ESPN College Football Senior Writer Pete Thamel reported that Kennesaw State Football has emerged as a favorite to join Conference USA in 2024.
As of Oct. 10, neither Kennesaw State nor Conference USA has commented on the claim. The tweet published by Thamel on Oct. 7 was later confirmed by Chris Vannini, senior writer for The Athletic, who noted that while KSU has been considered a favorite to join Conference USA, “some issues need to be worked out.”
One of the most pressing issues is the capacity of KSU’s Fifth Third Bank Stadium. A move to Conference USA would see KSU moving from FCS play to FBS play, which comes with regulations set in place by the NCAA.
Of these regulations, the NCAA requires that in order to maintain FBS status, the team must average at least 15,000 in attendance over a two-year period. Currently, Fifth Third Bank has a capacity of 8,318.
There have been plans proposed in the past to expand the stadium to include more seating, as first reported on by The Sentinel in 2016. These proposals were included in KSU’s 2016 master plan, a document put together by KSU administration on improvements they would like made to both the Kennesaw and Marietta campuses.
In 2020, KSU provided an update to the 2016 plan, which stated “The highest priorities are to replace the track and to expand the football stadium so as to introduce high-revenue club seating.” However, as of the publication of this article, no update on the project has been given by KSU.
The potential move to the FBS has been something rumored about for some time, given KSU’s large student body and success as a fairly young football program. The NCAA states that the average undergraduate enrollment for their Division I schools is 8,736. This academic year, KSU has an enrollment of around 43,000.
The football program has also seen much success since it began play in 2015. They currently have an all-time record of 64-21, and won the Big South conference championship three times, with the most recent being in the 2021 season.
The report of KSU moving to Conference USA comes right as the Owls begin their first season in the ASUN conference, after moving on from the Big South conference where they played for seven years.
They would be following fellow ASUN school Jacksonville State along with Sam Houston, New Mexico State and Liberty University who are all set to join Conference USA on July 1, 2023. Should Kennesaw leave the ASUN conference, ASUN would only have four colleges currently competing.
Upon joining Conference USA, KSU would be joining current programs Florida International University, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennesee State University, the University of Texas at El Paso and Western Kentucky University.
Before any decisions are made, they would have to be approved by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, who are holding a meeting on Oct. 11-12 at Dalton State College.
