Conference USA
By Matt Shetler
The Conference USA, abbreviated C-USA, was formed in
1995 by the merger of the Metro Conference and Great Midwest
Conference, two conferences that did not sponsor football. To
add a twelfth member, C-USA invited the University of Houston,
despite being in the Southwest Conference at the time. C-USA
began play in all sports, except football, in 1995; with play on
the gridiron beginning in 1996.
As of 2008, C-USA has twelve full-time, along with
three part-time members. C-USA competes in nineteen Division I
sports in both men’s and women’s competition. All schools are
located in the Southern, United States, with the C-USA
headquarters being located in Irving, Texas. Britton Banowsky
has been the commissioner of C-USA since 1999.
C-USA remained intact over the next decade, until
the conference saw radical changes in 2005. The domino effect
that led to these changes began in 2003 when the ACC lured Miami
and Virginia Tech from the Big East. One year later, Boston
College also departed the Big East for the ACC. With the Big
East now having a depleted football conference, the Big East
lured five C-USA members to the conference.
Football playing schools Cincinnati, Louisville and USF
bolted, along with non-football schools DePaul and Marquette.
This led to more schools leaving C-USA. Charlotte and St. Louis
left for the Atlantic 10 Conference; TCU joined the Mountain
West Conference and Army opted to become an independent in
football again.
C-USA acted quickly by luring six teams from other
conferences: UCF and Marshall from the MAC, and Rice, SMU,
Tulsa and UTEP from the WAC. With a full twelve member
conference, C-USA separates its teams into two divisions (East
and West).
C-USA has ties with six bowl games: the Liberty,
GMAC, Armed Forces, New Orleans, Texas and St. Petersburg
Bowls. The conference has done very well in men’s basketball of
late. The Memphis Tigers have once again become one of the
nation’s most dominant programs, holding the number one ranking
in the country for most of the 2008 season and making it to the
NCAA title game, losing a heart-breaker to the University of
Kansas in overtime.
