Upper Iowa set to leave the NSIC for Great Lakes Valley Conference
Nov. 29—FAYETTE, Iowa. — The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference will has one less member after this school year.
The NSIC announced Tuesday that Upper Iowa has notified the league office that the Peacocks have accepted an invitation to the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Upper Iowa will remain fully eligible to compete in NSIC championships for 2022-2023. Upper Iowa will end its affiliation with the NSIC on June 30, 2023.
"While a conference never likes to lose a valued member, the NSIC wishes Upper Iowa University the best of luck as they enter this new phase for their institution," Northern Sun commissioner Erin Lind said in a release. "Upper Iowa's candid approach through this process, along with open lines of communication between the GLVC and the NSIC, has provided us the opportunity to be prepared for this news."
The NSIC currently has 16 members, including Bemidji State.
In men's and women's basketball, the NSIC has two eight-team divisions with Upper Iowa competing in the South Division. The conference has two seven-team divisions in football with Upper Iowa also in the South Division. The NSIC is currently slated to have 15 teams for men's and women's basketball and 13 football teams for next school year. Those are the NSIC's three sports with divisions.
The NSIC football schedule is currently a closed schedule, which means programs only play against conference opponents. If that structure remains, a bye week is going to have to be built in to the 11-week window to play games.
Upper Iowa is a travel partner with Winona State, and that format is likely going to need alteration, as well.
Augustana had announced its intention to transition to NCAA Division I athletics in all sports, but that has been put on pause while the school focuses on launching a D-I men's ice hockey program. For now, the school's other sports programs are remaining in Division II.
The GLVC is also a Division II conference and Upper Iowa will become the league's 14th member next school year. The Great Lakes Valley Conference currently has 13 members with schools in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.
