Conference USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Conference USA (C-USA) Established: 1995 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, 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 [hide] 1 Sports sponsored 2 Member schools 2.1 Former members 2.2 Membership timeline 2.3 C-USA Football Divisions 2.4 Conference USA Soccer-only Members 3 Commissioners 4 Television 5 Conference facilities 6 Championships 6.1 Football Bowl Games 7 Conference USA Schools Ranked by Endowment 8 References 9 External links [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 – South Carolina, which rejoined C-USA for the sport (it had been part of the Metro in 1983-90 and 1993-94 for the sport), and Kentucky, which joined with its SEC mate in 2005 – compete as men's soccer only members. Colorado College competes in C-USA in women's soccer. [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 Endowment West Division University of Houston Cougars Houston, Texas 1927 Public 36,098 1995 ** $522 million (Systemwide) Rice University Owls Houston, Texas 1891 Private/Non-sectarian 4,835 2005 $4.7 billion Southern Methodist University (SMU) Mustangs University Park, Texas (Dallas) 1911 Private/United Methodist 10,901 2005 $1.3 billion University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Miners El Paso, Texas 1914 Public 20,154 2005 $132 million Tulane University Green Wave New Orleans, Louisiana 1834 Private/Non-sectarian 13,214 1995 $1.1 billion University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane Tulsa, Oklahoma 1894 Private/Presbyterian 4,174 2005 $1.3 billion East Division University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers Birmingham, Alabama 1969 Public 17,600 1995 $400 million University of Central Florida (UCF) Knights Orlando, Florida 1963 Public 50,600 2005 $115 million East Carolina University (ECU) Pirates Greenville, North Carolina 1907 Public 25,990 1997 (football) 2001 (all other sports) $121 million Marshall University Thundering Herd Huntington, West Virginia 1837 Public 16,400 2005 $60 million University of Memphis Tigers Memphis, Tennessee 1912 Public 20,668 1995 $183 million The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Golden Eagles Hattiesburg, Mississippi 1910 Public 15,050 1995 $81 million Locations of current Conference USA full member institutions.** – 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 Big East: University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati Bearcats), 1995-2005 DePaul University non-football member (DePaul Blue Demons), 1995-2005 University of Louisville (Louisville Cardinals), 1995-2005 Marquette University non-football member (Marquette Golden Eagles), 1995-2005 University of South Florida (USF Bulls) 1995-2005 Atlantic Ten: University of North Carolina at Charlotte non-football member (Charlotte 49ers), 1995-2005 Saint Louis University non-football member (Saint Louis Billikens), 1995-2005 Mountain West: Texas Christian University (TCU Horned Frogs), 2001-2005 Independent: United States Military Academy football only (Army Black Knights), 1998-2004 For all other sports, Army was a member of the Patriot League [edit] Membership timeline [edit] C-USA Football Divisions East East Carolina Pirates Marshall Thundering Herd Memphis Tigers Southern Miss Golden Eagles UAB Blazers UCF Knights West Houston Cougars Rice Owls SMU Mustangs Tulane Green Wave Tulsa Golden Hurricane UTEP Miners [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 Florida International University Southeastern Conference Members University of Kentucky University of South Carolina NOTE: South Carolina had remained in the Metro for men's soccer shortly after departing the conference for the SEC in 1991, and left after the 1994-95 season when they were not permitted to join the reunified Conference USA for the sport only. The school was invited to rejoin the reunified conference in 2005, after which fellow SEC member Kentucky, the only other school that sponsors the sport, left the Mid-American Conference in that 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.) Colorado College [edit] Commissioners Michael Slive 1995-2002 Britton Banowsky 2002-present [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 47,000 Tudor Fieldhouse 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 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 (men) Elma Roane Fieldhouse (women) 19,000 2,500 Nat Buring Stadium 2,000 Mike Rose Stadium 2,500 Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium 36,000 Reed Green Coliseum 8,095 Pete Taylor Park 3,678 USM Track & Soccer Complex 850 Soccer-Only Members Colorado College Plays in SCAC Stewart Field n/a FIU Plays in Sun Belt University Park 2,000 Kentucky Plays in SEC UK Soccer Complex 1,500 South Carolina Plays in SEC Stone Stadium 5,700 [edit] Championships Conference USA Baseball Tournament Conference USA Football Championship Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament Conference USA Women's Basketball Tournament [edit] Football Bowl Games Conference USA sends teams to six different bowls throughout the country. Liberty Bowl GMAC Bowl Armed Forces Bowl New Orleans Bowl Texas Bowl St. Petersburg Bowl [edit] Conference USA Schools Ranked by Endowment Rice University- $4.67 billion Southern Methodist University- $1.33 billion University of Tulsa- $1.3 billion Tulane University- $1.1 billion University of Houston- $522 million University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)- $401 million University of Memphis- $183 million University of Texas at El Paso- $132 million East Carolina University- $121 million University of Central Florida- $116 million University of Southern Mississippi- $81 million Marshall University – $60 million[2] [edit] References ^ WITH EYE ON BIG EAST, TECH JOINS ATLANTIC 10 HOKIES REJECT THE COLONIAL, WHICH GRABS VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH ^ The State Journal - News for West Virginia's Leaders [edit] External links Conference USA official website Largest C-USA Fan Forum at NCAAbbs Conference USA football, basketball & baseball fan site C-USA-Fans.com's Conference USA sports blog Conference USA Message Boards [show]v • d • eNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Conferences Atlantic Coast Conference * • Big 12 Conference * • Big East Conference * • Big Ten Conference * • Conference USA • Mid-American Conference • Mountain West Conference • Pacific-10 Conference * • Southeastern Conference * • Sun Belt Conference • Western Athletic Conference • Independents * Conference champion receives an automatic BCS bid [show]v • d • eConference USA (C-USA) West Division Houston Cougars • Rice Owls • SMU Mustangs • Tulane Green Wave • Tulsa Golden Hurricane • UTEP Miners East Division East Carolina Pirates • Marshall Thundering Herd • Memphis Tigers • Southern Miss Golden Eagles • UAB Blazers • UCF Knights Soccer-Only Members Kentucky Wildcats (men's) • South Carolina Gamecocks (men's) • FIU Golden Panthers (men's) • Colorado College Tigers (women's) History Metro Conference • Great Midwest Conference • Southwest Conference [show]v • d • eCurrent Basketball Arenas in Conference USA Tudor Fieldhouse (Rice) • Avron B. Fogelman Arena (Tulane) • Bartow Arena (UAB) • Cam Henderson Center (Marshall) • Don Haskins Center (UTEP) • FedExForum (Memphis) • Hofheinz Pavilion (Houston) • Moody Coliseum (SMU) • Reed Green Coliseum (Southern Miss) • Reynolds Center (Tulsa) • UCF Arena (UCF) • Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (East Carolina) [show]v • d • eCurrent head men's basketball coaches of Conference USA Mack McCarthy (East Carolina Pirates) · Tom Penders (Houston Cougars) · Donnie Jones (Marshall Thundering Herd) · John Calipari (Memphis Tigers) · Ben Braun (Rice Owls) · Matt Doherty (SMU Mustangs) · Larry Eustachy (Southern Miss Golden Eagles) · Dave Dickerson (Tulane Green Wave) · Doug Wojcik (Tulsa Golden Hurricane) · Mike Davis (UAB Blazers) · Kirk Speraw (UCF Knights) · Tony Barbee (UTEP Miners) [show]v • d • eFootball stadiums of Conference USA Bright House Networks Stadium (UCF) • Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (East Carolina) • Gerald J. Ford Stadium (SMU) • Joan C. Edwards Stadium (Marshall) • Legion Field (UAB) • Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (Memphis) • Louisiana Superdome (Tulane) • M. M. Roberts Stadium (Southern Miss) • Rice Stadium (Rice) • Robertson Stadium (Houston) • Skelly Field at H.A. Champan Stadium (Tulsa) • Sun Bowl Stadium (UTEP) [show]v • d • eCurrent head football coaches of the Conference USA East Division Skip Holtz (East Carolina Pirates) · Mark Snyder (Marshall Thundering Herd) · Tommy West (Memphis Tigers) · Larry Fedora (Southern Miss Golden Eagles) · Neil Callaway (UAB Blazers) · George O'Leary (UCF Knights) West Division Kevin Sumlin (Houston Cougars) · David Bailiff (Rice Owls) · June Jones (SMU Mustangs) · Bob Toledo (Tulane Green Wave) · Todd Graham (Tulsa Golden Hurricane) · Mike Price (UTEP Miners) [show]v • d • eConference 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) • Jerry D. Young Memorial Field (UAB) [show]v • d • eConference USA Marching Bands East Marching Pirates (ECU) • Marching Thunder (Marshall) • Mighty Sound of the South (Memphis) • The Pride of Mississippi (Southern Miss) • UAB Marching Blazers (UAB) • Marching Knights (UCF) West Spirit of Houston (Houston) • Marching Owl Band (Rice) • Mustang Band (SMU) • Tulane University Marching Band (Tulane) • The Sound of the Golden Hurricane (Tulsa) • Marching Miners (UTEP) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conference_USA" Categories: Conference USA | 1995 establishments | Sports in Texas | Sports in Irving, Texas