TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (April 26, 2022) – The Florida College System Activities Association (FCSAA) has announced realignment plans for Division I baseball, basketball (men and women's) and softball, effective August 1, 2023. 

Brought forward by the FCSAA's Council for Athletic Affairs (CAA), the realignment proposal was approved by the Florida College System's Council of Presidents during Friday's April business meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla. 

As a result, Division I baseball, basketball and softball will compete in a two-conference alignment, beginning with the 2023-24 athletics season. 

"The landscape of two-year athletics in Florida has been in transition over the last five to seven years," said Rob Chaney, FCSAA Associate Director and Athletics Commissioner, "and as schools have either moved to Division II or dropped a sport altogether, we've had to embrace a willingness to adapt.

"Over the last year, there have been numerous (realignment) conversations about the best path forward, but the goal has remained the same: a sustainable model that will promote the best interests of all FCSAA members." 

Under the new alignment, baseball and softball will still have a piece of familiarity as each conference will be comprised of two divisions, keeping most schools alongside its traditional rivals. 

Basketball, meanwhile, will undergo a more significant change – two conferences with eight men's and seven women's teams in each. 

"Change was precipitated by having fewer Division I teams, and this model can handle any additional moves (to Division II), but it can just as easily welcome growth, and without re-visiting our alignment each time a school adds, drops or pauses a sport." 

As the number of Division I teams dropped, the beneficiary was Division II. Between 2019 and the start of the 2021 season, Division II volleyball in the FCSAA increased from six to ten teams, leaving nine Division I programs – and only eight when the 2022 season cranks up in August. As a result, both divisions participated as a single conference last fall, and volleyball was the first FCSAA sport to host separate championship events. 

By Spring 2023, baseball and softball will also have two separate championship events in late April and early May. 

While the changes can be viewed as a new era in FCSAA Athletics, Chaney says the end game won't change. 

"You're going to continue to see the finest student-athletes in the country competing at our FCSAA member colleges and, whether it's Division I or Division II, FCSAA championship events will remain highly-competitive and our teams will be just as impactful at the NJCAA level."

FCSAA Realignment (effective 2023-24)

Baseball

Softball

Men's Basketball

Women's Basketball