When the state of Missouri announced on May 10 that it would move to a Football Bowl subdivision as a member of the U. S. Conference, it was a member of the U. S. Conference. When the U. S. Soccer team arrived in the summer of 2025, it became the fifth school in two-and-a-half years to announce it would move to the pinnacle of high school football and join CUSA.
Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State made such an announcement in November 2021 and signed up for the convention last year. Kennesaw State followed suit in October 2022 and will begin its inaugural season as an FBS program this year. Delaware has agreed to enroll in CUSA and, like the state of Missouri, will do so next summer.
Considering the convention that gave birth to Liberty and the independent state of New Mexico in 2023, Conference USA added 4 members last season and will be seven members in the span of 3 seasons.
During the current chaotic era of school football realignment, the U. S. Conference has been in the midst of a global football realignment. The U. S. has been a landing point for systems transitioning to FBS while also adapting to the home of the aforementioned independents. This was mandatory as the convention had to deal with a mass exodus in the fall. Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB, UTSA have announced their departure for the American Athletic Conference beginning in 2023. Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss have made the decision to depart for the Sun Belt, also starting in 2023. .
With all the beginnings, FIU, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, UTEP and Western Kentucky were the only schools standing. CUSA had to act quickly, and it did.
When it comes to CUSA, and virtually every single elementary school football player, the dominoes started falling in the summer of 2021 when Oklahoma and Texas announced they would leave the Big 12 to go to the SEC starting in the 2025 season. The transition has been accelerated as the Sooners and Longhorns will launch their SEC club this year.
After squandering two stalwarts of school football, the Big 12 had to act and turned to the American by adding Cincinnati, Houston and UCF (the trio are former members of CUSA) as independent BYU for the 2023 season.
With a reduced number of clubs from 11 to eight, the American attacked CUSA in an effort to not only reconstitute, but also increase the stock of what has become a 14-team league. (Twelve of the 14 football schools in 2023 were previously members of CUSA. This will continue to be the case in 2024 with the loss of EMS to the ACC and the rise of the Army, which was in CUSA from 1998 to 2004).
To remain viable, CUSA turned to FCS systems with the ambition to progress and recruit freelancers, who are a declining species in an era ruled by convention money. From a broader perspective, the addition of the states of Kennesaw, Delaware, and Missouri will bring with it the FBS club to 136 for the 2025 season.
2024: Kennesaw State. The Owls have been betting on football for nine seasons after being introduced in 2015 as a member of the Great South. Brian Bohannon, former Georgian wide receiver and assistant with Georgia Southern, Navy and Georgia Tech, the only head coach in the program. He placed the Owls in the top 25 of the FCS as early as 2016 and led them to 4 Big South titles. They open the 2024 season at UTSA.
2025: Delaware. The Blue Hens played their first game in 1889. Tubby Raymond coached UD for 36 seasons (1966-2001) and won 300 games and 3 national titles while players like Rich Gannon, NFL MVP in 2002, emerged. . Current Sam Houston State coach K. C. Keeler played for Raymond and succeeded him in 2002. He guided the Blue Hens for 11 seasons, a tenure that included an FCS national name in 2003 and three championship appearances. A member of that 2003 team, Ryan Carty, took over at UD in 2022.
2025: Missouri State. The Bears, who entered the infield in 1909, have made four FCS playoff appearances, the most recent in the fall of 2021 under Bobby Petrino, whose first season in the Springbox in the spring of that year. 8-4 in the fall 21 season, his most successful season since winning nine games in 1990 with Jesse Branch. Ryan Beard, Petrino’s son-in-law, took over the program in 2023 after serving as Petrino’s defensive coordinator. as Petrino’s staff assistant for two seasons (2017-18) in Louisville.
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