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🗞 In Today’s Playbook. The Proposals - General Grouping. Today at the NCAA Convention. DIII Legislation Supporting 2 AQs Fosters Conference Stability, Enhances Student-Athlete Experience. State of College Sports Address Highlights Progress, Continued Challenges.

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Here are proposals 7-17 in the 2026 NCAA Division III Official Notice. Proposals 1-6 - the Presidents Council Grouping - were included in Wednesday’s D3Playbook.

Proposals - General Grouping

2026-7. Reduce the wait time for a multisport conference to receive an automatic qualification from two years to one year. | sponsored by C2C, CNE, MASCAC | Management Council (MC) opposes

2026-8. Establish a seven-consecutive-calendar-day-period between December 15th and December 28th, in which student-athletes may not participate in any athletically related activities. | CCS, NACC | MC opposes

2026-9. (1) Replace the current "permission to contact" legislation related to NCAA four-year college transfer student-athletes with a "notification of transfer" model; (2) specify that an institution must place a student-athlete's written request for transfer into the NCAA Transfer Portal within seven-consecutive calendar days; (3) specify that a student-athlete must successfully complete an educational module before they are entered into the NCAA Transfer Portal; and (4) maintain the existing processes for the Division III self-release, for student-athletes interested in transferring to another Division III institution. | Interpretations and Legislation Committee (ILC) | MC supports

2026-10. Amend the current legislation to allow institutions to provide meals in an on-campus dining facility for a prospective student-athlete and those individuals accompanying the prospective student-athlete. | CCIW, LEC | MC supports

2026-11. Permit institutions to provide expenses for practice sessions at any location, provided the student-athlete is eligible and no class is missed. | ILC | MC supports

2026-12. Remove the exact dollar amounts and references to the value of awards from the awards legislation. | ILC | MC supports

2026-13. Permit institutions to provide actual and necessary expenses for student-athletes to participate in one collegiate all-star contest or similar post-eligibility competitive event | ILC | MC supports

2026-14. Clarify that institutions may provide reasonable entertainment during the playing season; further that reasonable entertainment could include providing professional sports tickets | ILC | MC supports

2026-15. Add women's flag football as an emerging sport for women and establish legislation related to playing and practice seasons and membership | Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) | MC supports

2026-16. In women's acrobatics and tumbling, to establish a National Collegiate Championship and to establish a women's acrobatics and tumbling committee | CWA | MC supports

2026-17. In women's stunt, to establish a National Collegiate Championship and to establish a women's stunt committee | CWA | MC supports

Thursday
Issues Forum: 8 - 11 a.m.
Conference Meetings: 1 - 5:30 p.m.
Board of Governors: 2:30 - 7 p.m.
New Member Educational Session: 4 - 5:30 p.m.
NADIIIAA Awards Reception: 4:30 - 6 p.m.
SWA Reception: 5 - 6 p.m.

“Every institution of higher education offers some type of mathematical courses to challenge its students in the classroom. For NCAA Division III intercollegiate athletics, the mathematical hypothesis is far less complex and more readily predictable: If a Division III conference receives an automatic qualifier because at least six full-member institutions offer a sport, then conferences with at least a dozen schools sponsoring a sport should receive two.

Bylaw 31.3.1.2 states that no conference shall receive more than one AQ per sport; however, during the 2026 convention, the Division III membership will have an opportunity to challenge that rule and the 1:6 ratio that currently determines if a conference receives an automatic qualifier.

One of the key arguments against this legislation is the flawed concern that permitting two automatic qualifiers will unleash chaos on Division III as conferences woo institutions to reach the magic number.

Yes, there will be movement at first and some conferences may dissolve; however, conference stability in Division III will be achieved after a short period of initial controlled change. The likelihood that an institution will leave a twin AQ conference will be vastly reduced, while budget planning becomes infinitely more predictable.

The conference chaos is not the looming future left in the wake of approving two automatic qualifiers; it knocks on every conference member’s door today when a sister institution turns off its arena lights for the last time. And that banging is growing louder and more rapid during the scramble to either save their conference or find a landing spot for their athletic programs in a neighboring conference.

No, the greatest threat to stability in Division III conferences is institutional closure and was the argumentative crux in 2022 when membership approved legislation to reduce the AQ minimum from seven to six.”

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“NCAA President Charlie Baker spoke about the significant progress made in college sports and critical challenges that remain for the Association in his annual State of College Sports address at the 2026 NCAA Convention in the Washington, D.C., area.

Baker addressed how the NCAA has enhanced the way it's serving student-athletes, schools and fans. He cited increased scholarships and unprecedented direct financial benefits for student-athletes, record-breaking participation, new championships, fiscal responsibility and enhanced storytelling through media rights partners like ESPN.

In his third year as NCAA president, Baker also underscored the need for a collective response to ongoing challenges such as eligibility-related lawsuits, sports betting and prediction markets.”

» College Sports’ Biggest Challenges. “Judges are ordering the NCAA to grant sixth, seventh and eighth years of playing time. Attorneys general and judges are rewriting transfer policies overnight. In each of these cases, a representative of a member school supported those lawsuits — showing up in court, filing affidavits. The attacks on the rules are not only coming from outside the membership. It's a tiny fraction of the membership, to be sure, but they are destabilizing 100% of our athletics programs. There is no more perfect rule or bylaw that can overcome that. That's not to say we can't make progress — we have to, and we will."

» Working With Congress. “"We have to engage the federal government — not to run college sports but to stabilize them. When I was in front of you last year, we talked about how only Congress can address many of the challenges we face. For better or worse, that's still true. But it's clear we need to respond to the message lawmakers are sending and focus on areas of common ground.”

» Conferences. D3sports.com is reporting that Gallaudet is leaving the Old Dominion Athletic Conference in football after just one season and will be going forward as an independent.

» Football. Late Johns Hopkins coach Jim Margraff has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. He is the only DIII representative among the 22-member Class of 2026. Over a 29-year period from 1990-2018, Margraff's Blue Jays compiled a record of 221-89-3. He became the winningest coach in Johns Hopkins and Centennial Conference history and also became the winningest college football coach in Maryland state history. Among active Division III head coaches, he ranked third in career wins at the conclusion of the 2018 season.

» Honors. “The National Association of Division III Athletics Administrators (NADIIIAA) announced Lori Runksmeier, Director of Athletics and Recreation at Eastern Connecticut State University, as the recipient of the prestigious Richard A. Rasmussen Lifetime Achievement Award.”

» More Honors. “The two 2025 Division III LGBTQ of the Year recipients are Mitchell McPartland, head volleyball coach at the University of Chicago, and the Massachusetts Boston athletics department.”

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