Conference USA will add six schools to their list of members in 2013, CBSSports.com has reported. An official announcement could be made as early as Friday.
Set to join are Florida International and North Texas from the Sun Belt Conference, Louisiana Tech and UTSA from the WAC, and Charlotte and Old Dominion from the Football Championship Subdivision.
The Charlotte 49ers (University of North Carolina at Charlotte) are set to begin their football program in 2013 as an FCS Independent. It’s doubtful that they would immediately play a full Conference USA football schedule.
Old Dominion is also an FCS program and may have a transition period into C-USA. The Monarchs revived their football program in 2009 and joined the Colonial Athletic Association in 2011.
Conference USA, which is losing Houston, Memphis, SMU and UCF to the Big East in 2013, would have a total of 14 members in 2014. That will allow them to continue their conference championship game. They will also keep their East/West division alignment, which is expected to be as follows:
East Divison
Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida International, Marshall, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, UAB
West Division
Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Rice, Tulane, Tulsa, UTEP, UTSA
The Sun Belt Conference is expected to add Texas State in 2013 and already has Georgia State coming up from the FCS. Those two schools will replace FIU and North Texas.
San Jose State and Utah State are expected to bolt the sinking WAC for the Mountain West Conference. With Louisiana Tech and UTSA heading to C-USA, that will leave the WAC with only Idaho and New Mexico State in football. There hasn’t been much speculation yet as to where those two schools will end up.
Have both Idaho and New Mexico State join the Mountain West then that’ll give the conference 12 teams
The heads of all these conferences are killing this wonderful sports! All these teams leaving, staying is awful. The “WAC” is finished now, the “BIG EAST” has school’s from all over the country.
Here’s something that just kill’s me, I’m a huge “BIG EAST” hoop’s guy and what happens on the first Tuesday at High NOON in the BIG EAST Tourney when SMU is playing Houston in a playin game and there’s not a soul in MSG. What a F… joke!
Oh no, that situation won’t happen. SMU and Houston will have first round byes.
Kid from my high school committed to ODU this fall, now it looks like he’ll be playing FBS ball soon enough. Lucky son of a bitch.
ODU is keeping a lot of the Hampton Roads talent that VA Tech used to get and you can already see the effect on VT with this years results.
2013 WAC Predictions:
Northern Division
1. Idaho
Southern Division
1. New Mexico State
Nice!!!
By my count thats 7 schools moving up from FCS in the next 2 years
Texas State
UTSA
South Alabama
UMass
Charlotte
Old Dominion
Georgia State
Am I missing anyone?
Appalacian state and Georgia southern also are moving up!
Remember when the WAC was a 16-team super conference? A sad ending.
I like how one conference adds a team or two in order to get to that 12-team structure, to make their case for a conference championship game and/or BCS talks. But than, one of the older teams jump ship and ruin the whole thing. How long before the SUN BELT recruits more lower division schools to get to 12. And when will BIG 12…be a 12 team conference again?
Let not your heart be troubled. C-USA is going to be a great conference. LA Tech and UTSA are going to be a huge rivalry. Yes I’m a little bias. I graduated from UTSA and I’m obviously a fan. Larry Coker is a coach that has never had a season where Miami was not in the top 25 and in a major FBS bowl. Coker has every FBS coach’s dream job. UTSA just gave him millions of dollars and a 65,000 seat Alamodome and said, “go nuts.” The team is so far 6-4 in their first year in the FBS. San Antonio also has some of the best high school football talent in the country.