Middle Tennessee has accepted an offer to join Conference USA and is leaving the Sun Belt, a person familiar with the situation
said Wednesday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on
condition of anonymity because neither conference nor Middle Tennessee
had publically
announced the decision. The Virginian-Pilot first reported the
move.
It is unclear when Middle Tennessee will join the conference. The school announced it will hold a news conference on campus
Thursday but did not say what it was in regards to.
The Blue Raiders (8-3), who lost 27-21 to McNeese State in their season opener, play Arkansas State on Saturday for the Sun Belt Conference championship.
The move is the latest domino to fall in conference realignment.
Tulane and East Carolina announced Tuesday they are leaving Conference USA to join the Big East. The Green Wave will be full
Big East members; the Pirates football only.
League officials announced in May that
Conference USA was adding five new schools in 2013: Charlotte, Florida
International,
Louisiana Tech, North Texas and UT-San Antonio. Charlotte will
begin participating in conference football in 2015. Old Dominion
is joining C-USA in 2014.
In Middle Tennessee, C-USA is getting the largest public university in the state of Tennessee. The school is located just
30 miles southeast of the Nashville media market in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Middle Tennessee jumped from Division I-AA in 1999 in football, and the Blue Raiders have played in three bowls since 2005.
The Blue Raiders received votes in The
Associated Press men's basketball poll last season with coach Kermit
Davis earning
a five-year extension and finished with a school-record 27 wins.
The women's basketball team has reached the NCAA tournament
four straight years and 15 times overall.