not the engine really driving this bus.

Is it possible that both schools could elect to continue to operate independent, D-I athletic departments over the long term? Sure, it’s possible. When multiple institutions in Pennsylvania merged earlier in the decade, the NCAA membership committee allowed those schools to continue to compete independently in athletics. Gannon and Ursuline, who will complete a merger next year, are also reportedly keep their individual sport programs and mascots.

But none of those examples involve D-I institutions, paying D-1 costs. While I’m certain the current plan is to keep things as stable as possible for current athletes, coaches and staff, I would be very skeptical that any future plan has been poured into concrete at the moment.

The closest thing I could think of involving teams playing as “big time” level of college sports, and this is probably a bit of a stretch, would be the creation of a school near and dear to my heart, Case Western Reserve University.

Today, CWRU competes at the D-III level. But back in the day, before the football teams completely merged in 1970, the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve both had independent athletic programs. Western Reserve is the only school in Ohio to have a winning record against Ohio State (6-5-1). Western Reserve also made the 1941 Sun Bowl, beating Arizona State. Before WWII, both schools had legitimate moments in the college football “big time.”

But it’s probably a stretch to call either team “big time” by the time a merger finally happened. Western Reserve and Case were founding members of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in 1955, and while we love the PAC here at Extra Points (a PAC team won the first ever Extra Points Bowl, after all!), nobody was confusing it with the Big Ten, even in the late 1950s.

That merger was 55 years ago. A lot has changed, not just in college sports, but with the business of higher education. Gun to my head, I would assume that by 2035, Elon and Queens are not both fielding completely independent D-I athletic departments. But I also can’t be completely certain D-I will even exist in 2035. I suspect the board members at Elon and Queens feel the same way.

I have a sneaking suspicion this won’t be the last time this sort of situation happens, though. Plenty of other D-I schools will be keeping an eye on how this process unfolds.

Even for somebody like me, it’s easy to let my focus drift to the biggest P4 football games each weekend, and how those games might shift the College Football Playoff conversation. I’ve got plenty of opinions about Indiana, Miami, Texas, and everybody else, but on this newsletter, I’d like to take a moment to instead direct your attention to D-III.

Friends, take a look at this freakin’ box score.

Over the weekend, the Coast Guard Academy Bears took on the Nichols College Bisons. By midway through the second quarter, the game appeared to be a garden variety blowout, with the Bears firmly in control.

It ended as the highest scoring regulation football game in D-III history. Coast Guard won…92-60.

That’s a lot of points for a college basketball game! But this was a regulation football game. There were even punts and everything!

The two teams combined for 68 first downs and 1,412 yards of total offense.

What’s particularly interesting to me is that Coast Guard did this with a relatively balanced offense. Coast Guard QB Sean Burns completed 20–24 passes for 384 yards and six touchdowns, but two different Bears also rushed for at least 130 yards, and the team rushed for 315 in total. Nichols QB Ian Snow went 28-44 for an eye-popping 580 yards and six touchdowns. IN A LOSING EFFORT!

What’s crazy is that 92 points wasn’t actually the school record for Coast Guard. The Bears dropped 93 on Anna Maria in 2023.

I salute both teams for their aggressive and profound commitment to an “only dingers” style of football. There is a time and place for smashmouth football, for 2 yards, a cloud of dust and punting. That place is called the noon shift during the Big Ten slate. There is also a place for building the entire plane out of touchdowns.

While the Coast Guard Academy is not eligible to participate in this year’s Extra Points Bowl, on account of them not playing in one of our four partner conferences, I promise to keep an eye towards their box scores moving forward. Anybody capable of dropping 92 on somebody is worth our attention.

Speaking of D-III, a quick reminder. This year’s Extra Points Bowl will be at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, on Nov. 22, 2025. The game will feature two teams from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the North Coast Athletic Conference, the Ohio Athletic Conference, or Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

As your fall schedules start to fill up, don’t forget to block off time for the game! We’ll have more information soon about tickets, broadcasts, and what we’re all doing to make the game another special event.

Quick note: This event is still looking for additional partners who can provide sponsorship assistance for athlete gifts (such as athletic apparel, books, gift cards, etc.) and/or athlete food. If you’d like to support small college athletics and get in front of an audience of D-III college sports fans, athletes and administrators, please drop me a note at matt @ extrapointsmb dot com.

We’re able to financially support the Extra Points Bowl because of revenue from the Extra Points Library, our advertising partners, and most importantly…readers like you. If you enjoy reading Extra Points, check out our premium subscription offering. You get four newsletters a week, access to our computer game (ADS4000), and the warm and fuzzy feeling you get from supporting independent media.

Thanks for reading. I’ll see you on the internet tomorrow.