College Football's never ending game of musical chairs continues as Conference Realignment continues to shape the sport. The initial wave of Conference Realignment saw the Pac 12 decimated while the Big Ten and ACC added premier brands from the Conference. The Pac 12 getting demolished led to the Conference needing to rebuild which defined the second wave as they poached schools from the Moutain West and Texas State from the Sun Belt Conference.
The third wave of Conference Realignment now begins as the Sun Belt will replace Texas State which will set off another game of musical chairs. Before the Sun Belt even lost Texas State, the program tabbed as their replacement was Louisiana Tech as it made a ton of sense geographically and for several other reasons.
The Sun Belt officially invites Louisiana Tech to the league
On Monday Morning, the Sun Belt CEO's met and voted to officially invite Louisiana Tech to the league and the ball is now in Louisiana Tech's court to accept.
Sources: The Sun Belt’s CEOs voted to invite Louisiana Tech to become the league’s 14th member on Monday morning, giving the school a replacement for Texas State. pic.twitter.com/aFMA9s7CQs
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 14, 2025
The Sun Belt is prepared to pay the Bulldogs buyout from Conference USA which is expected to be at least $5 million. When Louisiana Tech comes to a decision, it's unclear when they'll officially move to the Sun Belt but, the earliest it could happen is for the 2026 College Football season.
While Conference USA will most likely lose a program, it's unclear whether or not they'll make a move to add a program sooner rather than later or if they'll wait to see what materializes elsewhere. The expectation is that the conference will stay put with 10 member programs but, in this current run anything is possible.
If Louisiana Tech votes to join the Sun Belt, it'll be a return for the Bulldogs as they left the Conference for the WAC in 2001.