Marshall has agreed to join the Sun Belt Conference, sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday, as the Thundering Herd become the third Conference USA to make the jump in the past week.
No timeline has been set, but Southern Miss and Old Dominion — the two other schools moving over from Conference USA — are set to join no later than July 1, 2023.
Yahoo Sports first reported that Marshall would move to the Sun Belt.
Also on Friday, James Madison — an FCS powerhouse that won the national title in 2016 and has made two title-game appearances since — took steps to join the Sun Belt. The school’s board of visitors executive committee passed a motion to pursue moving up to the FBS level and seek an invitation from the conference.
The Sun Belt, which would reach 16 schools and 14 football programs if all the additions go through, is focusing its expansion push on strong football programs located within or near the league’s footprint, rather than those in large metropolitan areas.
Following the departures to the Sun Belt and the planned moves of six other schools to the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA is left with only five members: Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Florida International, UTEP and Louisiana Tech.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg contributed to this report.