Delaware is expected to join Conference USA in the 2025-26 academic year, sources briefed on the decision confirm to The Athletic, as the ripple effects of conference realignment continue. ESPN first reported the move.

The addition of Delaware will give CUSA 11 full members, with Kennesaw State set to join next year as the tenth. It’ll also increase the size of the Football Bowl Subdivision to 135 members, two more than this season.

The move is, like all realignment moves, based heavily around football, and the Blue Hens feel now is the time to move up. Delaware has played in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) since 1980, one year after it won a Division II national championship. The Blue Hens won an FCS national championship in 2003.

Under coach Ryan Carty, Delaware is 17-8, posting an 8-5 season last year and defeating Lafayette 36-34 on Saturday to advance to the second round of the FCS playoffs. It most recently won a conference championship in 2020.

Notable football alumni from Delaware include Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Flacco, who was a first-round NFL Draft pick, quarterback Rich Gannon and 2019 second-round pick Nasir Adderly.

Delaware also won a field hockey national championship in 2016, and Elena Delle Donne led the Blue Hens women’s…