The Division I Council on Wednesday voted to introduce proposals that, if also supported by Divisions II and III, would establish NCAA championships for women's stunt and women's acrobatics and tumbling.
If the proposals are adopted by all three divisions, championships committees would begin work in stunt and acrobatics and tumbling in January 2026, with the first championship for each sport expected to occur during the spring season in 2027.
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The Division I Council on Wednesday voted to introduce proposals that, if also supported by Divisions II and III, would establish NCAA championships for women's stunt and women's acrobatics and tumbling.
If the proposals are adopted by all three divisions, championships committees would begin work in stunt and acrobatics and tumbling in January 2026, with the first championship for each sport expected to occur during the spring season in 2027.
Emerging Sports for Women are required to be sponsored by at least 40 schools to be considered for the creation of an NCAA championship. Stunt has been an emerging sport in Divisions I and II since 2023 and Division III since 2024, and 41 schools sponsored the sport during the 2024-25 academic year. Acrobatics and tumbling has been an emerging sport in all three NCAA divisions since 2020, and 44 schools sponsored the sport during the 2024-25 academic year.
Fencing championships
At the recommendation of the Sports Oversight Committee, the council voted to separate the scoring at the fencing championships to recognize champion teams in both men's and women's fencing.
Currently, men's and women's fencing teams compete for one title, and women's-only teams — which are sponsored by nine schools — are statistically unable to win the national championship under the existing scoring format for the sport. By recognizing a men's and women's champion separately, over 150 more student-athletes would have the opportunity to win a national championship.
For this change to take effect, it must also be supported by Divisions II and III because fencing operates as a National Collegiate Championship involving teams from all three divisions. Divisions II and III are expected to consider the proposal at their meetings in July
Flag football
The council also introduced a proposal to add women's flag football to the Emerging Sports for Women program following recommendations from the Committee on Women's Athletics and the Strategic Vision and Planning Committee. Flag football has grown rapidly in popularity at the youth sports level — including high school — and will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The proposal will be considered in October.
FCS playing seasons
At the recommendation of the Football Championship Subdivision Oversight Committee, the council adopted expedited legislation to change the first contest date for FCS football, starting in the 2026 season. Moving forward, FCS programs will be able to compete in 12 regular-season games every year, with the regular season starting 13 weeks before the FCS championship selections date. The move provides programs greater scheduling flexibility and eliminates the first contest date exceptions.
32-game maximum contest limits in basketball
During their May meetings, the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Oversight Committees adopted legislation establishing a straightforward limitation of 32 regular-season games in both men's and women's basketball, removing the legislated requirements for teams to participate in multiple-team events.
The oversight committees noted the Association's focus on simplifying NCAA rules where possible and determined that the rule change provided greater scheduling flexibility for Division I programs. The new rule does not require a school to change its regular-season schedule and does not limit the opportunity for multiple team events to operate or exist.
Under the existing structure for Division I, the oversight committees' action was subject to council review, and the council did not oppose the change. The new maximum contest limitation will begin with the 2026-27 basketball season.
