Five NCAA Division I Flag Football Club Teams Join SWCFFA

UNC Charlotte, Clemson University, Duke University, North Carolina Central University, and the University of Virginia will join the newly created Southern Women's Collegiate Flag Football Alliance (SWCFFA) for the 2025-26 academic year. The SWCFFA posted the news on Saturday via social media.

In a message to Collegiate Flag Football, the SWCFFA stated that it hopes to add more teams before it kicks off this fall. The SWCFFA will host the Carolina Crown Showdown on Saturday, September 27, 2025. In addition, the SWCFFA plans to host additional tournaments in the spring.

Of the more than 40 NCAA Division I schools with a flag football program, all but four compete as a club team. Alabama State, Long Island, Mercyhurst, and Mount St. Mary's have varsity programs, with UT Arlington joining that quartet in 2026-27.

The NCAA Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) also sponsors club flag football, although that may change in the future. The CIAA completed its inaugural season in the spring of 2025, with Winston-Salem State winning the first tournament. The National Collegiate Flag Football League (NCFFL) has several tournaments consisting mainly of club teams, but some varsity teams will participate during the 2025-26 season.

There are also the six NCAA D-II and D-III schools from the upper Midwest that formed a league with the help of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings. Augustana (SD), Bethel (MN), Concordia-Moorhead (MN), Gustavus Adolphus (MN), Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and UW-Stout (WI) competed in a series of tournaments in April 2025. UW-Stout defeated Augustana 46-31 in the final to win the Midwest College Women’s Flag Football League Championship.

Over 220 colleges are expected to participate in club or varsity flag football during the 2025-26 academic year. Nearly 100 of those teams will make their flag football debut next year.