History of Conference Realignment

July 1 marks the day that conference realignment changes for the upcoming year takes affect. Here are the changes affecting FBS football for the 2023 season:

American Athletic Conference (AAC)
- Has a net gain of three teams to have 14 members for 2023
- Losing Cincinnati, Central Florida and Houston to the Big 12
- Adding Alabama-Birmingham, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice and Texas-San Antonio from Conference USA

Big 12
- Expanding from 10 teams to 14 teams
- Adding BYU from the Independent ranks
- Adding Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida from the American Athletic Conference

Conference USA
- Lost Alabama-Birmingham, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice and Texas-San Antonio to the AAC
- Lost Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Mississippi to the Sun Belt
- Added Liberty and New Mexico State from the Independent ranks
- Added Sam Houston State and Jacksonville State from FCS
- C-USA drops from 11 teams to 9 teams

Independents
- Lost BYU to the Big 12
- Lost Liberty and New Mexico State to C-USA
- Leaves just four Independent FBS programs for 2023

===============================================

Full FBS Conference Membership for 2023

AAC (14)
Alabama-Birmingham
Charlotte
East Carolina
Florida Atlantic
Memphis
Navy
North Texas
Rice
South Florida
Southern Methodist
Temple
Texas-San Antonio
Tulane
Tulsa

ACC (14)
Boston College
Clemson
Duke
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Louisville
Miami (FL)
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Pittsburgh
Syracuse
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest

Big 12 (14)
Baylor
BYU
Central Florida
Cincinnati
Houston
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
TCU
Texas
Texas Tech
West Virginia

C-USA (9)
Florida International
Jacksonville State
Liberty
Louisiana Tech
Middle Tennessee State
New Mexico State
Sam Houston State
Texas-El Paso
Western Kentucky

Independents (4)
Army
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Notre Dame

Mid-American Conference (12)
Akron
Ball State
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Kent State
Miami (OH)
Northern Illinois
Ohio
Toledo
Western Michigan

Mountain West (12)
Air Force
Boise State
Colorado State
Fresno State
Hawaii
Nevada
New Mexico
San Diego State
San Jose State
UNLV
Utah State
Wyoming

Pac-12 (12)
Arizona
Arizona State
California
Colorado
Oregon
Oregon State
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Utah
Washington
Washington State

SEC (14)
Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
LSU
Mississippi
Mississippi State
Missouri
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt

Sun Belt (14)
Appalachian State
Arkansas State
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
James Madison
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe
Marshall
Old Dominion
South Alabama
Southern Mississippi
Texas State
Troy
 
FCS football conference changes:

- Jacksonville State leaves the Atlantic Sun to move to FBS and join CUSA

- Sam Houston State leaves the WAC to move to FBS and join CUSA

- Kennesaw State is in a transition year to FBS (will join CUSA in 2024) and are leaving the Atlantic Sun and will play as an FCS independent in 2023

- Campbell and North Carolina A&T are leaving the Big South to join the CAA, growing that league to 15 members

- Murray State is leaving the Ohio Valley Conference for the Missouri Valley Football Conference, giving the MVFC 12 members

- The Big South and Ohio Valley Conferences are merging into a ten-team league for football

- The Atlantic Sun and WAC are fully merging in football and rebranding as the United Athletic Conference

===================================

2023 FCS Conference Makeup

Big Sky (12)
Cal Poly
Eastern Washington
Idaho
Idaho State
Montana
Montana State
Northern Arizona
Northern Colorado
Portland State
Sacramento State
UC-Davis
Weber State

Big South-Ohio Valley Conference (10)
Bryant
Charleston Southern
Eastern Illinois
Gardner-Webb
Lindenwood
Robert Morris
Southeast Missouri State
Tennessee-Martin
Tennessee State
Tennessee Tech

Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) (15)
Albany
Campbell
Delaware
Elon
Hampton
Maine
Monmouth
New Hampshire
North Carolina A&T
Rhode Island
Richmond
Stony Brook
Towson
Villanova
William & Mary

Independents (1)
Kennesaw State

Ivy League (8)
Brown
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Harvard
Pennsylvania
Princeton
Yale

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) (6)
Delaware State
Howard
Morgan State
Norfolk State
North Carolina Central
South Carolina State

Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) (12)
Illinois State
Indiana State
Missouri State
Murray State
North Dakota
North Dakota State
Northern Iowa
South Dakota
South Dakota State
Southern Illinois
Western Illinois
Youngstown State

Northeast Conference (NEC) (8)
Central Connecticut State
Duquesne
Long Island
Merrimack
Sacred Heart
St. Francis
Stonehill
Wagner

Patriot League (7)
Bucknell
Colgate
Fordham
Georgetown
Holy Cross
Lafayette
Lehigh

Pioneer Football League (11)
Butler
Davidson
Dayton
Drake
Marist
Morehead State
Presbyterian
San Diego
St. Thomas
Stetson
Valparaiso

Southern Conference (SoCon) (9)
East Tennessee State
Furman
Mercer
Samford
Tennessee-Chattanooga
The Citadel
Virginia Military Institute
Western Carolina
Wofford

Southland Conference (8)
Houston Christian
Incarnate Word
Lamar
McNeese State
Nicholls State
Northwestern State
Southeastern Louisiana
Texas A&M-Commerce

Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) (12)
Alabama A&M
Alabama State
Alcorn State
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Bethune-Cookman
Florida A&M
Grambling State
Jackson State
Mississippi Valley State
Prairie View A&M
Southern
Texas Southern

United Athletic Conference (9)
Abilene Christian
Austin Peay
Central Arkansas
Eastern Kentucky
North Alabama
Southern Utah
Stephen F. Austin
Tarleton State
Utah Tech
 
Alum-Ni said:
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bleacherreport.com

Report: Delaware 1st School to Pay $5M Fee to Move to FBS; WIll Join Conference USA

Delaware will reportedly become the first school to pay the $5 million application fee to move from the FCS to FBS and will join Conference USA in the 2025-26…
bleacherreport.com bleacherreport.com

Delaware will reportedly become the first school to pay the $5 million application fee to move from the FCS to FBS and will join Conference USA in the 2025-26 season, per Brett McMurphy of the Action Network.
The application fee to move up to the top level of college football was previously $5,000.
 
www.cbssports.com

UMass expected to return to MAC for all sports beginning in 2025 after 10-year absence, per reports

UMass' football program has competed independent of a conference since 2016
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

Massachusetts will join the Mid-American Conference in all sports in the 2025-26 academic year.

Currently UMass competes as an FBS Independent in football and in the Atlantic-10 in most other sports. UMass previously was a football-only member of the MAC from 2011 through 2015. The MAC will now have 13 members.
 
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