Conference USA

Conference USA
Established	1995[1]
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I
Subdivision	FBS
Members	14
Sports fielded	19[2] men's: 9; women's: 10; ;
Region	Southern United States
Headquarters	Dallas, Texas
Commissioner	Judy MacLeod (since 2015)
Website	www.conferenceusa.com
Locations

Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current 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 Dallas, Texas.

History

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. However, the merger did not include either Great Midwest member Dayton or Metro members VCU and Virginia Tech.[3] Since this left an uneven number of schools in the conference, Houston of the dissolving Southwest Conference was extended an invitation and agreed to join following the SWC's disbanding at the end of the 1995–96 academic year. The conference immediately started competition in all sports, except football which started in 1996.

2005–06 realignment

The conference saw radical changes for the 2005–06 academic year. The Big East Conference had lost several members, and looked to Conference USA to attract replacements. Five C-USA members departed for the Big East, including three football-playing schools (Cincinnati, Louisville, and South Florida) and two non-football schools (DePaul and Marquette; both joined the New Big East in 2013). Another two schools (Charlotte and Saint Louis) left for the Atlantic 10; TCU joined the Mountain West (and is now in the Big 12 with several other former Southwest Conference members); 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 members, C-USA lured six schools 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 adopted a two-division alignment.

2013–14 realignment

In 2013, C-USA entered its next phase with the departure of four schools (Houston, Memphis, SMU, and UCF) for the American Athletic Conference, the football-sponsoring portion of the former Big East Conference. This was again the result of Big East schools leaving for the ACC, this time being Syracuse and Pittsburgh. It was announced in early 2012 that Conference USA was in talks with the Mountain West Conference about forming either a football alliance or conference merger in the future.

However, when the conferences discussed their plans with the NCAA, they were told that if they merged, the new league would receive only one automatic bid to NCAA championships; at least one of the former conferences would lose expected future revenues from the NCAA men's basketball tournament; and at least one former conference would lose exit fees from any schools that departed for the new league. As a result, both C-USA and the MW backed away from a full merger. As of April 2012, the likeliest scenario was an all-sports alliance in which both conferences retain separate identities.[4] However, after the MW added more members, the alliance was apparently abandoned.

For men's soccer, there was a chance that the MW, SEC, and C-USA along with the one Sun Belt member (FIU), that sponsor the sport, would play under the C-USA's men's soccer program. The MW, which does not sponsor men's soccer, would take three of the four members that offer the sport (UNLV, Air Force, New Mexico—San Diego State is a Pac-12 associate member in that sport), join C-USA's three full members that offer the sport (UAB, Marshall, Tulsa), the two SEC members already in C-USA for the sport (Kentucky, South Carolina), and the Sun Belt's FIU.[4] However, the only MW member school that ultimately moved to C-USA men's soccer was New Mexico.

For the 2013–14 season C-USA invited five new members to join their conference, with all accepting. UTSA and Louisiana Tech joined from the WAC and North Texas and FIU, (an affiliate member of C-USA joining for men's soccer in 2005), from the Sun Belt Conference. Old Dominion, which already housed five of its sports in C-USA, moved the rest of its athletic program from the CAA (except for field hockey, women's lacrosse and wrestling, with the three sports joining the new Big East, the Atlantic Sun, and the MAC respectively because C-USA does not sponsor those sports) and upgraded its football program from the Football Championship Subdivision. Charter member Charlotte returned from the A-10 and accelerated its recently established football program, which was set to begin play in 2013 as an FCS school, to FBS in 2015 with full conference rights in 2016.

2014–15 realignment

Conference USA members after the 2014-15 realignment

On November 27, 2012, it was announced that Tulane would leave the conference to join the Big East in all sports, and East Carolina would join the Big East for football only (ECU's membership was upgraded to all-sports in March 2013 after the Big East's non-football members, save for ACC-bound Notre Dame, announced they were leaving to form a new conference which took the Big East name, leaving the football-playing members to become the American Athletic Conference). Conference USA responded by adding Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic, both from the Sun Belt.

On April 1, 2013, Conference USA announced they were adding Western Kentucky, also from the Sun Belt, to offset Tulsa's departure to The American in all sports which was confirmed the next day.[5][6]

Citing financial difficulties, the UAB football program was shut down on December 2, 2014. According to Conference USA bylaws, member schools must sponsor football. In January 2015, UAB announced an independent re-evaluation of the program and the finances involved, leaving open a possible resumption of the program as early as the 2016 season. On January 29, 2015, the conference announced that there was no time pressure in making a decision regarding UAB's future membership. The conference also stated that it would wait for the results of the new study before any further discussions on the subject.[7] On June 1, UAB announced that it would reinstate football effective with the 2016 season, presumably keeping the school in C-USA for the immediate future.[8] The return of football was later pushed back to 2017.[9] The Blazers won the 2018 conference championship their second year back.

2015–present

Commissioner Britton Banowsky stepped down on September 15, 2015 to become the head of the College Football Playoff Foundation. Executive associate commissioner and chief operating officer Judy MacLeod was subsequently named interim commissioner. On October 26 MacLeod was named the conference's third official commissioner, also becoming the first woman to head an FBS conference.[10]

Members

Current members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Enrollment	Nickname
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham, Alabama	1969	1995[a 1]	21,923[11]	Blazers
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, Florida	1961	2013	29,772[12]	Owls
Florida International University	University Park, Florida	1965	2013[a 2]	58,064[13]	Panthers
Louisiana Tech University	Ruston, Louisiana	1894	2013	12,467[14]	Bulldogs & Lady Techsters
Marshall University	Huntington, West Virginia	1837	2005	13,204[15]	Thundering Herd
Middle Tennessee State University	Murfreesboro, Tennessee	1911	2013	21,913[16]	Blue Raiders
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	1946	2013[a 3]	29,710[17]	49ers
University of North Texas	Denton, Texas	1890	2013	38,087[18]	Mean Green
Old Dominion University	Norfolk, Virginia	1930	2013[a 4]	24,176[19]	Monarchs & Lady Monarchs[a 5]
Rice University	Houston, Texas	1912	2005	7,124[20]	Owls
University of Southern Mississippi	Hattiesburg, Mississippi	1910	1995	14,509[21]	Golden Eagles
University of Texas at El Paso	El Paso, Texas	1914	2005	25,151[22]	Miners
University of Texas at San Antonio	San Antonio, Texas	1969	2013	30,674[23]	Roadrunners
Western Kentucky University	Bowling Green, Kentucky	1906	2014[a 6]	19,456[24]	Hilltoppers & Lady Toppers

Notes

UAB was a full but non-football member at two different times—1995 to 1999, when the school was independent in football, and 2015 to 2017, after UAB discontinued its football program. UAB football returned for the 2017 season.[9]
FIU was a men's soccer affiliate from 2005 to 2013.
Charlotte was a full but non-football member from 1995 to 2005 and again from 2013 to 2015.
Old Dominion was an affiliate in men's golf, women's golf, rowing, men's tennis, and women's tennis in 2012–13; full but non-football member in 2013–14.
Some Old Dominion women's sports use "Monarchs" and others "Lady Monarchs", as follows:
- Monarchs – Field hockey, lacrosse
- Lady Monarchs – Basketball, golf, rowing, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis
Western Kentucky was an affiliate in women's swimming & diving in 2013–14.

Affiliate members

In this table, all dates reflect the calendar year of entry into Conference USA, which for spring sports is the year before the start of competition.

Institution	Location	Founded	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Joined	Sport	Primary Conference
University of Kentucky	Lexington, Kentucky	1865	26,054	Wildcats		2005	soccer (m)	Southeastern
University of South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	1801	28,481	Gamecocks		2005	soccer (m)	Southeastern

Former members

Institution	Location	Founded	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current Conference
University of Central Florida	Orlando, Florida	1963	Knights	2005	2013	The American
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	1819	Bearcats	1995	2005	The American
DePaul University	Chicago, Illinois	1898	Blue Demons	1995	2005	Big East
East Carolina University	Greenville, North Carolina	1907	Pirates	2001[b 1]	2014	The American
University of Houston	Houston, Texas	1927	Cougars	1996[b 2]	2013	The American
University of Louisville	Louisville, Kentucky	1798	Cardinals	1995	2005	Atlantic Coast
Marquette University	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	1881	Golden Eagles		2005	Big East
University of Memphis	Memphis, Tennessee	1912	Tigers		2013	The American
Saint Louis University	St. Louis, Missouri	1818	Billikens		2005	Atlantic 10
University of South Florida	Tampa, Florida	1956	Bulls		2005	The American
Southern Methodist University	University Park, Texas	1911	Mustangs	2005	2013	The American
Texas Christian University	Fort Worth, Texas	1873	Horned Frogs	2001	2005	Big 12
Tulane University	New Orleans, Louisiana	1834	Green Wave	1995	2014	The American
University of Tulsa	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1894	Golden Hurricane	2005	2014	The American

Notes

Affiliate in football from 1997 to 2001.
Houston was a founding member of C-USA in 1995 but did not begin competition until 1996 because of its commitments to the final year of competition in the Southwest Conference.

Former affiliate members

In this table, all dates reflect each school's actual entry into and departure from Conference USA. For spring sports, the joining date is the calendar year before the start of competition. For fall sports, the departure date is the calendar year after the last season of competition.

Institution	Location	Founded	Nickname	Joined	Left	Sport	Primary conference
University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	1831	Crimson Tide	2009	2014	rowing	Southeastern[c 1]
United States Military Academy (Army)	West Point, New York	1802	Black Knights	1998	2005	football	Patriot[c 2]
California State University, Bakersfield	Bakersfield, California	1965	Roadrunners	2007	2010	swimming & diving (w)	Western Athletic
California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State)	Sacramento, California	1947	Hornets	2013	2014	rowing	Big Sky[c 3]
Colorado College	Colorado Springs, Colorado	1874	Tigers	2006		soccer (w)	Southern Collegiate (NCAA Division III)[c 4]
University of Kansas	Lawrence, Kansas	1865	Jayhawks	2009		rowing	Big 12
Kansas State University	Manhattan, Kansas	1863	Wildcats	2009		rowing	Big 12
University of New Mexico	Albuquerque, New Mexico	1889	Lobos	2013	2019	soccer (m)	Mountain West
University of North Dakota	Grand Forks, North Dakota	1883	Fighting Hawks	2008	2011	swimming & diving (w)	Big Sky[c 5]
University of Northern Colorado	Greeley, Colorado	1889	Bears	2007	2010	swimming & diving (w)	Big Sky[c 5]
University of Oklahoma	Norman, Oklahoma	1890	Sooners	2009	2014	rowing	Big 12
San Diego State University	San Diego, California	1947	Aztecs	2013			Mountain West[c 3]
University of Tennessee	Knoxville, Tennessee	1794	Lady Volunteers	2009			Southeastern[c 1]
University of Texas at Austin	Austin, Texas	1883	Longhorns	2009			Big 12
West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	1867	Mountaineers	2012			Big 12

Notes

Rowing affiliate of the Big 12.
Football currently competes as an FBS independent.
Rowing affiliate of The American.
Women's soccer affiliate of the MW.
Women's swimming & diving affiliate of the WAC.

Membership timeline

Full members (all-sports) Full members (non-football) Affiliate members (football-only) Affiliate member (other sport)Other Conference Other Conference

Commissioners

Michael Slive 1995–2002
Britton Banowsky 2002–2015
Judy MacLeod 2015–present

Sports

Sports sponsored

Conference USA sponsors championship competition in nine men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports.[25] Two schools are affiliate members for men's soccer.

**Teams in C-USA Conference**
Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	12	–
Basketball	14	14
Cross Country	12	13
Football	14	–
Golf	13	12
Soccer	8	14
Softball	–	12
Swimming & Diving	–	7
Tennis	8	14
Track and Field (Indoor)	10	13
Track and Field (Outdoor)	10	13
Volleyball	–	13

Men's sponsored sports by school

Member	Baseball	Basketball	XCountry	Football	Golf	Soccer	Tennis	Indoor Track & Field	Outdoor Track & Field	Total C-USA Sports
UAB	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	7
Charlotte	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
FIU	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	7
Florida Atlantic	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	7
Louisiana Tech	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	7
Marshall	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	6
Middle Tennessee	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
North Texas	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	6
Old Dominion	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	6
Rice	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Southern Miss	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	7
UTEP	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	6
UTSA	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Western Kentucky	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	7
Total	12	14	11	14	13	6+2[lower-alpha 1]	8	10	10	98+2

Affiliate members Kentucky and South Carolina.

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by Conference USA which are played by current full C-USA members:

School	Sailing[m 1]	Swimming & diving
Florida Atlantic	No	CCSA	No

Sailing is a coeducational team sport. It is not sanctioned by the NCAA, but instead by the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.

Women's sponsored sports by school

Member	Basketball	XCountry	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Indoor Track & Field	Outdoor Track & Field	Volleyball	Total C-USA Sports
UAB	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Charlotte	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
FIU	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Florida Atlantic	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Louisiana Tech	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Marshall	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Middle Tennessee	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
North Texas	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Old Dominion	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	N[lower-alpha 1]	5
Rice	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y[lower-alpha 2]	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Southern Miss	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
UTEP	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
UTSA	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Western Kentucky	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N[lower-alpha 3]	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Total	14	13	12	14	12	6	14	13	13	13	124

Old Dominion will add women's volleyball for the 2020 season (2020–21 school year).[26]
Rice fields a women's team in swimming but not in diving.
Western Kentucky announced on April 14, 2015 that it would suspend its men's and women's swimming & diving teams for at least 5 years (only the women's team competed in C-USA). This followed a police investigation into claims of assault and hazing by a former men's team member which in turn found multiple violations of university policies on harassment and sexual misconduct.[27]

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by Conference USA which are played by current full C-USA members:

School	Beach volleyball	Bowling	Field hockey	Lacrosse	Rifle[lower-alpha 1]	Rowing	Sailing[lower-alpha 2]
FIU	CCSA	No	No	No	No	No	No
Florida Atlantic	CCSA	No	No	No	No	No	No
Louisiana Tech	No	SBL	No	No	No	No	No
Old Dominion	No	No	Big East	Big East	No	The American	MAISA
Southern Miss	CCSA	No	No	No	No	No	No
UAB	CCSA	MEAC	No	No	SoCon	No	No
UTEP	No	No	No	No	PRC	No	No

Rifle is technically classified as a men's sport by the NCAA, but allows competitors of both sexes, and also allows schools to field any combination of coed and single-sex teams. UTEP fields a women-only team.
Sailing is a coeducational team sport. It is not sanctioned by the NCAA, but instead by the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.

Football

Conference USA uses a divisional format only for football.

For the upcoming season, see 2019 Conference USA football season.

Team	First Season	All-Time Record	All-Time Win %	Bowl Appearances	Bowl Record	Conference Titles	Head Coach
East Division
Charlotte	2013	22–48	.314	0	0–0	0	Will Healy
Florida Atlantic	2001	92–126	.422	3	3–0	2	Lane Kiffin
FIU	2002	83–131	.388	4	2–2	1	Butch Davis
Marshall	1895	591–546–47	.519	14	12–2	13	Doc Holliday
Middle Tennessee	1911	581–430–28	.573	8	2–6	13	Rick Stockstill
Old Dominion	1930	120–83–4	.589	1	1–0	0	Bobby Wilder
Western Kentucky	1908	575–400–30	.587	5	3–2	13	Tyson Helton
West Division
Louisiana Tech	1901	620–462–39	.570	11	7–3–1	25	Skip Holtz
North Texas	1913	516–506–33	.505	10	2–8	24	Seth Littrell
Rice	1912	472–617–32	.435	12	7–5	8	Mike Bloomgren
Southern Miss	1912	590–423–26	.580	23	11–12	8	Jay Hopson
UAB	1991	137–161–2	.460	3	1–2	1	Bill Clark
UTEP	1914	391–596–30	.399	14	5–9	2	Dana Dimel
UTSA	2011	41–53	.436	1	0–1	0	Frank Wilson

[28]

C-USA champions

Bowl games

The highest-ranked champion from the so-called "Group of Five" conferences (The American, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West, and Sun Belt) is guaranteed a berth in one of the non-semifinal bowls of the College Football Playoff if the group's top team is not in the playoff.[29]

Name	Location	Stadium	Opposing Conference
Cotton Bowl Classic	Arlington, Texas	AT&T Stadium	at-large
Fiesta Bowl	Glendale, Arizona	State Farm Stadium	at-large
Peach Bowl	Atlanta, Georgia	Mercedes-Benz Stadium	at-large

For the 2014–19 seasons, Conference USA is guaranteed at least five of the following bowl games.

Name	Location	Stadium	Opposing Conference
Arizona Bowl	Tucson, Arizona	Arizona Stadium	Mountain West
Armed Forces Bowl	Fort Worth, Texas	Amon G. Carter Stadium	The American Army Big 12 Big Ten Mountain West
Bahamas Bowl	Nassau, Bahamas	Thomas Robinson Stadium	The American MAC Sun Belt
Boca Raton Bowl	Boca Raton, Florida	FAU Stadium	The American MAC
First Responder Bowl	Dallas, Texas	Cotton Bowl	Big 12 Big Ten
Frisco Bowl	Frisco, Texas	Toyota Stadium	The American
Hawaii Bowl	Honolulu, Hawaii	Aloha Stadium	Mountain West
Independence Bowl	Shreveport, Louisiana	Independence Stadium	ACC SEC
Miami Beach Bowl	Miami, Florida	Marlins Park	The American
New Mexico Bowl	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Dreamstyle Stadium	Mountain West
New Orleans Bowl	New Orleans, Louisiana	Mercedes-Benz Superdome	Sun Belt
Gasparilla Bowl	Tampa, Florida	Raymond James Stadium	The American

Rivalries

Current or former C-USA in conference rivalries:

Teams		Rivalry Name	Trophy	Meetings	Record	Series Leader	Current Streak
UAB	Memphis	Battle for the Bones	Bones Trophy	7	4-3	UAB	Memphis won 1
FIU	Florida Atlantic	Shula Bowl	Don Shula Award	15	5–10	Florida Atlantic	FIU won 1
Louisiana Tech	Southern Miss	Rivalry in Dixie	—	46	15–31	Southern Miss	Louisiana Tech won 2
Marshall	East Carolina	East Carolina–Marshall football rivalry	—	15	10–5	East Carolina	Marshall won 1
Middle Tennessee	Western Kentucky	100 Miles of Hate	—	65	34–31–1	Middle Tennessee	WKU won 2
Middle Tennessee	Troy	Battle for the Palladium	The Palladium	20	12–8	Middle Tennessee	Middle Tennessee won 1
Western Kentucky	Marshall	Moonshine Throwdown	—	10	6–4	Marshall	Marshall won 2
North Texas	SMU	Safeway Bowl	—	34	28–5–1	SMU	North Texas won 1
Rice	Houston	Bayou Bucket Classic	—	40	11–29	Houston	Houston won 3
Rice	SMU	Battle for the Mayor's Cup	Mayor's Cup	89	40–48–1	SMU	Rice won 1
Southern Miss	Memphis	Black and Blue Bowl	—	63	40–22–1	Southern Miss	Memphis won 1
Southern Miss	Tulane	Battle for the Bell	The Bell	30	23–7	Southern Miss	Southern Miss won 6

Men's basketball

For the current season, see 2019–20 Conference USA men's basketball season.

This list goes through the 2017–18 season.[30]

Team	First Season	All-Time Record	All-Time Win %	NCAA Tournament Appearances	NCAA Tournament Record	Arena	Head Coach
UAB	1979	835—511	.620	15	10–15	Bartow Arena	Robert Ehsan
Charlotte	1963	856—745	.535	11	7–12	Dale F. Halton Arena	Ron Sanchez
Florida Atlantic	1989	356—588	.377	1	0–1	FAU Arena	Dusty May
FIU	1982	448—662	.404	1	0–1	Ocean Bank Convocation Center	Jeremy Ballard
Louisiana Tech	1910	1394—1042	.572	5	4–5	Thomas Assembly Center	Eric Konkol
Marshall	1907	1524—1132	.574	6	1–6	Cam Henderson Center	Dan D'Antoni
Middle Tennessee	1914	1252—1090	.535	9	4–9	Murphy Center	Nick McDevitt
North Texas	1915	1190—1329	.472	3	0–3	UNT Coliseum	Grant McCasland
Old Dominion	1951	1199—757	.613	11	3–11	Ted Constant Convocation Center	Jeff Jones
Rice	1915	1128—1458	.436	4	2–5	Tudor Fieldhouse	Scott Pera
Southern Miss	1913	1209—1095–1	.525	3	0–3	Reed Green Coliseum	Doc Sadler
UTEP	1915	1402—1082	.564	17	14–16	Don Haskins Center	Rodney Terry
UTSA	1982	576—578	.499	4	1–4	Convocation Center	Steve Henson
Western Kentucky	1915	1815—936	.660	23	19–24	E. A. Diddle Arena	Rick Stansbury

Women's basketball

This list goes through the 2012–13 season.[31]

Team	First Season	All-Time Record	All-Time Win %	NCAA Tournament Appearances	NCAA Tournament Record	Arena	Head Coach
UAB	1979	537–495	.520	2	2–2	Bartow Arena	Randy Norton
Charlotte	1976	537–398	.574	2	0–2	Dale F. Halton Arena	Cara Consuegra
Florida Atlantic	1985	387–419	.480	1	0–1	FAU Arena	Jim Jabir
FIU	1976	668–396	.628	6	3–6	Ocean Bank Convocation Center	Tiara Malcom
Louisiana Tech	1975	1031–244	.809	27	65–25	Thomas Assembly Center	Brooke Stoehr
Marshall	1970	591–597	.497	1	0–1	Cam Henderson Center	Tony Kemper
Middle Tennessee	1976	764–361	.679	16	5–16	Murphy Center	Rick Insell
North Texas	1977	434–602	.419	1	0–1	UNT Coliseum	Jalie Mitchell
Old Dominion	1970	959–358	.728	25	34–24	Ted Constant Convocation Center	Nikki McCray
Rice	1979	511–503	.504	2	1–2	Tudor Fieldhouse	Tina Langley
Southern Miss	1976	618–476	.565	8	4–8	Reed Green Coliseum	Joye Lee-McNelis
UTEP	1975	461–579	.443	2	1–2	Don Haskins Center	Kevin Baker
UTSA	1982	453–449	.502	2	0–2	Convocation Center	Kristen Holt
Western Kentucky	1914	848–440	.658	16	17–16	E. A. Diddle Arena	Greg Collins

Baseball

Championships

Current C-USA champions

Champions from the previous school year are in italics. "RS" is regular season.

Fall 2019

Sport	School
Football	Florida Atlantic (East & Championship Game) UAB (West)
Soccer (M)	Marshall (RS & Tournament)
Soccer (W)	Florida Atlantic (RS) North Texas (Tournament)
Volleyball (W)	Western Kentucky (RS & Tournament)
Cross Country (M)	Middle Tennessee
Cross Country (W)	Middle Tennessee

Winter 2019–20

Sport	School
Basketball (M)	Old Dominion (RS & Tournament)
Basketball (W)	Rice (RS & Tournament)
Indoor Track & Field (M)	Middle Tennessee
Indoor Track & Field (W)	UTEP
Swimming & Diving (W)	FIU

Spring 2020

Sport	School
Baseball	Florida Atlantic (RS) Southern Miss (Tournament)
Softball	Louisiana Tech, North Texas (RS) Louisiana Tech (Tournament)
Outdoor Track & Field (M)	Charlotte
Outdoor Track & Field (W)	Charlotte
Golf (M)	Middle Tennessee
Golf (W)	UTSA
Tennis (M)	Middle Tennessee
Tennis (W)	Rice

National champions

No team has won an NCAA team championship as a member of C-USA.

However, the following C-USA teams have won national championships when they were not affiliated with C-USA:

School	National titles	Sport	Years
FIU	2	Men's Soccer (Division II)	1982, 1984
Louisiana Tech	5	Football (Division II)	1972, 1973
Louisiana Tech	5	Women's basketball	1981, 1982, 1988
Marshall	2	Football (Division I-AA)	1992, 1996
North Texas	4	Men's golf	1949, 1950, 1951, 1952
Old Dominion	28	Men's basketball	1975 (Division II)
		Women's basketball	1979 (AIAW), 1980 (AIAW), 1985
		Women's field hockey	1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2000
		Sailing	1982, 1987, 1989 (Three classes), 1990 (Two classes), 1992, 1996, 1998 (Two classes), 2002 (Two classes), 2003, 2004
Rice	1	Baseball	2003
Southern Miss	2	Football (Division II)	1958, 1962
UTEP	21	Men's basketball	1966
		Men's outdoor track and field	1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982
		Men's indoor track and field	1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982
		Men's cross country	1969, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Western Kentucky	1	Football (Division I-AA)	2002

Facilities

School	Football stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity	Baseball park	Capacity
UAB	Legion Field[lower-alpha 1]	71,594	Bartow Arena	8,508	Regions Field Jerry D. Young Memorial Field	8,500 1,000
Charlotte	Jerry Richardson Stadium	15,300	Dale F. Halton Arena	9,105	Hayes Stadium	3,000
Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium	29,419	FAU Arena	5,000	FAU Baseball Stadium	3,000
FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium	20,000	Ocean Bank Convocation Center	5,000	Infinity Insurance Park	2,000
Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium	28,562	Thomas Assembly Center	8,098	J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park	2,000
Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium	38,227	Cam Henderson Center	9,048	Appalachian Power Park[lower-alpha 2] Kennedy Center Field Linda K. Epling Stadium	4,500 300 2,500
Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium	30,788	Murphy Center	11,802	Reese Smith Jr. Field	2,600
North Texas	Apogee Stadium	30,850	UNT Coliseum	10,032	Non-baseball school
Old Dominion	S.B. Ballard Stadium	22,480	Chartway Arena	8,639	Bud Metheny Baseball Complex	2,500
Rice	Rice Stadium	47,000	Tudor Fieldhouse	5,208	Reckling Park	7,000
Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium	36,000	Reed Green Coliseum	8,095	Pete Taylor Park	5,036
UTEP	Sun Bowl Stadium	51,500	Don Haskins Center	12,222	Non-baseball school
UTSA	Alamodome	65,000	Convocation Center	4,080	Roadrunner Field	800
Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium	22,113	E. A. Diddle Arena	7,326	Nick Denes Field	1,500

Notes

UAB football is expected to move into the new Protective Stadium (capacity 45,407) on the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex grounds in 2021.
Marshall is preparing to build a new on-campus ballpark, as yet unnamed (capacity 3,500), and plans to open it in 2021.

Media

In 2016, C-USA began a long-term television contract with lead partners ESPN and CBS Sports Network, with ESPN carrying 5 football games and the football championship game; and CBSSN carrying 6 football games, 5 basketball games, and both the men's and women's basketball championship games.[32] C-USA also renewed and expanded its partnership with American Sports Network; owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, ASN will carry between 15 and 30 football games; between 13 and 55 men's basketball games; and between 2 and 5 women's basketball games. ASN will also carry 10 events in other C-USA sports.[33]

The conference also entered into a contract with beIN Sports for 10 football games (marking the first domestic American football rights the network has ever acquired, and the first broadcast rights deal it had ever entered into with a college conference), 10 men's and 10 women's basketball games, 12 baseball and 12 softball games, 10 men's and 10 women's soccer games (excluding conference men's soccer games at Kentucky and South Carolina, covered by their primary conference's contract), and 10 women's volleyball games.[34]

The total values of the 2016 contracts are notably lower than those of the previous contracts (which included Fox Sports).[32]

Men's soccer associate members Kentucky and South Carolina have an agreement with their primary conference for other sports to carry all home matches online through the SEC Network service, including all Conference USA conference matches. ESPN and the SEC Network will have first rights to all C-USA home men's soccer matches featuring both schools.

In 2017 American Sports Network and Campus Insiders merged creating Stadium.[35] Stadium's C-USA content will be available to stream on Twitter and Pluto TV.[36] In 2017 Stadium completed a deal with Facebook to exclusively stream some C-USA football games.[37] In 2017 C-USA entered an agreement with the streaming subscription service FloSports to stream three football games.[38]

CUSA.tv

In 2016 C-USA partnered with SIDEARM Sports to create a subscription based streaming service named CUSA.tv. In a statement C-USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod said. "Thanks to our partnership with SIDEARM Sports, this new site showcases a clean modern look with easy access to information and we are proud to offer live content and original feature stories through our CUSA.tv."[39] Various sports including football, basketball, and baseball will exclusively air on CUSA.tv when they are not picked up by other networks.

Academics

One of the current member schools, Rice University is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada.[40] Six of the Conference's fourteen members are doctorate-granting universities with "very high research activity," the highest classification given by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.[41] A majority of the Conference's members are ranked as Tier One National Universities in U.S. News and World Report's 2020 Best Colleges rankings.

University	Affiliation	Carnegie[41]	Endowment[42]	US News[43]	Forbes[44]
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Public (UA System)	Research (Very High)	N/A[d 1]	166 (National)	518
Florida Atlantic University	Public (SUSF)	Research (High)	$270,933,875	281 (National)	536
Florida International University	Public (SUSF)	Research (Very High)	$230,954,000	218 (National)[d 2]	487
Louisiana Tech University	Public (UL System)	Research (High)	N/A[d 1]	272 (National)	389
Marshall University	Public	Research (High)	$114,742,403	RNP (National)[d 2]	N/A[d 3]
Middle Tennessee State University	Public (TBR)	Doctoral/Professional	$75,710,000	RNP (National)[d 2]	635
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Public (UNC System)	Research (High)	$166,591,692	228 (National)	495
University of North Texas	Public (UNT System)	Research (Very High)	$131,749,714	281 (National)	570
Old Dominion University	Public	Research (High)	$240,900,000	263 (National)	551
Rice University	Private	Research (Very High)	$4,836,728,000	17 (National)	32
University of Southern Mississippi	Public	Research (Very High)	$68,863,000	RNP (National)[d 2]	575
University of Texas at El Paso	Public (UT System)	Research (Very High)	N/A[d 1]	RNP (National)[d 2]	491
University of Texas at San Antonio	Public (UT System)	Research (High)	N/A[d 1]	RNP (National)[d 2]	642
Western Kentucky University	Public	Doctoral/Professional	$118,396,000	RNP (National)[d 2]	584

Notes

UAB, Louisiana Tech, UTEP, and UTSA did not participate in the 2013 NACUBO Endowment Study.
In the 2020 US News national university rankings, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss, UTEP, UTSA and Western Kentucky are listed as Rank Not Published (RNP), otherwise known as Tier Two.
Marshall is not ranked in the 2015 Forbes America's Best 650 Colleges rankings.

Notes

References

"About C-USA". ConferenceUSA.com. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
"Digital Library and Archives, University, Virginia Tech". 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012.
McMurphy, Brett (April 17, 2012). "Conference Mountain West merger "unlikely"". College Football Insider. CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
"Western Kentucky announces move to C-USA".
"Tulsa set to join league for 2014-15 season".
"UAB eliminating football for 'greater good'".
Scarborough, Alex (June 1, 2015). "UAB reinstates football for 2016". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
"UAB To Resume Rifle This Year, Bowling Next And Football In 2017" (Press release). UAB Athletics. July 21, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
"C-USA's MacLeod is 1st female commissioner of FBS league". AP-sports. October 26, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2015-01-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2015-01-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-08-16. Retrieved 2007-05-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
"Preliminary Headcount Enrollment Summary". Louisiana Board of Regents. October 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
"MU Quick Facts". Marshall University. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
"MTSU tops in Tennessee Board of Regents enrollment". September 16, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
"Information / Media Kit - Office of News and Information - UNC Charlotte". publicrelations.uncc.edu.
"UNT fall enrollment remains strong at 38,087 - News- University of North Texas". news.unt.edu.
"University Facts & Figures". Old Dominion University.
"Rice University : Rice University Office of Institutional Research". www.oir.rice.edu.
"Southern Miss Enrolls Most Academically Talented Student Body - Southern Miss Now". www.usm.edu.
"Fall 2013 vs Fall 2014 Census Day Report". Utsa.edu. Retrieved 2014-10-27.
"Enrollment holding steady for WKU". The Daily News.
"Conference USA". www.conferenceusa.com.
"ODU Announces Women's Volleyball Will Begin Play in 2020" (Press release). Old Dominion University Athletics. August 23, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
"Western Kentucky Suspends Swimming and Diving Program for 5 Years" (Press release). Western Kentucky Athletics. April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
All time Division I-A football records Archived 2004-04-06 at the Wayback Machine, College Football Data Warehouse
McMurphy, Brett (November 13, 2013). "Six bowls in playoff format". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
"2013–14 NCAA Men's Basketball Records" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
"NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Records Through 2012–13" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
"What Conference USA's new TV deal may tell us about conference expansion". Vanquish the Foe (SBNation). Retrieved 5 June 2016.
"Comprehensive Television Packages Announced For Conference USA". Conference USA. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
"Getting to know new C-USA TV partner beIN Sports". The Daily News Journal. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
"Stadium Streams to the Web, Twitter and Pluto TV - Multichannel". www.multichannel.com.
"At least 15 Conference USA football games will be broadcast on Twitter through Stadium". 25 May 2017.
"Facebook will live stream over a dozen college football games this year – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com.
"FloSports Expands Division I Football Coverage With Conference USA Games on FloFootball.com - FloSports". 31 August 2017.
"Conference USA - Conference USA Announces Partnership With SIDEARM Sports". conferenceusa.com.
"AAU Member Institutions and Years of Admission". Association of American Universities. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
"Carnegie Classifications Institution Lookup". Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
"National Association of College and University Business Officers" (PDF). National Association of College and University Business. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-21. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
"Best College Rankings and Lists". U.S. News & World Report. 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
"Forbes America's Top Colleges 2015". Forbes. 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-21.

External links

Official website

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[11] UAB was a full but non-football member at two different times—1995 to 1999, when the school was independent in football, and 2015 to 2017, after UAB discontinued its football program. UAB football returned for the 2017 season.[9]

[14] FIU was a men's soccer affiliate from 2005 to 2013.

[19] Charlotte was a full but non-football member from 1995 to 2005 and again from 2013 to 2015.

[22] Old Dominion was an affiliate in men's golf, women's golf, rowing, men's tennis, and women's tennis in 2012–13; full but non-football member in 2013–14.

[24] Some Old Dominion women's sports use "Monarchs" and others "Lady Monarchs", as follows:
Monarchs – Field hockey, lacrosse

Lady Monarchs – Basketball, golf, rowing, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis

[6] Monarchs – Field hockey, lacrosse

[7] Lady Monarchs – Basketball, golf, rowing, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis

[29] Western Kentucky was an affiliate in women's swimming & diving in 2013–14.

[31] Affiliate in football from 1997 to 2001.

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

[Big12-33] Rowing affiliate of the Big 12.

[34] Football currently competes as an FBS independent.

[American-35] Rowing affiliate of The American.

[36] Women's soccer affiliate of the MW.

[WAC-37] Women's swimming & diving affiliate of the WAC.

[39] Affiliate members Kentucky and South Carolina.

[40] Sailing is a coeducational team sport. It is not sanctioned by the NCAA, but instead by the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.

[42] Old Dominion will add women's volleyball for the 2020 season (2020–21 school year).[26]

[43] Rice fields a women's team in swimming but not in diving.

[45] Western Kentucky announced on April 14, 2015 that it would suspend its men's and women's swimming & diving teams for at least 5 years (only the women's team competed in C-USA). This followed a police investigation into claims of assault and hazing by a former men's team member which in turn found multiple violations of university policies on harassment and sexual misconduct.[27]

[46] Rifle is technically classified as a men's sport by the NCAA, but allows competitors of both sexes, and also allows schools to field any combination of coed and single-sex teams. UTEP fields a women-only team.

[47] Sailing is a coeducational team sport. It is not sanctioned by the NCAA, but instead by the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.

[52] UAB football is expected to move into the new Protective Stadium (capacity 45,407) on the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex grounds in 2021.

[53] Marshall is preparing to build a new on-campus ballpark, as yet unnamed (capacity 3,500), and plans to open it in 2021.

[endowment-67] UAB, Louisiana Tech, UTEP, and UTSA did not participate in the 2013 NACUBO Endowment Study.

[USNWR-68] In the 2020 US News national university rankings, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss, UTEP, UTSA and Western Kentucky are listed as Rank Not Published (RNP), otherwise known as Tier Two.

[69] Marshall is not ranked in the 2015 Forbes America's Best 650 Colleges rankings.

Conference USA
Full members	Charlotte 49ers Florida Atlantic Owls FIU Panthers Louisiana Tech Bulldogs/Lady Techsters Marshall Thundering Herd Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders North Texas Mean Green Old Dominion Monarchs/Lady Monarchs Rice Owls Southern Miss Golden Eagles/Lady Eagles UAB Blazers UTEP Miners UTSA Roadrunners Western Kentucky Hilltoppers/Lady Toppers
Men's soccer affiliate members	Kentucky Wildcats South Carolina Gamecocks
History	Metro Conference Great Midwest Conference 2010–13 Conference USA realignment