IRVING, Texas – Conference USA is finally at full strength. Now the league hopes stability leads to an improvement in on-field results.

UAB will return to the field this fall after a two-year hiatus. That puts C-USA at a full, 14-team football roster for the first time under the league’s current membership.

The league’s current programs have been together since 2014, but the conference hasn’t played with more than 13 programs in a season since then.

Western Kentucky joined the league in 2014 after leaving the Sun Belt Conference. That was one year after FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Old Dominion and UTSA all became full C-USA members.

WKU’s addition took C-USA up to 14 members in basketball and other sports, but not football. That’s because league member Charlotte started a football program in 2013 and played its first two seasons as an FCS independent.

The 49ers took the football field as C-USA members in 2015 for the first time. But their new presence coincided with UAB canceling its program due to budget concerns, thus keeping the number of C-USA football-playing schools at 13.

UAB flipped that decision and announced the program would return in ’17. So when the Blazers take the field this fall, they’ll finally bring C-USA’s football membership to a full 14.

“It’s nice to have everybody,” commissioner Judy MacLeod told the Daily News on Thursday at C-USA Media Days. “Old Dominion (which started playing FBS football in 2013) and Charlotte came on gradually and then by the time they were on, UAB was gone for a break. So it’s nice to have them back.”

The newfound stability for Conference USA comes after the league was raided during conference realignment earlier in this decade.

East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane and UCF all left the league for the American Athletic Conference in 2013, with Tulsa following a year later. Tulsa’s move cleared space for WKU to join the league in ’14.

Now with UAB’s return, the new membership will all finally be on the football field together this fall.

“It feels good to actually be ready for a football season coming up real soon rather than three years away,” Blazers linebacker Shaq Jones said. “It’s been a long, winding road that sometimes felt like it was going to nowhere.

“But ultimately we know there’s an end to the road and the end of the road will come when our season kicks off.”

C-USA’s had mixed on-field results under its current membership.

On one hand, the conference has performed well in bowl games, going 11-6 since 2014. The Hilltoppers have contributed three of those postseason victories, including a win against former C-USA member Memphis last season in the Boca Raton Bowl.

Advanced stats haven’t seen C-USA as favorably. Football Outsiders’ S&P+ is a metric that considers how teams perform in the categories of efficiency, explosiveness, field position and finishing drives.

Of 128 FBS teams, C-USA’s 13 had an average final S&P+ ranking of 96th last season. Florida Atlantic (No. 115), Marshall (118), FIU (120), Rice (121), UTEP (122) and Charlotte (125) dragged the league down in those rankings.

The 2016 average ranking of 96th followed average rankings in ’15 of 93rd and ’14 of 84th.

On the positive side last season, Old Dominion and UTSA, two football programs that began play within the last 10 years, both enjoyed winning seasons and qualified for their first FBS bowl games.

“I think from a conference standpoint, I think we add value to an already good conference,” UTSA coach Frank Wilson said. “We’re a formidable foe.”

Charlotte, despite its poor S&P+ ranking, improved from two wins to four.

Florida Atlantic and FIU both made coaching hires this offseason that were widely considered as upgrades. The Owls replaced Charlie Partridge with Lane Kiffin, while the Panthers brought in Butch Davis after firing Ron Turner.

The two Florida schools have underachieved since joining C-USA despite sitting on a gold mine of recruiting talent. Davis and Kiffin have been hired to change that.

“I’m going into my eighth year and I think it’s as strong as it’s ever been from top to bottom,” Marshall coach Doc Holliday said. “You look at those teams. Charlotte has improved tremendously. Old Dominion has gotten better. It’s going to be a great challenge.”{&end}