![]() 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. However, the only MW member school that ultimately moved to C-USA men's soccer was New Mexico.įor the 2013–14 season C-USA invited five new members to join their conference, with all accepting. 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. However, after the MW added more members, the alliance was apparently abandoned.įor 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. ![]() As of April 2012, the likeliest scenario was an all-sports alliance in which both conferences retain separate identities. As a result, both C-USA and the MW backed away from a full merger. ![]() 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. 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. This was again the result of Big East schools leaving for the ACC, this time being Syracuse and Pittsburgh. 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. With C-USA's membership now consisting of 12 schools, all of which sponsor football, the conference adopted a two-division alignment. Note that UCF played in the MAC for football only for all other sports, it was a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference (now known as the ASUN Conference). 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. 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. 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). The Big East Conference had lost several members, and looked to Conference USA to attract replacements. The conference saw radical changes for the 2005–06 academic year. Many of its original schools were located in major urban centers and had strong basketball traditions, which helped establish the league on a national basis. The conference immediately started competition in all sports, except football which started in 1996.īeing the result of a merger, C-USA was originally a sprawling, large league that stretched from Florida to Missouri, Wisconsin to Texas. 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. However, the merger did not include either Great Midwest member Dayton or Metro members VCU and Virginia Tech. C-USA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas.Ĭ-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 participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. ![]() For the defunct American soccer club, see Chivas USA.Ĭonference USA ( C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. ![]()
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