College Football Program Sues to Force Conference Realignment

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs hope to urgently find their way out of Conference USA and into the Sun Belt Conference by the beginning of the 2026 College Football season this fall.

The Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System (ULS) filed a lawsuit on Wednesday night with the Third Judicial District Court in Lincoln Parish as a “petition for temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctive relief and declaratory relief.”

Per their official statement, “Today, Louisiana Tech took a necessary step in the best interest of its student athletes. When we joined Conference USA in 2013, its membership was different, its scheduling was different, and the landscape of college athletics was very different. Seven months ago, we notified CUSA of our intent to exit in July 2026. We have worked in good faith toward an amicable separation within conference bylaws. The proposed 2026 football schedule drafted by CUSA left us no choice but to pursue this remedy.

“Our move to the Sun Belt enhances the experience of our student athletes, renews regional rivalries, and significantly benefits the Louisiana economy. Additionally CUSA has previously acknowledged the difficulty of crafting an 11-team schedule if we were to remain next year. We have tried to offer a fair financial resolution to this dispute and are hopeful that we can resolve it without resorting to prolonged litigation.”

LA Tech is accusing Conference USA of treating the Bulldogs differently from other programs, like the Old Dominion Monarchs, Marshall Thundering Herd, and Southern Miss Golden Eagles, when those schools wanted out in 2021 and 2022.

“The Conference has accepted financial consideration for prior members who exited the Conference that provided significantly fewer days notice than Tech … With the Conference’s prior dealings of these former members, Tech had every reason to believe that good faith financial discussions would proceed," the lawsuit reads.

Conference USA is the FBS' Gatekeeper

Clearly, the Bulldogs believe they've graduated from the FBS's lowest-ranked conference to one that just had a representative, the James Madison Dukes, score 34 points in the 2025/2026 College Football Playoff on a Big Ten team.

C-USA has accepted FCS graduates like the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, Sam Houston State Bearkats, Kennesaw State Owls, Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens, and Missouri State Bears in recent years, cementing its status as the FBS's Level 1.

While teams like the Liberty Flames wanted an easier conference schedule in the Conference, Louisiana Tech has greater ambitions.

The Bulldogs want to make good on those ambitions as soon as possible.