C-USA adding UTSA in 2013; North Texas, FIU, Louisiana Tech also likely
Texas San-Antonio will join Conference USA in 2013, pending approval from the University of Texas System Board of Regents on Wednesday to allow the school to accept an invitation, negotiate and finalize terms with the league.
The Roadrunners are one of four teams that C-USA will add for the 2013 season.
Conference USA also is looking to add North Texas and Florida International from the Sun Belt and Louisiana Tech from the WAC, sources told CBSSports.com from last week's BCS meetings in Hollywood, Fla.
The addition of those four schools -- to offset the losses of Memphis, UCF, Houston and Southern Methodist to the Big East -- would give the league 12 members and means Conference USA's merger with the Mountain West would not occur in 2013, as reported by CBSSports.com last week.
The Mountain West also is expected to add Utah State and San Jose State in 2013, sources said. The league, without the C-USA/MWC merger, are required to add at least one school to meet the NCAA's FBS requirements for maintaining eight women's sports and six men's sports, with at least six member schools competing in each sport.
The Roadrunners were scheduled to join the Western Athletic Conference on July 1. Because they never officially began in the league, they will not have to pay an exit fee. They must pay an entrance fee to C-USA of $2 million, according to the UT Regents agenda.
Conference USA contacted UTSA in March to initiate a discussion about the Roadrunners joining the league and school officials visited with C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky two weeks ago, according to the UT Regents agenda.
RowdyReport.com first reported that UTSA accepting an invitation to C-USA was on the UT Board of Regents' agenda.
Since 1991, Texas San-Antonio's Olympic sports have competed in the Southland Conference. The Roadrunners just completed their first year of football under former Miami coach Larry Coker.
Texas-San Antonio was sought after by Conference USA and the Sun Belt because of UTSA's location and, more importantly, the Roadrunners' record-setting attendance numbers in their first season. UTSA set the NCAA record for a first-year program, averaging 35,521 fans, including 56,743 in its inaugural game.
For North Texas and Florida International, there is no required exit fee to leave the Sun Belt, but they would forfeit less than $500,000 in revenue sharing, industry sources told CBSSports.com.
Sources also said Charlotte remains a possibility to join C-USA as an all-sports member in 2013, but its football program, which will begin play in 2013, would not be able to compete in C-USA until 2015, at the earliest.
The Roadrunners are one of four teams that C-USA will add for the 2013 season.
Conference USA also is looking to add North Texas and Florida International from the Sun Belt and Louisiana Tech from the WAC, sources told CBSSports.com from last week's BCS meetings in Hollywood, Fla.
The addition of those four schools -- to offset the losses of Memphis, UCF, Houston and Southern Methodist to the Big East -- would give the league 12 members and means Conference USA's merger with the Mountain West would not occur in 2013, as reported by CBSSports.com last week.
The Mountain West also is expected to add Utah State and San Jose State in 2013, sources said. The league, without the C-USA/MWC merger, are required to add at least one school to meet the NCAA's FBS requirements for maintaining eight women's sports and six men's sports, with at least six member schools competing in each sport.
The Roadrunners were scheduled to join the Western Athletic Conference on July 1. Because they never officially began in the league, they will not have to pay an exit fee. They must pay an entrance fee to C-USA of $2 million, according to the UT Regents agenda.
Conference USA contacted UTSA in March to initiate a discussion about the Roadrunners joining the league and school officials visited with C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky two weeks ago, according to the UT Regents agenda.
RowdyReport.com first reported that UTSA accepting an invitation to C-USA was on the UT Board of Regents' agenda.
Since 1991, Texas San-Antonio's Olympic sports have competed in the Southland Conference. The Roadrunners just completed their first year of football under former Miami coach Larry Coker.
Texas-San Antonio was sought after by Conference USA and the Sun Belt because of UTSA's location and, more importantly, the Roadrunners' record-setting attendance numbers in their first season. UTSA set the NCAA record for a first-year program, averaging 35,521 fans, including 56,743 in its inaugural game.
For North Texas and Florida International, there is no required exit fee to leave the Sun Belt, but they would forfeit less than $500,000 in revenue sharing, industry sources told CBSSports.com.
Sources also said Charlotte remains a possibility to join C-USA as an all-sports member in 2013, but its football program, which will begin play in 2013, would not be able to compete in C-USA until 2015, at the earliest.
