Conference USA
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Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference which stretches from Texas in the west to Florida in the east. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I, and in Division I-A for football.
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. The conference immediately started competition in all sports, including football.
The conference will see 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 raided Conference USA. Five C-USA members, including three football-playing schools, left for the Big East. Two other non-football schools left for the Atlantic 10; one more football member joined the Mountain West; and one other football member opted to become an independent in that sport.
The members for 2005-06 will be:
- East Carolina University (ECU Pirates)
- University of Houston (Houston Cougars)
- Marshall University (Marshall Thundering Herd)
- University of Memphis (Memphis Tigers)
- Rice University (Rice Owls)
- Southern Methodist University (SMU Mustangs)
- University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss Golden Eagles)
- Tulane University (Tulane Green Wave)
- University of Tulsa (Tulsa Golden Hurricane)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB Blazers)
- University of Central Florida (UCF Golden Knights)
- University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP Miners)
The departing schools are:
- Big East:
- University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati Bearcats)
- DePaul University non-football member (DePaul Blue Demons)
- University of Louisville (Louisville Cardinals)
- Marquette University non-football member (Marquette Gold)
- University of South Florida (USF Bulls)
- Atlantic Ten:
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte non-football member (Charlotte 49ers)
- Saint Louis University non-football member (Saint Louis Billikens)
- Mountain West:
- Independent:
- United States Military Academy football only (Army Black Knights)
Member schools 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.
External link
- Conference USA Official Web Site (http://www.conferenceusa.com/)