The Delaware Blue Hens will move up from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and join Conference USA in 2025, according to a report from Brett McMurphy of The Action Network.
As McMurphy notes, the move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) from the FCS will cost the Blue Hens a $5 million application fee, which was previously only $5,000 under NCAA bylaws.
Delaware has been a member of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA; formerly known as Colonial Athletic Association) since the 2007 season. Prior to joining the CAA, the Blue Hens competed in the Atlantic 10 Conference from 1997 through 2006.
Delaware finished the 2023 regular-season 8-3 overall and 6-2 in CAA play. The Blue Hens received an at-large bid to the 2023 FCS Playoffs and defeated the Lafayette Leopards at home in the first round, 36-34. Next up is a second-round contest on the road at the second-seeded Montana Grizzlies on Saturday, Dec. 2.
With the addition of Delaware in 2025, Conference USA would expand to 11 members. CUSA currently consists of nine members: FIU, Jacksonville State, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State, Sam Houston, UTEP, and Western Kentucky.
In 2024, CUSA will expand to 10 members with the addition of the Kennesaw State Owls from the FCS.