Conference USA

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Conference USA (C-USA)
Established: 1995
Conference USA logo
NCAA Division I FBS
Members 12 full-time; 3 part-time
Sports fielded 19 (men's: 5; women's: 9)
Region Southern United States
Headquarters Irving, TX
Commissioner Britton Banowsky (since 2002)
Website http://www.conferenceusa.com/
Locations
Conference USA locations

Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are located in the Las Colinas business district of the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

C-USA was founded in 1995 by the merger of the Metro Conference and Great Midwest Conference, two Division I conferences that did not sponsor football. To even out at 12 members (because Dayton, VCU, and Virginia Tech were left out of the merger[1]) the conference invited the University of Houston, but UH could not start C-USA play for a year due to committing to being in the Southwest Conference in its final year. The conference immediately started competition in all sports, except football which started in 1996.

Contents

[edit] Sports sponsored

Members participate in football, men's and women's basketball, volleyball, baseball, cross country, golf, men's and women's soccer, softball, women's swimming, tennis, and track and field.

Men's soccer is only sponsored by Marshall, Memphis, Southern Methodist, Tulsa, UAB, and UCF; three other schools—Florida International, and the two Southeastern Conference schools which sponsor the sport – Kentucky (which joined with its SEC mate in 2005), and the South Carolina (which rejoined C-USA for the sport in 2005) – compete as men's soccer only members.

[edit] Member schools

The conference saw radical changes for the 2005–06 academic year. The stage for these changes was set in 2003, when the Atlantic Coast Conference successfully lured Miami and Virginia Tech to make a move from the Big East Conference in 2004. Boston College would later make the same move, joining the ACC in 2005. In response to that series of moves, which depleted the Big East football conference, the Big East looked to Conference USA to attract replacements. Five C-USA members departed for the Big East, including three football-playing schools (Cincinnati, Louisville, and USF) and two non-football schools (DePaul and Marquette). Another two schools (Charlotte and Saint Louis) left for the Atlantic 10; TCU joined the Mountain West; and a ninth member, Army, which was C-USA football-only, opted to become an independent in that sport again.

With the loss of these teams, C-USA lured six teams from other conferences: UCF and Marshall from the MAC, as well as Rice, SMU, Tulsa, and later UTEP from the WAC. Note that UCF played in the MAC for football only; for all other sports, it was a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

With C-USA's membership now consisting of 12 schools, all of which sponsor football, the conference has adopted a two-division alignment.

Institution Nickname Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Joined
West Division
University of Houston Cougars Houston, Texas 1927 Public 35,180 1995 **
Rice University Owls Houston, Texas 1891 Private/Non-sectarian 4,835 2005
Southern Methodist University (SMU) Mustangs University Park, Texas (Dallas) 1911 Private/United Methodist 10,901 2005
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Miners El Paso, Texas 1914 Public 20,154 2005
Tulane University Green Wave New Orleans, Louisiana 1834 Private/Non-sectarian 13,214 1995
University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane Tulsa, Oklahoma 1894 Private/Presbyterian 4,174 2005
East Division
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers Birmingham, Alabama 1969 Public 17,600 1995
University of Central Florida (UCF) Knights Orlando, Florida 1963 Public 48,497 2005
East Carolina University (ECU) Pirates Greenville, North Carolina 1907 Public 25,990 1997 (football)
2001 (all other sports)
Marshall University Thundering Herd Huntington, West Virginia 1837 Public 16,400 2005
University of Memphis Tigers Memphis, Tennessee 1912 Public 20,668 1995
The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Golden Eages Hattiesburg, Mississippi 1910 Public 15,050 1995

** – Houston was a founding member of C-USA in 1995, but did not begin competing until 1996 because of its commitments to the final year of competition of the Southwest Conference.

[edit] Former members

[edit] C-USA Football Divisions

East

West

[edit] Conference USA Soccer-only Members

Because men's soccer is not sponsored by all NCAA Division I conferences, three schools from other conferences are C-USA members for men's soccer only:

Sun Belt Conference Members

Southeastern Conference Members (Both members are the only SEC schools which play the sport.)

Additionally there is one women's soccer only member:

Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Members (The SCAC is an NCAA Division 3 conference, however Colorado College sponsors women's soccer as a Division 1 sport.)

[edit] Commissioners

[edit] Television

In 2005, C-USA began a long-term television contract with CBS College Sports Network (then known as CSTV) to carry a variety of sports. The deal largely replaced the one it had with ESPN and ESPN Plus, though some C-USA football and men's basketball games are still carried by the ESPN networks. The college basketball men's championship game can be seen on CBS Sports.

[edit] Conference facilities

School Football stadium Capacity Basketball arena Capacity Baseball stadium Capacity Soccer stadium Capacity
West Division
Houston Robertson Stadium 32,000 Hofheinz Pavilion 8,500 Cougar Field 3,500 Carl Lewis International Complex 6,000
Rice Rice Stadium 70,000 Autry Court 5,000 Reckling Park 5,000 Rice Track/Soccer Stadium 5,000
SMU Gerald J. Ford Stadium 32,000 Moody Coliseum 8,998 Westcott Field 4,000
UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium 51,500 Don Haskins Center 12,222 Cohen Stadium 10,000 University Field 500
Tulane Louisiana Superdome 69,703 Avron B. Fogelman Arena 3,600 Greer Field at Turchin Stadium 5,000 Westfeldt Facility 1,500
Tulsa H.A. Chapman Stadium 35,542 Reynolds Center 8,355 Hurricane Soccer & Track Stadium 2,000
East Division
UAB Legion Field 71,594 Bartow Arena 8,508 Jerry D. Young Memorial Field 1,000 West Campus Field 2,500
UCF Bright House Networks Stadium 45,301 UCF Arena 10,045 Jay Bergman Field 1,980 UCF Track and Soccer Complex 2,000
East Carolina Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium 43,000 Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum 8,000 Clark-LeClair Stadium 6,000 Bunting Field >3,000
Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium 38,019 Cam Henderson Center 9,600 Appalachian Power Park 4,500 Sam Hood Field 1,500
Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium 62,380 FedExForum 19,000 Nat Buring Stadium 2,000 Mike Rose Stadium 2,500
Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium 33,000 Reed Green Coliseum 8,095 Pete Taylor Park 3,678 USM Track & Soccer Complex n/a
Soccer-Only Members
Colorado College Plays in SCAC n/a Plays in SCAC n/a Stewart Field n/a
FIU Plays in Sun Belt n/a Plays in Sun Belt n/a Plays in Sun Belt n/a University Park 2,000
Kentucky Plays in SEC n/a Plays in SEC n/a Plays in SEC n/a UK Soccer Complex 1,500
South Carolina Plays in SEC n/a Plays in SEC n/a Plays in SEC n/a Stone Stadium 5,700

[edit] Championships

[edit] Football Bowl Games

Conference USA sends teams to seven different bowls throughout the country.

[edit] Conference USA Schools Ranked by Endowment

  1. Rice University- $4.67 billion
  2. Southern Methodist University- $1.33 billion
  3. University of Tulsa- $1.3 billion
  4. Tulane University- $1.00 billion
  5. University of Houston- $455 million
  6. University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)- $401 million
  7. University of Memphis- $183 million
  8. University of Texas at El Paso- $132 million
  9. East Carolina University- $121 million
  10. University of Central Florida- $115 million
  11. Marshall University – $60 million[2]
  12. University of Southern Mississippi- $55 million

[edit] References

  1. ^ WITH EYE ON BIG EAST, TECH JOINS ATLANTIC 10 HOKIES REJECT THE COLONIAL, WHICH GRABS VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH
  2. ^ The State Journal - News for West Virginia's Leaders

[edit] External links

v • d • e
NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Conferences
* Conference champion receives an automatic BCS bid
v • d • e
Conference USA (C-USA)
West Division
East Division
Soccer-Only Members
v • d • e
Current Basketball Arenas in Conference USA
v • d • e
Current head men's basketball coaches of Conference USA
v • d • e
Football stadiums of Conference USA
v • d • e
Current head football coaches of the Conference USA
East Division
West Division
v • d • e
Conference USA Baseball Parks
Clark-LeClair Stadium (ECU) • Cougar Field (UH) • Greer Field at Turchin Stadium (Tulane) • Jay Bergman Field (UCF) • Nat Buring Stadium (Memphis) • Pete Taylor Park (Southern Miss) • Reckling Park (Rice) • University Heights Baseball Field (Marshall) • Young Memorial Field (UAB)
v • d • e
Marching bands of Conference USA
East

Marching Pirates (ECU) • Marching Thunder (Marshall) • Mighty Sound of the South (Memphis) • The Pride of Mississippi (Southern Miss) • Marching Blazers (UAB) • Marching Knights (UCF)
West
Languages