UNK is making the move to Division I in all sports for the 2025-26 season. UNK had been a Division II school for 35 years, being a part of the RMAC and MIAA conferences.
UNK is excited to show what they can bring to Division I.
“Georgia, Alabama, Florida bring it on; they don’t know what is coming for them,” said Bark Meower, UNK athletic director. “We feel like we can compete with any school in Division I. The SEC doesn’t know what Central Nebraska is all about; they haven’t experienced the elements of what it takes to play at Foster Field and the Health and Sports Center.”
UNK will be joining the Southeastern Conference for all sports besides wrestling as the SEC doesn’t offer wrestling. UNK will compete in the Big 10 for wrestling. The SEC includes schools for all across the southeastern part of the United States.
The location of Kearney will put UNK on the far edge of the schools in their conference but with conference realignment, location doesn’t matter anymore in Division I sports.
UNK will now join a conference with some of the top teams in Division I, going right from Division II to the best conference in all of Division I for most sports.
UNK will look to create an out of conference rivalry with University of Nebraska foe, UNL in all sports. So UNK will get the chance to compete against UNL, an in-state school, in all sports at least once per year.
The UNK volleyball team had plenty of success at the Division II level and feel like that could translate to Division I.
“We have had a lot of success in the MIAA conference since we joined,” said Rich Squireson, UNK volleyball coach. “We feel like we will have the ability to compete in D1 with the athletes that we have. Plus, we live in Nebraska. It’s the best state for volleyball in the country and we can recruit a lot of high-quality players out of our own state. Those schools in the SEC don’t have the in-state talent that we do.”
The UNK wrestling team is fresh off their national championship season.
“We are really excited to bring another national championship back to Kearney for our wrestling program,” said Derrick Jenson, UNK wrestling coach. “We have competed against Division I programs and we have had the ability to score points, so we are excited for the challenge to move to Division I. We know we can compete, we dominated at the national championships at D2 and we know we can do the same at D1.”
UNK joining the SEC will help boost the revenue for the University. At the Division I level, UNK will have more scholarship funds and will be able to have more people on each of their teams’ rosters. That will definitely help the University with revenue.
UNK will bring in more athletes for each program that will give the teams a better chance for success.
“The more people on our roster would be for the better,” said Randy Helt, UNK football coach. “We have already brought in multiple high-quality Division I transfers to our team for next season and more are on their way here now. We are excited with next year’s roster for the opportunity to play against some tough teams in some of the toughest environments in all of college sports.”
All the chips fell in the right places for UNK, allowing the Lopers to make the move up to Division I and join the SEC. UNK has a strong alumni base that supports the University. With the facilities and athletes that UNK has to offer, it makes sense for UNK to move up to Division I.
The UNK football team will start off the Lopers campaign in Division I, facing the University of Oklahoma on Aug. 30.
DISCLAIMER: This story is a part of our annual April Fools’ issue, this story is not real. Happy April Fools’ Day!
