Old Dominion is the sixth program this year to announce a move to Conference USA. They join Charlotte, Florida International, Louisiana Tech, North Texas and UTSA, who each announced their decisions earlier this month.
ODU will join C-USA in football in 2015 while all other sports will join for the 2013-14 season.
The Monarchs restarted their football program in 2009 and played as an FCS Independent before joining the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in 2011. Prior to that, they played as the William & Mary Norfolk Division Braves from 1930 to 1941.
In their first three seasons since the restart, the Monarchs have compiled an overall record of 26-7 and earned a berth in the 2011 FCS playoffs where they defeated crosstown rival Norfolk State 35-18. ODU narrowly lost the next week 55-48 at Georgia Southern.
“While the university was not actively seeking a change, recent events necessitated an earlier consideration of our future, and in particular, for our football program,” ODU president John R. Broderick said in a statement. “C-USA’s invitation provided the right opportunity at the right time to reclassify our football program and broaden the national footprint of our athletic program.”
Conference USA will have 12 football playing members for the 2013 season and 14 when Charlotte and Old Dominion join in 2015. The conference will likely keep their East-West divisions, but it is not yet known how the new alignment will shake out.
Based purely on geography, this is what Conference USA could look like in 2015:
East Division
West Division