There will be a NEW D3 conference starting with the 2017-18 season. The
American Collegiate Athletic Association just received permission from the NCAA to start the formal procedure for becoming a real automatic-bid receiving conference.
http://d3sports.com/notables/2017/02/ne ... e-approvedThe initial members are:
Alfred State (New York)
SUNY-Canton (New York)
Finlandia (Michigan)
Mills (California--women's college)
Pine Manor (Massachusetts--co-ed, was a women's college until 2015)
University of Maine-Presque Isle
Valley Forge (Pennsylvania)
All of the schools came from the Association of Division 3 Independents. Finlandia, Mills, Pine Manor, and UMPI were members of the Great South Athletic Conference when that conference bit the dust after the 2015-16 season.
From what i understand (somebody can correct me if i'm wrong), you need six schools to sponsor a sport to get an automatic bid in most sports, but you need seven in basketball. So, this conference will not have enough schools to get an automatic bid in men's basketball unless they add more co-ed schools. There are still a few independent schools in the northeast, and a few schools that will be reclassifying to D3, so they might be able to get to the magic number.