Jacksonville State accepts invite to join Conference USA

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (WBRC) - Jacksonville State University announced Friday they accepted an invitation to join Conference USA in all athletics starting with the 2023-24 academic year.

Conference USA also announced the addition of three other members to the conference, including Liberty, New Mexico State, and Sam Houston.

“Jacksonville State University has and always will be eager to listen to opportunities that put our University and athletics department in the best situation possible, so when Conference USA reached out to us we were excited to listen,” JSU President Dr. Don Killingsworth said. “With the landscape of collegiate athletics changing more rapidly now than ever, we are thrilled to be able to align with a league with such an outstanding tradition as C-USA.”

“We are incredibly excited about adding these four new members and feel there is tremendous upside in these moves for our conference,” Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod said. “This is a quality mix of established and emerging universities that provides us with a compelling group to continue to build with, focusing on competing for and winning championships well into the future. We have been deliberate in our efforts for the past few weeks to get us to this point and will continue to evaluate and consider our additional options for membership.”

Jacksonville State is currently a member of the ASUN conference. JSU will transition to Conference USA in the summer of 2023. With the new conference, JSU’s football program will be moving from the FCS to the FBS. While part of the FCS, JSU football won nine conference championships and advanced to the Division I playoffs 10 times.

“We are certainly proud of the tradition that has been built by Gamecock Football, one that spans well over a century,” JSU Athletics Director Greg Seitz said. “We’ve solidified ourselves as one of the most successful and consistent programs in the FCS over the past decade, so the opportunity to compete at the game’s highest level is one we couldn’t pass up.”

Conference USA is based in Dallas, Texas. Several members of the conference, including UAB, recently announced they would be leaving the conference in another round of realignment that began after Oklahoma and Texas announced they would move from the Big 12 to the SEC.

To read the press release from JSU, click here.

To read the press release from Conference USA, click here.

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