Louisiana Tech Is on Two Conference Football Schedules—And a Judge Will Decide Which One Counts

RUSTON, La. (103.3 The GOAT) — Louisiana Tech football finds itself double-booked, listed on two separate conference schedules at once, with a courtroom set to decide which one actually gets the Bulldogs this fall.

Conference USA released its 2026 football schedule late Thursday night with Louisiana Tech listed as a full member. Then, on Friday afternoon, the Sun Belt Conference dropped its own schedule — also with Louisiana Tech on it. Put the two together and you get a 20-game regular season, two scheduling conflicts on the same date, and a whole lot of confusion heading into fall.

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How Louisiana Tech Ended Up on Two Schedules

This mess traces back to July 14, 2025, when La Tech accepted the Sun Belt's invitation to join the conference. The Sun Belt's offer specified the move would happen "no later than July 1, 2027," but Louisiana Tech wanted in for 2026 and notified Conference USA of its intent to exit by July 1, 2026.

C-USA pushed back. The conference's bylaws require at least 14 months' notice before a school can leave without a negotiated financial settlement. C-USA argued La Tech's notice came up short and kept the Bulldogs on its 2026 schedule while exit fee negotiations stalled.

The two sides met in Dallas in late July 2025. C-USA told La Tech to make a financial offer. According to the Lincoln Parish Journal's reporting on the 102-page court filing, La Tech eventually offered $480,000 plus its 2025-26 league distribution and the buyback of its TV rights. C-USA rejected the offer in January 2026, and by February, the conference had formally told La Tech it would remain on the 2026 schedule.

The Lawsuit and What Happens Next

With talks dead and C-USA's schedule looming, the University of Louisiana System filed a lawsuit March 4 in Lincoln Parish on La Tech's behalf, seeking a temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunction to force the early exit.

In the program's official statement, La Tech made its case directly: "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."

La Tech's lawsuit also argues that C-USA allowed Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss to exit in 2022 (each with less notice than La Tech provided) after settlement payments were made, and that the Bulldogs deserve the same treatment.

A Lincoln Parish judge declined to issue an immediate restraining order but scheduled a hearing for March 19. Until that hearing produces a ruling, Louisiana Tech sits awkwardly on both schedules.

Why This Matters for Louisiana Football Fans

For Acadiana fans, one of the most relevant pieces of the Sun Belt schedule is an October 10 game in Ruston, with Tech hosting Louisiana in a regional rivalry matchup that only happens if the Bulldogs win in court and make the Sun Belt move in 2026. Under the C-USA schedule, that game doesn't happen.

La Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie is looking to build on an 8-5 season a year ago and push for back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2018-19. Either way, the Bulldogs will play this fall. The question is just which conference's schedule will actually count.

The 2022 situation offers a useful precedent: Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss all ultimately reached financial settlements with C-USA and joined the Sun Belt in time for that season. C-USA revised its schedule without them. A similar settlement path remains the most likely resolution here, though it now runs through a courtroom first.

The March 19 hearing will be the next major moment in this saga.