DALLAS — Kennesaw State was approved for membership in Conference USA on Friday, and it will join the league on July 1, 2024.
Conference USA is going through a transition of its makeup, with six of the league’s 11 current members in their last academic year before moving to the American Athletic Conference next summer. That will be at the same time that Liberty, New Mexico State, Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State will join C-USA. Kennesaw State’s addition a year after that will put the league at 10 members.
C-USA commissioner Judy MacLeod said adding Kennesaw State “continues to build upon our strong foundation.” The public university with two campuses in Georgia has 43,000 undergraduate and graduate students and sponsors 18 sports, 17 of which will compete in Conference USA.
Kennesaw State’s football program is only in its eighth season. The Owls played the first seven as an associate member in the Big South, winning three conference titles before joining the school’s other programs in the ASUN this season.
Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA are leaving Conference USA for the American next summer. C-USA was at 14 schools before Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Mississippi left this past summer for the Sun Belt.