Coaching changes Conference realignment Three schools joined new conferences this season. Two moved their entire athletic programs to new conferences, and a third began play in its current all-sports league. •
Valparaiso moved from the
Horizon League to the
Missouri Valley Conference. The Crusaders replaced
Wichita State, which does not sponsor either men's or women's soccer, after that school left the MVC for the
American Athletic Conference. • The Horizon League replaced Valparaiso by recruiting
IUPUI from the
Summit League. •
Kansas State, a full
Big 12 Conference member that started its women's soccer program in 2016 and played that season as an independent, began playing a full Big 12 schedule. While no Division I schools added women's soccer programs for 2017, two
NCAA Division II members that sponsor women's soccer announced during the 2016–17 offseason that they would upgrade their athletic programs to Division I effective in 2018. •
North Alabama, currently in the
Gulf South Conference, will join the
Atlantic Sun Conference. •
California Baptist will leave the
Pacific West Conference for the
Western Athletic Conference. The 2017 season is the last for one Division I school in its current conference: •
North Dakota will leave the
Big Sky Conference, its home since 2012, to join the Summit League in 2018. ==Season Overview==