Sam Houston accepts invitation to Conference USA

The landscape of college football forever changed when Texas and Oklahoma bolted from the Big 12 to the SEC. That left holes in the Big 12 that were filled by teams from the AAC, which in turn led to vacant holes in the AAC requiring more moves, and so on down the road. There won’t be many teams in the state that go unimpacted by the revolving door of conference affiliation. Sam Houston became the latest to announce a move with the Bearkats set to join Conference USA in July of 2023. 

Sam Houston will then become the 13th FBS program in Texas and will be in the same conference as UTEP. Sam Houston joins the conference alongside Liberty, New Mexico State, and Jacksonville State. Conference USA was previously raided by the AAC (UTSA, North Texas, and Rice) and the Sun Belt. The conference change is the second in as many years for Sam Houston, which joined the WAC last year after 34 years in the Southland Conference.