The MAC is set to add UMass as a 13th full-time member in 2025. More expansion could be on the way. Is WKU next?
Realignment is happening, and for the first time in the 2020s cycle, the Mid-American Conference is jumping into the deep end of the expansion pool.
On Monday, the league presidents voted to add UMass as a full-time member starting in the 2025-26 academic year, as first reported by The Athletic. Now operating with 13 full-time members, perhaps the MAC isn’t done realigning. But where is the potential addition coming from?
While nothing official is in the works yet, one intriguing candidate could be Western Kentucky University. The Hilltoppers are a well-known brand in the college football landscape. After a then-mandatory transition year as an FBS independent in 2008, WKU joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2009, quickly evolving into a respectable football program. The Hilltoppers changed affiliations once again in 2014, quickly making themselves known to their new neighbors by capturing a pair of Conference USA titles in 2015 and 2016 before establishing themselves as a conference power.
WKU’s prowess as a program is well-known amongst their peers, with the Hiltoppers qualifying for bowl games in nine of the last 10 seasons — with an impressive 7-2 record in postseason play since joining CUSA in 2014.
Since 2016, the Hilltoppers have churned out 10 NFL Draft selections with four such picks landing in the first three rounds. Another one of those draftees includes quarterback Bailey Zappe, who notably set the college football record books on fire in 2021 with the most passing yards and passing touchdowns in a single-season of FBS history.
With success comes fan support, and despite only seating 22,000 in Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium (“The Houch”), WKU fans are used to filling that venue to the brim. Since 2015 and excluding the pandemic season, the Hilltoppers have played in front of over 20,000 fans each year in at least one home game, apart from 2018.
WKU’s track record on the field is certainly something to marvel at, but here are other reasons why WKU makes sense for both parties as the MAC’s 14th member:
Conferences want an even number of teams
Following Monday’s reported addition of UMass, the MAC will have 13 full-time members for the 2025 college football season.
This isn’t UMass’ first time affiliated with the conference. The Minutemen were a football-only member from 2012 to 2015, initially added to balance the conference’s two divisions with seven teams apiece. Although it never participated in a 14-team MAC, operating with 14 teams was the conference’s original idea when UMass joined the FBS in 2012. But in March 2012, that plan as foiled as Temple — also a football-only member of the MAC — fled to the Big East to replace the departed West Virginia.
In present day, the MAC no longer has divisions, scrapping them in favor of 3-team pods with protected rivalries as of late November. UMass’ addition will certainly modify this conference structure. But even without divisions, conferences aim for an even number of teams, and one main reason from a football perspective is for more convenient bye week scheduling. Take the AAC for example, which cited this as a reason for adding Army after SMU announced its upcoming departure back in September.
“So we’re back to 14 and that’s really where we wanted to be,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said in November. “We didn’t want to play with an odd number of teams where you have byes in November and that causes all sorts of controversy.”
Adding WKU — or anybody — as a 14th team would return balance to the MAC with an even number of teams. Although UMass, albeit inadvertently, operated in a 13-team MAC in the mid-2010s, this time the conference might prioritize further expansion and add one more program for future stability purposes.
WKU already showed interest in 2021
When the current phase of conference realignment was picking up steam in the fall of 2021, there were two potential expansion candidates for the MAC — Middle Tennessee and WKU. The CUSA rivals were never officially offered membership in the conference, according to MAC commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher.
In a November 2021 press release regarding the potential addition of Middle Tennessee and WKU, Steinbrecher stated, “Following analysis and evaluation by the membership, it has been determined our best interests are served in the (MAC) remaining at 12 full member institutions. For some time we have been examining the FBS landscape, and certainly our discussions have been more focused over the past several months as our conference was contacted by other institutions. While a number of institutions have expressed interest, we never requested any institution to apply for membership nor did we have a formal or informal vote concerning any institutions.”
Prior to Steinbrecher’s press release, Middle Tennessee withdrew its interest from joining the conference, but WKU still remained interested in MAC membership after Middle Tennessee’s decision, per the Bowling Green (KY) Daily News.
With previous interest already established, perhaps that flame can reignite if the MAC seeks a 14th member and WKU eyes pastures outside the CUSA — which continues to expand with FCS programs, adding Jacksonville State and Sam Houston in 2023, Kennesaw State in 2024, and Delaware in 2025.
Better geographic fit for WKU
Conference USA is as transitory of a conference as there is in college football, while the MAC has been about as stable as any conference throughout history. Standing at 10 teams for the 2024 season, the CUSA is the smallest conference in the FBS— but it has housed more programs than any other league, despite first launching in 1996. Of the 134 teams set to compete in the FBS in 2024, 31 have participated in the CUSA — over 23 percent of all football programs at the top level:
- Army
- Charlotte
- Cincinnati
- East Carolina
- FIU
- Florida Atlantic
- Houston
- Jacksonville State
- Kennesaw State
- Liberty
- Louisiana Tech
- Louisville
- Marshall
- Memphis
- Middle Tennessee
- New Mexico State
- North Texas
- Old Dominion
- Rice
- Sam Houston
- SMU
- South Florida
- Southern Miss
- TCU
- Tulane
- Tulsa
- UAB
- UCF
- UTEP
- UTSA
- WKU
With the ever-changing nature of the CUSA, the geography certainly shifts over time, and at this point, it’s not exactly the tightest-knit league. Last year’s additions were Liberty (Lynchburg, Virginia), New Mexico State (Las Cruces, New Mexico), Sam Houston (Huntsville, Texas), and Jacksonville State (Jacksonville, Alabama). In 2025, the conference further expands in the northeast direction with the addition of Delaware.
While WKU is roughly a 4-hour drive from the nearest MAC campus, the MAC’s geography is more concentrated for the Hilltoppers. WKU — located in Bowling Green, KY — lies within 250 miles of Miami (OH), within 300 miles of Ball State, and within 400 miles of Bowling Green (the MAC school) and Ohio. That’s four opponents located within approximately a 6-hour drive. Add several miles and a few minutes, and Toledo is encompassed into that radius as well.
Comparatively, only Middle Tennessee, Jacksonville State, and Kennesaw State are within a 400-mile radius in the CUSA. Nobody else is within a 500-mile radius. Longer travel will be involved with trips as far west as New Mexico State and as far east as Delaware, starting in 2025.
While separating from nearby conference rival Middle Tennessee would be an unfortunate consequence of the Hilltoppers moving to the MAC, perhaps this rivalry can be preserved in the non-conference slate — in the same manner how Cincinnati and Miami (OH) duel every year.
Editor’s note: we’ve corrected a note regarding WKU’s initial years at the FBS level. They spent just one season as an independent after climbing up in 2008. We previously stated it was for two years starting in 2007. (2007 was a transition year from FCS play.) We apologize for the initial error.