College football's most exclusive club is not so exclusive anymore.
Ten schools jumped from Division I-AA to I-A (as it was known at the time) in the 1990s. Six made the jump in the 2000s. But 11 schools migrated from FCS to FBS in the 2010s, and four have or will do the same by the time the 2023 season kicks off.
But, as ESPN reports on Friday, that number could explode to 14 new FBS schools by 2025.
The Atlantic Sun and WAC are reportedly planning to join forces in a move to FBS in time for the 2024 season.
As FootballScoop has detailed over the past year or so, movement to other FCS conferences and FBS departures have left both leagues struggling for numbers, to the point where they now share an auto bid to the FCS playoffs.
And their solution appears to be: arrange a marriage and join the FBS togehter.
Nine schools in both conferences have agreed to a "multi-party term sheet agreement" to form a football-only partnership at the FBS level. The nine existing schools are:
Abilene Christian
Austin Peay
Central Arkansas
Eastern Kentucky
North Alabama
Southern Utah
Stephen F. Austin
Tarleton State
Utah Tech
UT-Rio Grande Valley, which announced plans just this week to "Rally the Valley" by launching its own football program, would become the conference's 10th member in 2025.
North Alabama, who hired Brent Dearmon as its next head coach, played in Division II as recently as 2017. Tarleton State, located in Stephenville, Texas, joined FCS in 2020.
Both would become peers, at least in theory, with Alabama and Texas.
If completed, the new ASUN-WAC football conference (it would come up with a new name by kickoff) would push FBS membership to 144 schools... but the number could quickly approach 150, since league officials tell ESPN they've discussed the idea with four "high-profile" FCS programs not currently included in the list of 10.
There is no established mechanism for an entire conference to join the FBS at once, but considering 15 schools have joined the top division within the past decade, officials are confident their plan will become a reality.