This is a two-part mini-series covering the Summit League and Josh Fenton. You can find the second part here.
In an era when conference realignment has felt more like survival than strategy, The Summit League has taken a different posture. Instead of chasing headlines, it has leaned into clarity. It has focused on understanding exactly who it is, why that matters, and how to build future value for all members.
That approach has sharpened under commissioner Josh Fenton, whose leadership style is rooted in constant dialogue rather than reaction.
“Clarity through communication, both written and verbal, is critical leading a membership organization,” Fenton said. “It is our responsibility to prepare our membership on national and conference topics impacting their own campus experiences and as a member of our League. We talk about leaning into who we are and our strengths, while doing our best to mitigate challenges, many of which are uncontrollable.”
Those conversations, he notes, are not theoretical. They are ongoing, sometimes uncomfortable, and deliberately honest. The goal is not to avoid change, but to be ready for it without sacrificing its league identity.
“We have excellent people and trust the leadership at our member institutions and have stated a commitment to build a strong conference,” Fenton said. “But at the same time, anything can change in this climate of collegiate athletics. Change has impacted us in a variety of ways, and we certainly are not naive to think we are immune to change.”
Knowing Who You Are Before Proceeding
For the Summit League, self-awareness has become a key to unlock future clarity as a conference. Rather than viewing stability as stagnation, the league treats it as a foundation.
The Summit League has a unique makeup of state flagships, growing regional publics, and healthy privates, all who are committed to building a stronger conference. These are high-profile academic institutions, which currently include four R1’s and three R2’s within the latest Carnegie Classifications. The academic success of Summit League student-athletes is noteworthy, having all-sport Graduation Success Rates within the top-10 of all DI conferences three of the past four years. The conference boasts one of the best combined-gender conference basketball tournament experiences across the country, with attendance consistently in the top-10 for the men and at times, top-5 for the women. But at its core, the focus has always been around prioritizing experiences for all student-athletes.
“We are always focused on elevating the experiences for student-athletes and creating added value for the membership. Asking hard questions, both positive and negative, is an attempt to peel layers back to really understand who we are and where we want to be as a conference,” Fenton said.
That process has informed how the league approaches expansion discussions, scheduling philosophy, brand building, championship experiences, sport competitiveness, long-term governance, and position nationally. Expansion opportunities have arisen. Conversations have happened. Some have not moved forward. “We have been and are active in being selectively aggressive.”
“The opportunities and conversations that we’ve had with others, we’ve tried to understand why some haven’t come to fruition,” Fenton said. “And I think those have been really good and healthy discussions and helped us kind of think through, how do we want to approach our future?”
The Summit League’s posture is best described in Fenton’s own words. The league is open-eyed, not passive, focused on making decisions aligned with who they are but unwilling to be driven by fear or even outside pressure.
“We need to be pragmatic,” he said. “It’s the right mindset, but it really is the only thing that you can do without a reactionary decision.”
The Intersection Of Football
Any conversation about the Summit League’s future inevitably intersects with football, even though the league does not sponsor the sport.
Four of its members compete in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), one of the most stable and competitive leagues in the Football Championship Subdivision. Another member competes in the Pioneer Football League (non-scholarship FB programs). About one year ago, Fenton and Missouri Valley Conference Commissioner Jeff Jackson came together to bring a new structure to the MVFC, which included 5 MVC members, 4 Summit members, and 1 Horizon League member during the 2025 season. Each multi-sport conference participates in the management and operations of the football conference.
Fenton views that new relationship as a strength, not a complication.
“The MVFC is a model of what alignment and patience can produce, particularly for two conferences with members that have great care for their football programs,” he said. “There is real value in this unique relationship for the Summit League’s future.”
As FCS football continues to face questions about its long-term structure, private equity, scholarship limits, and postseason format, the Summit and MVC have benefited from shared values and overlapping leadership philosophies with the football conference. The result has been efficient operations for the members while continuing competitive success the conference has known for almost 2 decades without constant existential debate.
“We have a great relationship with Jeff and his team, we always have, but now it’s just more formalized,” said Fenton in regards to the new governance and operating structure that was announced last spring.
Realignment Reality, Without Panic
That relationship was put into practice recently when North Dakota State University announced a football-only move to the Mountain West Conference, a decision that immediately drew national attention given the program’s championship stature at the FCS level. And for some, it might have been cause for concern with the Summit League.
For those inside the Summit League, however, the move did not trigger alarm bells.
“We are disappointed to lose one of the very best in FCS from the MVFC, but happy for North Dakota State getting the opportunity,” Fenton said. “But this type of scenario was one we have prepared for with regular discussions among our Athletic Directors and Presidents.”
Crucially, he emphasized that NDSU’s football announcement does not materially alter the league’s structure or direction.
“In terms of how it impacts us? Nothing dramatically changes as they are still a proud and full member of the Summit League, who will continue helping us build a strong multisport conference,” Fenton said. “The Summit League membership understands who we are and what makes us unique, which in part is the flexibility members have with other athletic priorities that might not directly connect into the League.”
That response shows the league’s broader posture toward realignment. Football, while influential, is not the sole driver of conference identity. The Summit’s model, which has long operated alongside the MVFC, allows institutions flexibility without destabilizing the league as a whole.
Rather than viewing the move as a warning sign, Fenton framed it as another reason the league stays in constant communication.
“We have conversations daily on every topic from realignment to how do we reinforce the things we are already strong in? I envision those conversations will be even more important in the future,” he said.
In a climate where reactionary decisions can ripple across an entire league, the Summit’s response to North Dakota State’s move reflected its guiding principle: acknowledge change, support & create more value for member institutions, while staying anchored in who you are.
Positive Momentum
The Summit’s restraint in realignment has not come at the cost of success. On the contrary, Fenton believes the league’s recent momentum has made it more visible across Division I. In an environment where access and competitive success in NCAA championships have seemingly become more sparse for mid-majors, the Summit League has found recent success. The conference placed two teams in each of the last two Women’s Volleyball and Men’s Soccer tournaments, which included a team advancing to the national semifinals in Men’s Soccer. The League is also less than 3 years removed from a baseball program advancing to the Men’s College World Series.
“We’ve had tremendous broad-based competitive success as a league over the last few years, and those moments are spurring conversations internally and externally about how we can build a stronger Division I brand,” he said.
That recognition, however, has not altered the league’s internal calculus. Expansion, realignment, or structural shifts will happen if they align with the Summit League’s values and enhance what already works, not simply because the market is noisy.
The signs of success are clear, according to one sitting athletic director, who pointed to both the Summit League’s direction and Fenton’s leadership. “Fenton gets it and understands what it takes to compete in this landscape. I’d love him to be my commissioner because he builds relationships and even seeks advice from Fortune 500–level leaders to think differently.”
On the national front, Fenton and the Summit League have taken a leadership position to do what they can to positively impact topics plaguing the industry – eligibility, transfers, federal NIL, employment, and more. Various letters and meetings with lawmakers, involving Fenton, have made a positive impact on the realities facing DI mid-majors.
With instability permeating the college sports ecosystem and higher education generally, Fenton and the members are driven to bring stability to the Summit League in a manner that enhances value to the membership. A strategy is already being worked on behind the scenes to think differently about how their conference can help grow athletics resources in nontraditional ways to bring conference alignment stability and position existing and future members for success in the future of Division I. The Summit League is less concerned with reacting to national trends and more focused on preparing and educating its institutions for change when it arrives.
In a landscape defined by volatility, The Summit League is betting that knowing itself better than anyone else will be the reason it is built to last.
