The UT-Arlington Mavericks decided the Western Athletic Conference wasn't where they wanted to land after all. UTA will play in the Sun Belt Conference starting July 2013.
The Mavericks were originally supposed to join Texas State and UT-San Antonio in a move to the Western Athletic Conference, but as that league continued to weaken with all the musical chairs being played throughout the various conferences.
The Sun Belt Conference is essentially trading one Dallas-area college for another, since UTA joins in the conference around the same time North Texas is leaving for Conference USA along with Florida International.
Texas State and Georgia State will join UTA in the move to the Sun Belt, which is slated to have 12 members for the 2013-14 academic year, including 10 in football. UTA is one of the non-football schools.
As long as the University of Texas System Board of Regents approves, UTA is out of the Southland Conference and off to the Sun Belt come next year.
Read more about conference realignments at our StoryStream here.