Conference USA on Friday announced the addition of four new members.

The league Western Kentucky is currently a part of announced in a release Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State and Sam Houston State would join C-USA on July 1, 2023.

“We are incredibly excited about adding these four new members and feel there is tremendous upside in these moves for our conference,” Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod said in a news release. “This is a quality mix of established and emerging universities that provides us with a compelling group to continue to build with, focusing on competing for and winning championships well into the future. We have been deliberate in our efforts for the past few weeks to get us to this point and will continue to evaluate and consider our additional options for membership.”

Western Kentucky currently resides in C-USA, but its future is uncertain at this time amid conference realignment. Of the 14 current C-USA programs, nine have already announced moves to new conferences in the future – FAU, Charlotte, UTSA, UAB, Rice, and North Texas to the American Athletic Conference and Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss to the Sun Belt.

Multiple outlets have reported expansion discussions within the MAC, with the focus on the possible addition of WKU and Middle Tennessee. Kyle Rowland of the Toledo Blade reported Friday that MAC presidents would meet to discuss the possible addition of WKU and Middle Tennessee, and Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated reported the MAC was not expected to make a decision Friday in regard to adding WKU and Middle Tennessee.

“Throughout the storied history of WKU Athletics, our programs have achieved at a championship level on and off the field of play,” an Oct. 19 statement from WKU director of athletics Todd Stewart read in part. “ … We will continue to be an impactful leader in collegiate athletics, will continue to excel at the highest level, and are well positioned for the future ahead.”

The behind-the-scenes talks will continue to play out “over the coming days and (the next) week or two,” WKU president Timothy Caboni told the school’s Board of Regents at an Oct. 22 meeting.

“I know individuals in our community would like all the information that we have at hand, but that’s not really a helpful position to take when we’re in the midst of negotiations and conversations,” Caboni said at the meeting.

The conference realignment across Division I athletics started after Oklahoma and Texas announced they would make the move to the SEC from the Big 12, and the Big 12 announced it would add current AAC members Houston, UCF and Cincinnati, as well as independent BYU.

Jacksonville State is a public university in Jacksonville, Ala. Athletically, the Gamecocks compete in 17 sports and have won a total of 132 conference championships in its athletic history, including 82 as members of the Ohio Valley Conference that resulted in over 50 trips to NCAA postseason play. Football has won 24 conference titles in program history, while softball has claimed 18, baseball has won 16 and men’s basketball has captured 14.

Men’s sports at JSU include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, rifle and tennis. Gamecocks’ women’s sports include basketball, cross country, golf, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball and beach volleyball.

Liberty University is in central Virginia. The Flames compete in 20 sports. It has won six Division I individual national championships, has claimed over 180 conference championships at the Division I level and has been home to 200 All-Americans. The football program, which rose to the FBS level in 2018, has won back-to-back bowl games and is bowl eligible again in 2021. The Flames climbed as high as No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll in 2020. The men’s basketball program has the third-most wins amongst NCAA Division I teams in men’s basketball since the 2018-19 season (82), with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in that time.

Men’s sports at Liberty include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, soccer and tennis. Lady Flames’ women’s sports include basketball, cross country, field hockey, indoor track and field, outdoor track & field, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball.

New Mexico State, located in Las Cruces, N.M., competes in 16 Division I sports and since 2017, has claimed 25 conference championships, produced 13 All-Americans and has had six student-athletes drafted (four to Major League Baseball and two to the NFL). The men’s basketball program has earned an NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament berth in five of the last six seasons and prior to COVID, (2017-20) had an average RPI of 60. On the women’s basketball side, the Aggies have earned four NCAA Tournament berths since 2015.

Men’s sports at New Mexico State include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf and tennis. Aggies’ women’s sports include basketball, cross country, golf, indoor track and field, outdoor track & field, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball.

Sam Houston State is located in Huntsville, Texas, and competes in 17 Division I sports. The football program is the defending national champion at the FCS level and is off to a 7-0 start in the 2021 season. Sam Houston football has made 12 playoff appearances, including eight since 2011. Track and field has seen a great deal of recent success as well, on both the men’s and women’s sides, as the Bearkats have won a combined 11 conference championships during the outdoor season since 2005 (six women’s and five men’s).

Men’s sports at Sam Houston include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. Bearkats’ women’s sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, soccer, tennis and volleyball.{&end}