On the morning of Thursday, March 12, there were three FBS conferences yet to release their 2026 football schedule — Conference USA, Sun Belt, and MAC. The same sentence held true for the afternoon and through the evening.
But at exactly 9:40 p.m. ET on March 12, Conference USA suddenly unveiled its 2026 football schedule. The first observation about the schedule: it involved 11 teams, including Louisiana Tech. In July 2025, the Sun Belt added Louisiana Tech, declaring the Bulldogs would join the league
no later than July 1, 2027. However, the question remains — where will Louisiana Tech play in 2026?
This is not foreign territory for the CUSA. A similar situation was encountered in the 2022 offseason when Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss were Sun Belt bound, although the date of official admission was undetermined. Both the CUSA and Sun Belt unveiled schedules featuring the three transitioning teams, but ultimately, the Sun Belt won the custody battle and the CUSA later released a revised schedule excluding Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss.
The Sun Belt is expected to release its schedule Friday, March 13, and that schedule could very possibly include Louisiana Tech. For now, here is the CUSA’s 2026 schedule as of Thursday, March 12, which is subject to revision if the Sun Belt claims the Bulldogs for this coming season:
* denotes non-conference game
We’ll see how the Sun Belt responds before setting this schedule in stone.
