All six teams that the American is adding are coming from Conference USA. When I heard about it, I began feeling sorry for UTEP. Then things got worse, it appears that Marshall and Old Dominion will leave for the Sun Belt conference. This would leave Conference USA with UTEP, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Southern Mississippi, Louisiana Tech and Florida International. But there is hope on the horizon.
New Mexico State and Liberty will be taken from the pool of FBS independents. While FCS top schools Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State appear to be transitioning to keep Conference USA at least 10 schools. While there may be others coming to allow the conference to break into divisions. Those that could include Missouri State and Southern Illinois, but only the schools name for the founding fathers of Texas have been mentioned by others.
For FBS independents, this would leave only four. Army, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Notre Dame, with BYU joining the Big 12 in 2023.
At the FCS level, Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State are set to help bring football back to the WAC. (New Mexico State has their non-football programs in that conference.) However, the WAC is still left with Lamar, Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian, Dixie State, Southern Utah and California Baptist with Utah Valley and Cal State Bakersfield as non-football schools. There are several Division II schools that could transition to Division I that would help the WAC remain as a football conference.
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