Conference USA continues to stockpile schools. It’s hard to imagine that just a few weeks ago, a merger with the Mountain West, combining the 8 MWC schools with the 8 CUSA schools was on the table. CUSA has taken their expansion a step further, going beyond the 12 school total they were set to have with the additions of UTSA, North Texas, Florida International and Louisiana Tech.

We can now add Charlotte and ODU to that list as CUSA expands to 14 schools.

Charlotte will return to their previous conference, CUSA, in 2013, the same year they start football. It is unknown how long it will take until Charlotte football is part of CUSA.

Old Dominion has a new football program as well, a member of the FCS subdivision in the CAA Football Conference. ODU is not expected to participate in FBS level football in CUSA their first year either.

So to recap:

CUSA Expansion:
Losses: Houston, UCF, SMU, Memphis
Additions:  UTSA, FIU, North Texas, Louisiana Tech, Charlotte, Old Dominion

With the departure of ODU, it should increase the chances that after the 2012 season, that VCU and George Mason announce they will join the Atlantic 10.