Both the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and the Big South Conference (Big South) added two teams entering the season. The OVC added Jacksonville State and Samford, both from the Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun). The Big South added Birmingham–Southern, an independent, and VMI, a former Southern Conference (SoCon) member. To compensate for these moves, the A-Sun added Lipscomb, an independent, and the SoCon added Elon from the Big South.
