The state of Ohio is bursting at the seams with college football programs.
The state has eight FBS programs, one FCS program (Youngstown State), seven Division II teams, and a whopping 19 Division III programs to go along with a pair of NAIA teams as well.
Now The Buckeye State is set to add another one to their Division II portfolio.
Shawnee State has been an NAIA program, and while they haven't sponsored football their men's basketball team brought home the NAIA national title a few seasons ago in 2021, and the school has just received an invite to make the jump to the Division II level as the Mountain East Conference has invited the Portsmouth-based school to the league.
Not only will Shawnee State be making the transition to Division II with 19 sports participating in the new league, but the conference's announcement also shared that SSU will begin competition in football no later than the 2028 season.
“The Mountain East Conference is very pleased to extend an invitation of membership to Shawnee State University,” MEC Commissioner Reid Amos shared. “We engaged our membership committee in comprehensive and thoughtful discussions about a return to 12 full-time members, and SSU emerged as an institution that strongly aligned with our current membership."
With an enrollment of about 3,500 students, Shawnee State has nationally ranked programs in game design, health professions, and engineering technologies and is ranked among the top 40 Public Universities in the Midwest by US News & World Report.
Shawnee State becomes the second member of the River States Conference that the MEC has poached over the last two seasons, joining point Park University, who joined the league last summer.
SSU plans to file for Division II membership by October of this year, and will be considered for the NCAA's Expedited Division II Membership Process, allowing them to compete in the Mountain East for the 2026-27 athletics calendar.
The expansion pushes the reach of the MEC into four states, with football teams playing on campuses at Charleston, UNC Pembroke, Fairmont State, Wheeling, WV State, Frostburg State, Glenville State, West Liberty, WV Wesleyan, and Concord.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.