The long legal battle is officially over: Conference USA granted Southern Miss permission to exit the conference before the 2022-23 season.
“Conference USA, Marshall University, Old Dominion University, and the University of Southern Mississippi have reached a resolution that allows the schools to withdraw as members at the end of the academic year,” Conference USA said about the three outgoing schools in a joint statement released March 29. “The Universities will compete as members of the Sun Belt Conference.”
Southern Miss mulled the exodus as early as December 2021 before making an official announcement on February 11 that detailed their intentions to leave.
Conference USA immediately pushed back against Southern Miss – alongside Marshall and Old Dominion who made similar announcements on the same day.
Conference USA bylaws state that universities are required to give 14-months notice before leaving the conference, which the three schools initially decided upon doing.
After some discussion between the three schools and the Sun Belt Conference, Southern Miss, Marshall and Old Dominion decided to jump ship early, citing Conference USA’s unwillingness to negotiate an early exit.
Conference USA responded by threatening legal action, which soon followed. Conference USA and the Sun Belt released 2022 football schedules that both featured the three exiting schools, which further complicated the situation.
Conference USA attempted to force arbitration, but the circuit courts of Forrest County (Southern Miss), Cabell County (Marshall) and Norfolk (Old Dominion) all favored their respective schools in blocking the arbitration.
As the court cases reached a crescendo, Conference USA reached an agreement with the three schools which allowed them to join the Sun Belt a year early.
The Student Printz requested a copy of the separation agreement from Southern Miss, but it is up to Conference USA to release those matters. The university stated the conference will allow the information to become available after 30 days unless they force legal action to keep the agreement private.
“We are delighted to welcome Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss as full members of the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, 2022,” Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill said in a statement on March 31. “This expansion will produce even stronger regional rivalries… Our future is bright, and the 2022-23 academic year promises to be one of the most anticipated in Sun Belt History.”
Conference USA will continue with 11 teams during the upcoming academic year as their expected new members are not set to join until 2023-24.
Southern Miss was a founding member of Conference USA, and it came after serving 43 years as an independent athletic program. This will be only the second major conference for Southern Miss in nearly a century.
The Golden Eagles will conclude its time in Conference USA by hosting the conference tournament at Pete Taylor Park in May.
