WKU Athletics: MAC ‘Will Not Pursue Conference Expansion,’ WKU to Stay in C-USA

It's official: WKU is staying in Conference USA.

After two weeks of hard speculation, near confirmation and then a quick fall-off, the Mid-American Conference has announced it will not pursue conference expansion, meaning Western Kentucky will remain in Conference USA for the foreseeable future.

Tuesday’s announcement by the MAC comes hours after Middle Tennessee, who seemed set to be WKU’s moving partner, announced their intention to stay in Conference USA.

While it was believed by some in and around the WKU and MAC media circles that the conference would continue to consider adding only Western Kentucky, the conference’s statement on Tuesday effectively put an end to the saga.

“Following analysis and evaluation by the membership, it has been determined our best interests are served in the Conference remaining at 12 full member institutions,” said Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. “For some time we have been examining the FBS landscape, and certainly our discussions have been more focused over the past several months as our Conference was contacted by other institutions. While a number of institutions have expressed interest, we never requested any institution to apply for membership nor did we have a formal or informal vote concerning any institutions.”

So we now officially know what the landscape looks like for WKU unless something major happens fast, the Tops will remain C-USA members with long-time members MTSU, FIU, Louisiana Tech and UTEP and four recently-announced teams to the conference in Liberty, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State and Jacksonville State.

While no date has been set for the departing C-USA schools for the American Athletic Conference and the Sun Belt, the start of the 2023/24 athletic season has been widely speculated.