Quote Originally Posted by caribbeanhen View Post

The president of UD is telling everyone a big part of this move has to do with the coming battle between all of these colleges trying to get a dwindling number of potential students into their classrooms and the population is moving south…. Mr Chicken was all over it

William Lafferty, vice chair of the board, asked about the financial impact of moving the Athletics program to Conference USA in fall 2025. Assanis said the costs — which will start in the FY2026 budget — are being covered through philanthropic donations. In the long run, the move will financially benefit UD by providing a more prominent platform to promote academic programs, research and admissions opportunities, especially in geographic areas with growing populations.

The "growing populations" part explains why C-USA was picked over midweek MACtion.