The Louisiana Tech football team is going to be busy this fall, though some of that action may come in a courtroom since the Bulldogs really aren’t going to play 20 games.
At the moment, though, on some level, 20 schools have the Bulldogs on their 2026 football schedule because of a dispute between Louisiana Tech and its soon-to-be league, the Sun Belt, with the league it’s leaving, Conference USA.
With Louisiana Tech’s departure date at issue — Conference USA thinks the school is staying through the 2026 season, the Sun Belt and Louisiana Tech think the Bulldogs will be in the Sun Belt this fall — the leagues released dueling schedules that have La. Tech playing eight conference games in both leagues.
CUSA released its schedule on Thursday, which has La. Tech with a full slate, then Louisiana Tech and the Sun Belt sent out schedules Friday that have the Bulldogs playing a full Sun Belt schedule. Louisiana Tech is going with the Sun Belt schedule.
The background is that Louisiana Tech accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt in July, 2025, with a statement that it would join the conference “no later than July 1, 2027.”
Louisiana Tech later told Conference USA that it planned to depart on July 1, 2026, but the sides could not agree on the date. Earlier this month, the University of Louisiana System, on behalf of Louisiana Tech, sued Conference USA seeking the 2026 departure date.
Presumably La. Tech will play the Sun Belt schedule, meaning eight CUSA schools will be down to 11 games with an extra bye, or CUSA (more likely) will redo its schedule.
A similar dispute between CUSA and schools leaving for the Sun Belt happened earlier this decade. Southern Miss, Marshall and Old Dominion were supposed to join the Sun Belt in 2023 but sued to be allowed to join in 2022 and eventually settled with CUSA on terms that allowed them to do so.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Louisiana Tech football on 20 schedules for 2026 because of dispute
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
