10 schools to reportedly create football-only conference, look to join FBS

There will be 10 schools teaming up to form a new FBS conference for football, according to ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel.

This new conference will be made up of 10 FCS schools from 2 conferences. The schools will be coming from the WAC and Atlantic Sun conferences and will form a combined conference that will begin as soon as possible.

Sources: Ten schools have come to an agreement to form a new football-only conference with the stated goal of moving from FCS to FBS “at the earliest practicable date.” https://t.co/GBEfuuW8VH

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 9, 2022

From the WAC, Abilene Christian, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, and Utah Tech will be making the move to this new conference. In the Atlantic Sun, Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, and North Alabama. In addition to these 9 schools, UT Rio Grande Valley is expected to join as soon as 2025.

The Vaqueros, who are in the WAC, will be a late arrival to the new FBS conference. It will give teams an opportunity to become bowl eligible and have FBS conference championship games at the end of each regular season.

The expected start of the new conference will be 2024. When that happens, 9 schools will be part of the conference and an additional school will join after the conference’s 1st season. The conference will have a new name and will change from the agreement of “ASUN-WAC Football” before it is official in 2024.