Take a deep breath, NEC fans. The America East conference will not be raiding your conference any time soon.

Soon to be official, multiple sources have confirmed that the America East will add Division II member UMass-Lowell. UMass-Lowell, who’s been playing Division II sports in the Northeast-10 conference since 2000, will replace the departing Boston University when they head to the Patriot League for the 2013-14 season.

Sam Perkins of Onebidwonders.com penned an excellent piece on his personal and prospective thoughts on the move. Perkins supports the move, but is rightfully critical of the conference’s lack of urgency the past few seasons when they failed to add schools such as Quinnipiac or Bryant when the opportunity arose. When the Terriers chose to join the academically elite Patriot League, the America East was finally forced to be, as Perkins calls it, reactively proactive.

In addition to UMass-Lowell, rumor has it that Great West member NJIT has been lobbying hard to join the America East, and currently has the support of four America East presidents. If they can garner the support of another president or two, then it’s possible NJIT will be announced as the tenth member of the conference in the coming days or weeks. Such an addition would certainly make sense for the conference, since it would give the America East a much-needed presence in the New York metro area.

For now, the news of the America East’s expansion ends the incessant rumors that NEC programs such as Bryant and Central Connecticut would jump at an opportunity to make a parallel leap into the America East. Several sources, including Sacred Heart’s beat reporter Bill Paxton, have confirmed that both schools turned down the America East’s overtures to join, which made it necessary for the mid-major conference to reach into the Division II ranks to grab a replacement school for Boston University.

Frankly, I never believed a move from the NEC to the America East would make sense for Bryant and Central Connecticut, mainly because of their loyalty towards the NEC and, perhaps more importantly, football. America East lacks a football conference, therefore the prospect of possibly not being granted an associate membership if they bolted, both Bryant and Central Connecticut likely deemed a move too risky. After all, the NEC presidents made a clear and conscious decision earlier when they decided to reject Monmouth’s associate membership for football when the Hawks announced they were joining the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in the near future.

For now though, the NEC will remain at ten full-time schools, which is terrific news for the conference’s fans. It turns out a leap into the America East wouldn’t have been an upgrade after all.

Rest easy, NEC fans.