Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
The traditional March 1 release of the Sunbelt Conference fall football schedule has been delayed.
According to one source, the league is waiting for incoming new member Louisiana Tech University to resolve its legal issues with its current affiliate, Conference USA.
The Sunbelt Conference lost Texas State University to the Mountain West Conference beginning this fall. That leaves a vacancy in the Sunbelt’s Western Division.
That’s where Louisiana Tech was expected to step-in this fall.
Except…
The Bulldogs from Ruston, Louisiana remain in a legal “dog house” with their long-time partner, Conference USA.
Until that issue is solved in the courthouse or out in the hallways with a big sack of cash, Louisiana Tech’s predicament has other members of the Sunbelt Conference twiddling their thumbs waiting for a final resolution.
The Sunbelt Conference currently has 14 members. Seven schools are in the Eastern Conference and seven are currently in the West. However, Texas State is bolting for the Mountain West after baseball season ends.
That leaves just six teams in the West if Louisiana Tech is unable to work out a suitable exit deal with Conference USA soon.
The Sunbelt Conference wants to avoid having an “unbalanced” schedule in 2026 with seven East teams and only six in the West if Louisiana Tech doesn’t come aboard this fall.
What a mess! How did we get here?
On July 15, 2025, a big celebration in Ruston was held announcing that Louisiana Tech was moving from Conference USA to the Sunbelt Conference no later than the fall of 2027. The expectation was (and still is) that a deal could be reached with Conference USA which would allow Louisiana Tech to begin Sunbelt play this fall in 2026.
As of today, neither Conference USA nor the Sunbelt Conference have released their 2026 football schedules. That’s because no one knows where Louisiana Tech will be playing football and other sports beginning this fall.
The Bulldogs joined Conference USA in 2013. This rather far-flung conference was considered (at the time) to be a good fit.
Prominent C-USA members in 2013 included UAB, Florida Atlantic, Marshall University, UNC-Charlotte, North Texas, Rice University, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, and UT-San Antonio.
Every one of those nine schools has vacated C-USA in the past four years to join either the American Athletic Conference or the Sunbelt Conference.
The University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) will become yet another major defection from C-USA beginning this fall. The Miners (members of Conference USA since 2005) are joining the Mountain West Conference (like Texas State of the Sunbelt Conference).
Why did all of those teams leave C-USA?
The television and media revenue offered by other conferences was substantially more than Conference USA’s most recent media contract to pay to its member schools.
A majority of Louisiana Tech’s athletic supporters are ready to skedaddle from Conference USA’s geographically expansive league as quickly as possible.
C-USA has added schools in recent years such as Liberty University (Lynchburg, Virginia – 1,000 miles from Ruston, LA) and the University of Delaware (1,321 miles each way from Ruston).
Joining the Sunbelt Conference will allow Louisiana Tech to renew regional rivalries with UL-Monroe (35 miles via I-20), UL-Lafayette (185 miles south of Ruston), and even Southern Miss (240 miles to the southeast in Hattiesburg). The travel savings for Louisiana Tech (along with the other Sunbelt schools) will be substantial across all sports.
But…
Athletic conferences and member schools sign long-term affiliation contracts which require a minimum notice period along with a hefty exit fee to allow the school to leave before the primary term ends.
A payment of several million dollars for early termination is likely required for Louisiana Tech to leave Conference USA.
With so many other universities bolting from Conference USA in recent years, the conference has pocketed millions in early exit fees. They should be able to afford the finest attorneys to protect their best interests in court, if necessary.
The other teams’ departures have left Louisiana Tech as one of C-USA’s top remaining draws.
Conference USA appears to have no financial incentive to budge when it comes to allowing Louisiana Tech out of its contract.
The Bulldogs’ departure could significantly diminish the current media value of Conference USA’s contract with its TV partners.
C-USA signed a five-year media deal with CBS Sports Network and ESPN beginning in the fall of 2023. That new media deal was signed around the same time that three former C-USA members (Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss) negotiated their own early exit deal to join the Sunbelt Conference in 2023.
What if Conference USA’s current media deal calls for a payment reduction if one of its primary institutions (such as Louisiana Tech) left during the term of that contract?
Keep that in mind as this game plays out.
Then there is the issue of prior notice required to leave Conference USA
According to previous reports, Conference USA’s agreement with Louisiana Tech required 14 months prior written notice. Since Tech gave C-USA notice on or about July 15, 2025, that 14 month period will not be satisfied until September 15, 2026 (a few weeks into the 2026 football season).
Most major college football conferences allow their teams to open with a series of non-conference opponents.
Last fall, both the Sunbelt Conference and Conference USA member schools did not play their first conference game until Week #4 (Saturday, September 20, 2025).
Based on this year’s calendar, Louisiana Tech could, conceivably, begin as a Sunbelt member in time for Week #4 on Saturday, September 26, 2026.
But then…
Conference USA surprised Louisiana Tech by filing a lawsuit in the state of Louisiana in November, 2025.
The lawsuit asserted that Louisiana Tech misled Conference USA by intentionally delaying its exit announcement (mid-July, 2025) until after the school had already cashed its annual media revenue check from C-USA paid in late June.
In addition to providing 14 months prior notice to leave, Louisiana Tech’s contract with Conference USA apparently called for the school to forfeit its share of media revenue (estimated at $3 to $4 million annually) for two years.
Conference USA claims that Louisiana Tech (theoretically knowing that it was planning to leave C-USA) erred by accepting and cashing the late June media check.
Are you confused enough yet?
There has been very little news since Conference USA filed that lawsuit in November, 2025. One local news outlet reported in mid-January that “conversations remain ongoing between C-USA and Louisiana Tech on a negotiated exit fee settlement”.
That sounds nice, but we’re now into the month of March.
The Sunbelt Conference football schedule remains on hold. Conference USA’s football schedule has not been published yet, either. However, Louisiana Tech’s logo remains firmly atop the C-USA athletics page banner even today.
Conference USA is in no hurry to resolve this issue. The conference “wins” if Louisiana Tech is forced to remain a part of the league (and part of its media agreement) through the 2026-2027 athletics year.
Some good news and bad news
Conference USA allowed the trio of Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss to exit prior to the start of the 2023 football season after they provided less than 12 months’ prior notice. The three schools were able to negotiate a financial settlement with C-USA and left for greener pastures.
That would seem encouraging to supporters of Louisiana Tech’s exit – even at this late hour.
However, the departure of Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss came around the same time that C-USA’s was signing its new media deal with CBS Sports Network and ESPN.
Louisiana Tech has been playing football in the major college division since 1987.
It is now a nationally known sports brand. Conference USA likely touted Louisiana Tech as one of its (pardon my pun again) “big dogs” in the league’s new media package starting in 2023.
There is a chance that implications with C-USA’s media contract may (or may not) become another snag in the negotiations between the conference and Louisiana Tech.
Conference USA can afford to wait this game out. They have no reason to budge anytime soon.
Louisiana Tech has a tough and expensive business decision to make
It can opt to pony-up and pay a ransom to exit Conference USA to join the Sunbelt this fall.
This might involve the school’s major athletics donors, bankers, and (perhaps) even a Sunbelt Conference “angel” to help finance a loan to be paid-back through future Sunbelt media revenues.
Or Louisiana Tech can say that the early exit price being asked by C-USA was simply too high. Fans and alumni (like me) would be disappointed in having to wait until 2027 to begin Sunbelt Conference play in football. Future Sunbelt intrastate foes like UL-Monroe and UL-Lafayette will also lose by such a delay.
It’s time to make a deal – or not – quickly.
We can handle the truth!