Press release from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) have agreed on a men's lacrosse partnership beginning in the 2025 season. The partnership will create a dual-league championship game between the two leagues following their respective conference tournaments. The dual-league championships game will grant an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Tournament.
 
"This is an important step forward for the growth of NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse, particularly in the West," said RMAC Commissioner Chris Graham. "The access now available to the national tournament through the addition of a league automatic qualifier will only help encourage more participation. We are thankful for this membership partnership with the Peach Belt Conference and look forward to competitive championship contests."
 
At the 2024 NCAA Convention, the NCAA approved changes to the men's lacrosse championship structure, which now provides automatic qualifiers for the sport beginning in the 2025 season. However, a conference must have a minimum of six teams to qualify for an automatic bid, matching other team sports in the NCAA Championships model.
 
As it stands, the RMAC men's lacrosse membership is comprised of five institutions, Adams State, Colorado Mesa, Concordia University Irvine, Dominican University of California and Westminster. The PBC men's lacrosse league stands at four with Flagler College, Landler University, the University of Alabama-Huntsville and the University of Montevallo.
 
"This is a huge development for our men's lacrosse teams and student-athletes," said PBC Commissioner David Brunk. "Providing a championship experience was one of our primary goals when we began men's lacrosse four years ago and I'm thankful to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Presidents' Council and Commissioner Chris Graham for their work on this collaboration."
 
With the partnership, the winner of each of the RMAC and PBC conference tournaments will then square off to determine the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship. The site of that matchup will alternate each year, beginning at the site of the PBC champion in 2025 before rotating to the RMAC tournament champion in 2026.
 
Additionally, each league will maintain its regular-season schedules and conference tournaments, along with its own all-conference and all-academic awards, independently of each other.