Marshall sues C-USA in bid to exit early for Sun Belt

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Marshall filed a lawsuit against Conference USA on Tuesday in a bid to expedite an early move to the Sun Belt.

Among other things, the lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment and injunctions against the league, which filed a request for arbitration earlier this month, The Herald-Dispatch reported.

A Conference USA spokesman declined comment on the lawsuit. Last week the conference released a football schedule for the 2022 season that included 14 teams, saying it will 'œexhaust all necessary legal actions'ť to keep Southern Mississippi, Old Dominion and Marshall from leaving the league a year early.

Southern Miss, ODU and Marshall accepted invitations to the Sun Belt during the fall and each announced earlier this month they planned to terminate memberships in C-USA on June 30 to join their new conference.

C-USA has said the three schools are contractually obligated to stay put for another year.

Six other C-USA schools have announced they are leaving for the American Athletic Conference, but not until 2023.

C-USA has plans to add Liberty, New Mexico State, Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State to rebuild the conference, but those schools are not scheduled to join until 2023.

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