United Athletic Conference

The second year of the WAC football relaunch begins this week during ‘Week Zero’ of the 2022 FCS football season. Preseason conference favorite Stephen F. Austin kicks off the new season against Jacksonville State on Aug. 27 at 2:30 p.m. (CT) on ESPN as part of the FCS Kickoff Classic in Montgomery, Alabama.

 

Stephen F. Austin was ranked in the top 10 in each of the two major FCS national polls entering the 2022 season. The Lumberjacks were rated 10th in both the STATS Perform FCS Top 25 and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS Coaches Poll. Utah Tech was among the teams receiving votes in the inaugural coaches poll of the season.

 

The stage is set for a new football champion to be crowned in the WAC at the end of the 2022 season. Fresh off a perfect 5-0 mark in the conference and an 11-1 record overall last season, Sam Houston is ineligible for both the conference title and the FCS Playoffs as the Bearkats officially transition to the FBS level. Sam Houston became the 18th different champion of the WAC during the conference’s return to football in 2021.

 

A pair of teams from the state of Utah will make their official debut as football members of the WAC this fall. Both Southern Utah and Utah Tech are ready to embark upon their initial seasons in the league. Southern Utah previously won a pair of championships as a member of the Big Sky Conference (2015, 2017), and Utah Tech enters its second season of FCS play after one independent campaign following the jump from the NCAA Division II level.

 

As part of an expanded multi-year, multi-platform media rights agreement announced in August of 2021, all home football games in the WAC for the next three years will reside on ESPN platforms. In addition, all home men’s and women’s basketball, as well as other select events, will be housed on ESPN digital platforms.