![]() In December of 2022, news came out that the ASUN and the WAC would form a football only conference that would have six schools from the WAC (Abilene Christian, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Seeing their fellow Cardinal return to the flock gave UIW the same feeling and right before the sport season calendar would change, UIW backed out of the move to the WAC and stayed in the Southland. But, there was trouble brewing: Lamar, having been abysmal in their lone season in the WAC, made the decision to retreat back to the Southland Conference. ![]() While the ASUN was dealing with that, the WAC made their own moves to shore up their side of the alliance by adding Incarnate Word (UIW). This also meant that the two conferences would re-up their alliance for the 2022 season, with the extra addition of Austin Peay for the ASUN side. This meant that the plan for the ASUN to have football on its own would be halted for the time being. They would add Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State (alongside Liberty, a current ASUN member but an FBS Independent in football and New Mexico State, a current WAC member but also an FBS Independent in football) to help stop the bleeding from losing six schools to the American. The plan was to start football in 2022, so the three ASUN schools would join up with the WAC to create the ASUN-WAC Challenge for that season while the other two schools would finish their commitment to the Big South.Īs soon as the plan was announced, monkey wrenches would be thrown in the form of Conference USA. Two weeks later, on January 29th 2021, the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) announced that they would have football as well with the additions of Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State alongside current members Kennesaw State and North Alabama. On that same day, the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) announced that they would introduce a football program that would start in 2024, but has been pushed back to 2025. Originally, all five schools would join in 2022, but the Southland gave the 'Texas Four' the proverbial boot from the conference, forcing them to join the WAC a year ahead of schedule. Austin (known as the 'Texas Four') from the Southland Conference and Southern Utah from the Big Sky Conference. These schools were Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. To do this, the WAC brought in five schools to join current members Tarleton State and Dixie State (now Utah Tech). On January 14th 2021, the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) announced their intentions to bring back football at the FCS level, nine years after pulling the plug on the FBS version. Headquarters: Atlanta, GA (ASUN)/Arlington, TX (WAC) United Athletic Conference AKA AQ7, ASUN-WAC Challenge/WAC-ASUN Challengeįormed: 2021 (Unofficially), 2023 (Officially)
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