By Spencer Rodak, For Iron County Today
CEDAR CITY, Utah – In a major move to ensure long-term stability for athletics, Southern Utah University will reportedly join the Big Sky Conference in 2026.
First reported by Matt Brown of Extra Points and followed by Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, the Thunderbirds will be joined by fellow WAC member and rival Utah Tech in the move to the Big Sky.
A volley of non-FBS realignment moves are coming.
Per sources, the ASUN & WAC are forming an “alliance,” where 5 FB-playing ASUN members will move in 2026 into the WAC, which will then rebrand as United Athletic Conference.
Southern Utah & Utah Tech are leaving WAC for Big Sky.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) June 25, 2025
The additions of Southern Utah and Utah Tech give the Big Sky 11 members in 2026, following the recent departure of Sacramento State last week.
Currently a member of the Western Athletic Conference, SUU will return to the conference it previously called home from 2012 to 2021.
The Thunderbirds will join the conference in all possible sports, including football, which is currently part of the United Athletic Conference. As of now, gymnastics will remain in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, as the Big Sky does not sponsor the sport.
The switch to the Big Sky also means that all three of the states’ FCS football programs – Southern Utah, Utah Tech, and Weber State – will be together in one conference.
How we got here
Southern Utah most recently joined the WAC in 2022, alongside a group of four Texas schools, which gave the conference 12 members.
Thanks to a number of other conference realignment moves, however, the WAC was never able to keep many of the schools that joined.
For the 2025-26 athletics year, the conference was slated to have eight full members, dipping to five for the 2026-27 season following the departures of Grand Canyon (Mountain West), Utah Valley (Big West), Seattle U, and California Baptist (both West Coast Conference).
Now, the WAC and Atlantic Sun will reportedly form an alliance, where five football members of the ASUN will move to the WAC in 2026. The conference will then rebrand as the United Athletic Conference, the moniker of the current WAC-ASUN football conference that Southern Utah will play a final season in this fall.
A familiar home
As mentioned previously, SUU is no stranger to the Big Sky Conference.
The Thunderbirds first joined the conference in 2012 from the Summit League, under the direction of Athletic Director Ken Beazer.
Interestingly enough, Beazer is now the Athletic Director at Utah Tech, who is slated to join the conference alongside Southern Utah next year.
During a nearly decade-long run in the conference the first time around, SUU had several highlight moments. This included the men’s and women’s basketball programs claiming a regular season conference title, while football had the best season in program history while winning the conference in 2017.