Arizona and USC Adding Flag Football Club Teams
The University of Arizona and the University of Southern California are adding women's flag football club teams. USC will begin competing in the spring 2026 season, while Arizona will become an official club beginning with the 2026-27 academic year.
Arizona is the fourth member of the NCAA Division I Big 12 Conference to add a flag football team, following Arizona State University, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Colorado. The Big 12 and the NFL recently announced a strategic partnership, with one of the stated goals being to grow flag football across the conference's 16 campuses.
USC is a member of the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference, which now has five club teams. Fellow Big Ten clubs Penn State University, Rutgers University (NJ), and the University of Maryland were already established, while UCLA added a club team earlier this month. Both UCLA and USC will play in the spring of 2026. The University of Michigan hopes to host showcases in spring 2026 once it becomes an official club at the school.
There has been a surge of new NCAA Division I flag football club teams for the 2025-26 academic year. UCLA was announced alongside California, Georgia Tech, and Long Beach State. Before that quartet's announcement, Bowling Green State University (OH), Cal Poly (CA), Eastern Kentucky University, Iona University (NY), Jacksonville University (FL), Radford University (VA), Rutgers University (NJ), Sacred Heart University (CT), the University of Colorado, and the University of Montana also added club programs.
Over 50 NCAA Division I schools have added a club or varsity program and are expected to compete throughout the 2025-26 academic year. Nearly all of the flag football teams are club programs, but colleges will be adding more varsity teams over the next few years. NCAA Division I will have 9 varsity programs by the 2027-28 academic year, a figure that will increase.
The 9 announced varsity programs include Alabama State University, Cal Poly (CA), Fairleigh Dickinson University (NJ), Long Island University (NY), Mercyhurst University (PA), Mississippi Valley State University, Mount St. Mary's University (MD), the University of North Alabama, and the University of Texas at Arlington.
All three NCAA divisions have recommended that flag football be added to the Emerging Sports for Women Program. A vote on those recommendations will take place at the NCAA's convention in January 2026. The NFL is getting closer to the start of a professional flag football league, while the sport will make its Olympic debut in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.