The remaining football members of the ASUN and WAC have agreed to align to form the foundation of a 10-member football-only conference, with the intention of becoming the 11th FBS conference. The schools that have signed on to join the league are WAC football members Stephen F. Austin, Abilene Christian, Utah Tech, Southern Utah and Tarleton State and ASUN football members Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, Central Arkansas and North Alabama. The 9-team conference would begin in 2024 with UT Rio Grande Valley, who recently announced they're starting a football program, joining in 2025 when they begin their first season of football. There is some ambiguity of what they would need to do to become an FBS conference and each of the schools would have to go through a transition period after jumping from FCS to FBS.
Even if this doesn't end up happening, Austin Peay recently had a board of trustees meeting where a plan to jump to FBS by 2025 was outlined.