FAU: Movin' on up

Harry · June 30, 2013

The conference realignment carousel has been spinning for years while FAU stood outside the fence without a ticket to the ride.

The Owls finally received their pass in November when Conference USA came calling. The offer was an easy to accept. C-USA member schools receive in the neighborhood of $2 million a year through TV contracts – which is almost $2 million more than Sun Belt schools make.

When the Owls first announced they said the move would happen no later than the 2014-15 season. Turns out FAU wasn't interested in waiting that long.

In January FAU announced the move would happen in July, meaning the Owls football team will play in C-USA for the upcoming season, with the other sports following.

Why it's important: The Sun Belt was a good starter conference for FAU football (and that's the sport that necessitated the move) but that conference is now in rapid decay. Sure, many of the Owls old SBC foes have or will make the move to C-USA too, but that doesn't diminish the move. At least FAU wasn't left behind to play FCS schools (They also never have to visit Troy or Louisiana-Monroe again – reasons in themselves to make the move).

Read more: http://www.fauowlaccess.com/articles/179/fau-move-to-c-usa-top-story-of-the-year.aspx