Merrimack, Sacred Heart Switching Conferences From NEC to MAAC, per Report

More conference realignment reportedly is coming to the world of NCAA Division I sports.

Another Division I conference realignment move is on tap, with Merrimack and Sacred Heart set to leave the Northeast Conference to join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

Merrimack has competed at the Division I level since 2019. The Warriors are coming off an NEC conference tournament title in men’s basketball but didn’t appear in the NCAA tournament because the school still is transitioning to full Division I status. Sacred Heart has competed in Division I since 1999 but hasn’t made an NCAA men’s basketball tournament appearance during that time.

Merrimack and Sacred Heart would join the 11 current MAAC teams if the move goes through as expected. The MAAC includes schools such as Iona, which reached the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball tournament under Rick Pitino, and Saint Peter’s, which reached the Elite Eight of the 2022 tournament as a No. 15 seed.

When the two schools leave, the NEC will be down to seven schools, including Fairleigh Dickinson, which became the second No. 16 seed in NCAA men’s tournament history to beat a No. 1 seed earlier this year.

Merrimack is currently 4–3 this football season and sits behind Duquesne in second place in the NEC standings at 3–1. Sacred Heart is last in the NEC football standings at 1–4 and is 1–7 overall.