James Snook-Imagn Images
Louisiana Tech’s football team has spent the past 13 seasons as a member of Conference USA, but it seemed like its most recent one was also its last due to the school’s decision to defect to the Sun Belt. However, that move sparked a legal battle that’s left the program in limbo, which led to some drama concerning the football schedules the two conferences have whipped up ahead of the 2026 campaign.
The football team at Louisiana Tech has been a member of seven different conferences since its inception in 1901. In 2013, the Bulldogs linked up with Conference USA after a 12-year run with the WAC, which spawned a couple of appearances in the CUSA championship game without a win to show for either.
Conference realignment has been all the rage in college football over the past decade or so, and last summer, Louisiana Tech decided to get in on the action when it informed its current conference of its plans to depart for the Sun Belt on July 1, 2026.
In doing so, the university decided to follow in the footsteps of Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss, all of which abandoned CUSA for the Sun Belt in 2022. However, the conference asserted that Louisiana Tech failed to respect the bylaws that require a 14-month notice of departure.
We were subsequently treated to a lawsuit that’s still unfolding in court, and CUSA decided to pull a bit of a power move with the football schedule it released a day before the Sun Belt was rumored to roll out its own.
Louisiana Tech is featured on the football schedule Conference USA unveiled for the 2026 season despite its attempt to move to the Sun Belt
Louisiana Tech informed CUSA of its decision to leave on July 14, 2026, and if it was forced to honor the 14-month timeline, that would mean it wouldn’t be able to officially change sides until midway through September of this year.
That would put the football program in an awkward spot when you consider the season would already be underway. It seems like the Bulldogs fully intend to be affiliated with the Sun Belt by the time it kicks off, but their status is still very much up in the air.
The Sun Belt usually releases its schedule toward the beginning of March, but it decided to postpone things this year due to the uncertainty surrounding the school that would become its 14th member. It was reportedly planning to unveil its list of conference games on Friday, but on Thursday, CUSA threw an interesting wrench in the situation by beating it to the punch.
In a likely preemptive move, CUSA relases its 2026 football schedule with Louisiana Tech on it. Sun Belt was reported to be releasing its own version Friday. pic.twitter.com/FrmPwRUAAW
— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) March 13, 2026
The Sun Belt schedule has not dropped as of this writing (I will update this post if that changes), but all signs point to Louisiana Tech being featured on that one as well. It’s safe to assume both conferences have a backup they’ll be able to deploy once the case is settled, but this is definitely a situation that’s worth keeping an eye on.