WAC, Atlantic Sun Merge to Form Single College Football League

Two of college football’s mid-major conferences will be joining forces ahead of the 2023 season. 

The Atlantic Sun Conference and the Western Athletic Conference are officially merging for football and will be known as the United Athletic Conference going forward, the new alliance announced Monday. 

The merger of the ASUN and WAC comes after the two conferences were partnered for the last two NCAA football seasons, a result of the low number of teams in each division. The possible merger was initially reported in December.

The Athletic indicates that the first place team of the upstart UAC will be granted a spot in the FCS playoffs, though the alliance indicates that its goal for the future is to eventually move up to the FBS level as a football-only conference.

As of now, there figures to be nine teams in the conference, with a 10th planning to join in 2025. The current teams include Abilene Christian, Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, and Utah Tech. Texas Rio Grande Valley is expected to be added to the ranks in 2025.

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