No conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision has seen more change than Conference USA.
The league was only founded in 1995, yet 22.5 percent of all 133 FBS teams have played in the conference, as noted by the popular college football Twitter account Sickos Committee.
In celebration of the new members of @ConferenceUSA, we wanted to look to the past and remember… pic.twitter.com/A3mjuPNKTj
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) July 26, 2023
The 2023 season is the start of yet another new era. Six schools left for the American Athletic Conference, one year after three left for the Sun Belt. Conference USA in response added Liberty and New Mexico State from the FBS and Sam Houston and Jacksonville State from the Football Championship Subdivision, making for a nine-team league. Kennesaw State will come up from the FCS next year for No. 10, and the league is open to expanding further. (Potential candidates include Missouri State, Eastern Kentucky, Tarleton State and some others).
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CUSA — it has officially dropped the hyphen — will also be on ESPN this year as part of its new media rights deal with ESPN and CBS. In October, the entire conference will play games on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Get ready for the CUSA version of MACtion. It represents a massive uptick in exposure from previous seasons.
The Athletic sat down with CUSA commissioner Judy MacLeod at the conference’s media day on Tuesday for a discussion about realignment, potential FBS requirement changes and the new TV plan.
Now that the conference is settled in with the nine, how do you feel about where the league is positioned right now?
We feel great. This group has been meeting since the spring of ’22, a lot of planning and things finally coming to fruition here. We think it’s the right nine going forward, and then Kennesaw will be a great add for us in a year, and then we’ll continue to evaluate if there are others down the road.
Is there a timeline on that potential expansion?
Not specifically. We have a membership committee that meets periodically. They’re continuing to evaluate different options for us. We don’t feel like it’s a rushed situation, but we’ll continue to be diligent and see what might work for us.
Sticking at 10, that’s probably not ideal? Or does it depend on what’s available?
It all depends on who and the fit. We really feel the 10 are together, but ideally we’d rather be at 12, probably. But we’ll make those decisions along the way.
When you look at the possible additions, what are the biggest factors you’re looking for?
We look at everything from institutional characteristics to the athletic program, alignment of the university and where athletics fits, competitiveness, commitment, academics, compliance. Everything’s going to be a factor. It’s hard to say one thing tips the scale. But obviously we need people to come in ready to compete and have a plan and be committed.
The NCAA DI Council also proposed new FBS requirements.
– Use 90% of allowable scholarships over 2-year rolling period across at least 16 sports, including FB
– Offer at least 210 scholarships each year, worth no less than $6 millionWould remove the FB attendance requirement.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) June 28, 2023
New FBS requirements proposal would also increase the fee to move from FCS to FBS from $5,000 to $5 million.
This would go into effect immediately upon approval. Other requirements would go into effect in 2027.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) June 28, 2023
Do the proposed NCAA changes that raise the FBS entrance fee to $5 million and create new scholarship requirements impact potential additions?
Well, it hasn’t been passed yet. But I think if people are serious about FBS transition, those won’t hold them back. My biggest argument has been that $5 million, if we invest it in their program, is that a better use of the funds? I’m not saying there shouldn’t be a higher application fee. I talked to one of our presidents that is in the process of transitioning, and they said it wouldn’t have changed their decision, but it would have changed where that money went, they wouldn’t be able to invest as much if they had to pay $5 million.
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The requirements on mental health, scholarship numbers and everything like that are really important to show that somebody has a broad-based commitment and that our schools can provide that to student-athletes. I don’t look at them as a detriment, but the entry fee is a bit of a question.
This year, playing midweek games in October, what’s the feeling on that and being back on ESPN?
We’re excited. It’s different. I give a ton of credit to our coaches. They bought in early and understood that for us to get the exposure we need, that was part of it. They’re embracing the opportunity to be the only game on TV so we can educate not only our own fans about their new opponents but fans across the country how exciting the brand of football we play is. It’s different, but it’s a chance for campuses to come together and do something special. I think everybody’s looking at it as an opportunity. Hopefully we have some great games.
How important was it to get back on ESPN after a number of years on different kinds of platforms? Finding games was difficult.
We heard from our fans that they don’t know where to watch this week and next week. We solidified those partnerships with CBS and ESPN. People will be able to find those much easier. Fan bases will be able to follow their teams. You turn on CBS Sports (Network) or ESPN on a Wednesday night, there will only be one football game. This is a great opportunity for us.
(Photo: Ken Murray / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Chris Vannini covers national college football issues and the coaching carousel for The Athletic. A co-winner of the FWAA's Beat Writer of the Year Award in 2018, he previously was managing editor of CoachingSearch.com. Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisVannini
