Conference USA

Conference USA. Conference USA is a collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions are located in the Southern United States and Midwestern United States. It is a member of the NCAA's Division I and competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision for football. The league's offices are located in Dallas, Texas, and it is currently led by commissioner Judy MacLeod.

History

The conference was founded in 1995 through the merger of the Metro Conference and several members of the Great Midwest Conference. Its original lineup included schools like the Cincinnati, the Louisville, and Marquette. Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, it was significantly impacted by realignment within the Big East Conference, losing members such as the South Florida and the UCF. Further realignment in the 2010s, driven by the collapse of the original Big East and changes in the American Athletic Conference, saw the departure of long-time members like the Memphis and the Houston. In response, it added programs from leagues such as the Sun Belt Conference and the Western Athletic Conference, including Florida Atlantic and Louisiana Tech. The most recent wave of changes in the 2020s, prompted by the further expansion of the American Athletic Conference, led to the addition of several institutions from Conference USA and the ASUN Conference, such as Jacksonville State and Liberty.

Member institutions

The conference currently has nine full member institutions. The membership includes Florida International in Miami, Jacksonville State in Alabama, and Liberty in Lynchburg. Other members are Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, and the UTEP in El Paso. The conference also includes Sam Houston in Huntsville, the UTSA in San Antonio, and Western Kentucky in Bowling Green. Each member participates in most of the league's sponsored sports.

Sports sponsored

Conference USA sponsors championship competition in nine men's and ten women's NCAA sports. Men's sports include football, basketball, baseball, golf, and cross country. Women's sports include basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball, tennis, and track and field. The conference does not sponsor sports such as wrestling, ice hockey, or lacrosse. Many member schools maintain independent affiliations for sports not offered by the conference, such as swimming or rifle.

Conference championships

The conference crowns champions in each sponsored sport, with the most prominent events being the football championship game and the men's basketball tournament. The basketball tournament, often held at the Ford Center in Frisco, determines the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. In baseball, the Conference USA baseball tournament champion earns a spot in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. Notable past champions across sports include the UAB in football and the Kentucky in women's basketball during its brief membership.

Facilities

Member institutions play in a variety of notable venues. Prominent football stadiums include The Alamodome (UTSA), Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium (Middle Tennessee), and Houston Baptist's Husky Stadium. Significant basketball arenas are the Don Haskins Center (UTEP), Murphy Center (Middle Tennessee), and E. A. Diddle Arena (Western Kentucky). Baseball is played at venues like J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park (Louisiana Tech) and Reckling Park (former member Rice).

Media coverage

The conference's media rights are held by ESPN, CBS Sports, and Stadium. Most football and basketball games are broadcast on linear channels like ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and CBS Sports Network, or streamed on ESPN+. The conference's championship football game has also been televised by ABC. Radio rights for the football championship and other select events are often managed through partnerships with networks like Westwood One. Local broadcasts are handled by individual school partnerships, such as those with Sinclair Broadcast Group affiliates.