by Malcolm Butler
The Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System (ULS) filed a lawsuit late Wednesday on behalf of Louisiana Tech University against Conference USA.
The 102-page docket was file with the Third Judicial District Court in Lincoln Parish as a “petition for temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctive relief and declaratory relief.”
The 102 pages include a 33-page lawsuit and 69 pages of exhibits (see both attached below).
Louisiana Tech sent out an official statement today about the decision to file the lawsuit.
“Today, Louisiana Tech took a necessary step in the best interest of its student athletes. When we joined Conference USA in 2013, its membership was different, its scheduling was different, and the landscape of college athletics was very different. Seven months ago, we notified CUSA of our intent to exit in July 2026. We have worked in good faith toward an amicable separation within conference bylaws. The proposed 2026 football schedule drafted by CUSA left us no choice but to pursue this remedy.
“Our move to the Sun Belt enhances the experience of our student athletes, renews regional rivalries, and significantly benefits the Louisiana economy. Additionally CUSA has previously acknowledged the difficulty of crafting an 11-team schedule if we were to remain next year. We have tried to offer a fair financial resolution to this dispute and are hopeful that we can resolve it without resorting to prolonged litigation.”
The Lincoln Parish Journal has reached out to Conference USA for a response.
When Louisiana Tech accepted the Sun Belt Conference’s invitation on July 14, 2025, the University notified Conference USA that it would make the move on July 1, 2026 (see Exhibit 1). However, Conference USA corresponded three days later (July 17, 2025), attempting to change the effective date of departure, citing certain provisions of CUSA bylaws (see Exhibit 2).
The two sides met in Dallas on July 29, 2025, where Tech officials notified league officials of its decision to leave the conference, citing “the substantial and immediate travel hour savings to be achieved for its student athletes by moving to a regional conference.”
According to the lawsuit, Conference USA leadership invited Tech to “make an offer” financially.
The same bylaws were in place when Old Dominion, Marshall, and Southern Miss announced their decision to leave Conference in late October of 2021, a move that was made on July 1, 2022. That separation wasn’t without consternation, including various legal wranglings that included court injunctions to delay arbitration.
According to the lawsuit, Tech declined to make an offer at the in-person meeting but agreed to provide a subsequent written offer.
“The Conference has accepted financial consideration for prior members who exited the Conference that provided significantly fewer days notice than Tech … With the Conference’s prior dealings of these former members, Tech had every reason to believe that good faith financial discussions would proceed.”
Tech provided a financial offer on August 1, 2025, as requested in the in-person meeting, again informing the league it would be departing on July 1, 2026. According to the lawsuit, Tech further expressed its desire to satisfy the financial obligations to conference pursuant to the exit (Exhibit 4).
On August 27, 2025, Conference USA responded to Tech with a counteroffer “which calculated with precision the financial consideration to which the Conference believes it is entitled. The counteroffer attempted a calculation using considerations and variables which have never been disclosed to Louisiana Tech as member institution of the conference (see Exhibit 6).”
One of the issues revolves around NCAA distributions that Conference USA is attempting to withhold as part of conference distributions.
Conference distributions include categories such as television revenue, NCAA basketball units, marketing and internet, championship revenue, bowls, and NCAA Academic Performance (value based revenue).
However, NCAA-designated distributions are funds that are geared towards student athlete welfare. In the past, the NCAA sent these distributions directly to schools, but more recently, they have funneled the funds through league offices.
NCAA distributions include academic enhancement, sport sponsorships, grant-in-aid, student-athlete opportunity fund, and student athlete special assistance fund. These distributions are around $1 million per year for Tech.
The lawsuit states that “CUSA may not withhold NCAA-designated institutional distributions from Louisiana Tech University.” (see Exhibit 18)
While Louisiana Tech has continuously pointed to the departure of Marshall, Southern Miss, and Old Dominion and the shorter time frame for notification back in 2022, the lawsuits states “CUSA responded to Tech’s correspondence on October 9, 2025, acknowledging the early withdrawal of several other institutions, and attempting to state its irrelevance.
“CUSA reiterated its position that it was entitled to two (2) full years of withheld distributions as a condition of any early departure and stated it would consider dispute resolution only if Louisiana Tech agreed in advance to that financial entitlement.” (see Exhibit 8)
Tech responded on October 24 “declining to accept CUSA’s preconditions as a prerequisite to mediation, and renewed a request for mediation as originally proposed by Tech.”
The lawsuit outlines further correspondence between the two sides, including what it called a “final attempt at amicable resolution with CUSA” by Tech on February 13, 2026. In this correspondence, Tech reiterated the reasonableness of the offer previously provided and that it would not be playing any football games in 2026 as a member of CUSA as previously stated; that to include Tech on any schedule at this point is misleading and disingenuous of the parties’ course of dealing over the past several months.”
CUSA responded on February 20, 2026, to Tech’s letter from February 13, 2026. According to the lawsuit, the correspondence “contains several assertions and characterizations with which Tech disagrees, and states ‘the Board did not and cannot accept Louisiana Tech’s offer to withdraw early and has included Louisiana Tech on its 2026 schedule.'” (see Exhibit 14)
Tech joined Conference USA on July 1, 2013. At that time it was a 16-member league. However, after UTEP departs for the Mountain West Conference at the end of June and Louisiana Tech departs for the Sun Belt, only one of those 16 teams will still be a member of CUSA (Florida International University).
The move will bring Tech full circle after the University was a member of the Sun Belt Conference from 1991 through 2001, prior to departing for the Western Athletic Conference.
It will also re-establish regional rivalries for Louisiana Tech, including yearly match-ups with ULM, UL-Lafayette, and Southern Miss.
“Think of college athletics today and where it is, and it’s because of the fandom that has been created over the last 30 or 40 years,” said Tech AD/VP Ryan Ivey during the July 16, 2025, press conference where the University accepted the Sun Belt invitation. “A lot of that has to do with the regional rivalries or what I like to call, just good ol’ fashioned hate.
“(Hate) is okay on the (playing fields). We may love each other on Sundays, but on Saturday’s, we hate each other. That’s what makes college athletics great.”
The 13 current Sun Belt Conference schools include App State, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Louisiana-Lafayette, ULM, Marshall, Old Dominion, South Alabama, Southern Miss, and Troy.
