RMU Football to Join Northeast Conference in 2024

RMU football is set to rejoin the Northeast Conference and will start play during the 2024 season, the conference announced on Tuesday. 

The Colonials spent the past four seasons in the Big South from 2020-22 and then the Big South/OVC in 2023. They served as one of the founding members of the conference in 1981 and stayed there for almost 40 years until the end of the 2019-20 season.

“We’re pleased to welcome Robert Morris back to the NEC football community,” NEC Commissioner Noreen Morris said in a statement. “Their return not only strengthens our football profile, but also will reignite longtime rivalries and create new ones. Given RMU’s rich football tradition within the NEC, we anticipate more exciting moments to come.”

With men’s basketball spearheading the move to the Horizon League, Robert Morris football chose to find a new conference in the Big South. Robert Morris went 8-27 overall and 5-16 in conference play the past four seasons outside of the NEC.

RMU helped begin NEC football back in 1996, winning the first five conference titles and their sixth in 2010. They would make their sole appearance in the FCS Playoffs, losing to powerhouse North Dakota State in the First Round.

The Colonials have immediate eligibility for the FCS Playoffs next season, meaning that if they win the NEC, they would represent the conference.

The NEC will have nine football members for next season with the addition of Robert Morris. This includes rival Duquense, along with in-state foe Saint Francis, plus Stonehill and Merrimack in Massachusetts, LIU and Wagner in New York, along with Sacred Heart and Central Connecticut.

“The RMU football program would like to thank the Big South Conference and the Big South-OVC Football Association for the opportunity they gave us against outstanding competition,” RMU head coach Bernard Clark said in a statement. “We certainly look forward to renewing old NEC rivalries and competing against familiar opponents as well as embracing the familiarity of the league.”