Southern Utah, Utah Tech to join Big Sky beginning in 2026

SALT LAKE CITY — Southern Utah University is headed back to a familiar home, and the Thunderbirds are bringing a regional friend.

Southern Utah and Utah Tech will join the Big Sky on July 1, 2026, the conference announced Wednesday afternoon. Extra Points was the first to report the news, followed by Yahoo Sports before the league announced the move in a joint statement with the two Utah schools.

The additions of the Thunderbirds and Trailblazers to the Big Sky will grow the conference to 11 members following last week's departure of Sacramento State to the Big West in all sports except football.

"The time is right for the Big Sky to bring in Utah Tech and to bring back Southern Utah," Big Sky commissioner Tom Wistrcill said in a statement. "The addition of rising rival athletic departments from these two universities, located squarely within our geographic footprint in the western United States, reinforce the long-term stability and success of our league.

"Amid a rapidly evolving national landscape that each day seemingly pulls college sports farther from its true mission, this move underscores our commitment to a strong and sustainable future at the top of the FCS and across several key sports. Both of these programs bring institutional alignment that will enhance the Big Sky's tradition as a national leader that continually aspires to elevate the experience for our constituencies."

For the Thunderbirds, a reunion with a former conference is on tap. Southern Utah was a member of the league from 2012 through 2021, when it joined the Western Athletic Conference alongside a Texas quartet of Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin from the Southland.

But the expanded conference, which also ran to include Seattle U. and California Baptist on the Pacific coast, in addition to the likes of Utah Valley in the west, never gained much traction. Sam Houston jumped to the FBS and Conference USA beginning with the 2023-24 season, and Lamar and Stephen F. Austin by 2024.

Bitter feelings ensued between the conference and Southern Utah, according to multiple sources. But the athletic director (Debbie Corum) and university president (Scott Wyatt) who guided the Thunderbirds' move to the WAC both left, and the most recent AD — former Nevada administrator Doug Knuth — also resigned with six months left on his contract after a series of reported Title IX inquiries.

"We are excited to be rejoining the Big Sky Conference," Southern Utah president Mindy Benson said. "This move sets a strong foundation for the future of SUU athletics by expanding our visibility and creating meaningful opportunities for growth. We're looking forward to renewing friendly in-state rivalries with Weber State and Utah Tech and eager to strengthen our connection to all the Big Sky universities."

The departures of the Texas schools left the WAC with as few as nine members, and defections weren't done. Seattle accepted an invitation to the West Coast Conference alongside GCU, which then turned the invite into a bid to the Mountain West, effective July 1, 2026.

Utah Valley will join CBU in the Big West next summer, which left the WAC with five members — the two in the south of the Beehive State, and three Texas schools in Abilene Christian, Tarleton State and UT Arlington.

Before their recent flirtation with the WAC, Southern Utah had been in the Big Sky — a marked era of stability in the 61-year-old conference whose founding members included Gonzaga, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State and Weber State.

Founded as the St. George Stake Academy in 1911 before adopting the "Dixie State" moniker until a thorough rebrand in 2022, Utah Tech moved up from NCAA Division II to Division I in 2019 and joined the WAC a year later after six years in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

The WAC will add five schools from the ASUN — Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, Austin Peay, Central Arkansas and West Georgia, according to Yahoo Sports — to pair with the Texas trio and rebrand as the United Athletic Conference.

That's been the unofficial name adopted by the league since it attempted to re-add football in 2021 under an agreement between the WAC and ASUN. That agreement, however, was never codified by the NCAA after a denied waiver request to form the football-only conference.

The ASUN will be left with seven teams — Bellarmine, Lipscomb, Queens, Jacksonville, North Florida, Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast — but will work together under what Yahoo Sports referred to as an "alliance" with separate individual championships and NCAA automatic qualifiers but a unified media package and built-in scheduling agreement.

"Utah Tech University is thrilled to join the Big Sky Conference, a respected leader in NCAA Division I athletics," Utah Tech president Shane B. Smeed said. "This invitation reflects the achievements of our student-athletes, world-class facilities, and the unwavering support of our community. Competing in the Big Sky allows us to keep and build meaningful regional rivalries and elevate the overall student-athlete experience. We can't wait to welcome Big Sky teams and fans to Trailblazer Nation!"

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