Conference USA

Conference USA, officially abbreviated CUSA, is a group of college sports teams that play each other on the NCAA Division I level. It was formed in 1995 when the Great Midwest Conference and Metro Conference merged, and has added several members since then. Most of the new members have come from either the Western Athletic Conference or the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). From 2005 to 2014, it also lost many members, mostly to the original Big East Conference and its football-playing offshoot, the American Athletic Conference (The American). In a later wave of conference changes in the early 2020s, CUSA lost three members to the SBC in 2022 and six to The American in 2023. CUSA responded to these later moves by adding seven new members, with four joining in July 2023, one to join in July 2024, and two to join in July 2025.

The conference sends several teams to bowl games every year, including the Liberty Bowl and New Orleans Bowl.

Memphis (now a member of The American) has been the most successful men's basketball team in the conference, reaching the national championship game in 2008. (However, the NCAA later took Memphis's wins from that season away because a Memphis player, namely Derrick Rose, had not been eligible to play.)[1]

Members
University of Tulsa playing basketball against the University of Alabama at Birmingham

Conference USA now has 9 "full members" which play most of their sports in the league; Liberty (which joined in 2023) is the only private school. Future member Delaware (joining in 2025) is defined as a "privately governed, state-assisted" school.

Before 2022, the schools were split into East and West Divisions for some sports, most notably football; this allowed the football division winners to play a conference championship game. The divisional split ended with the loss of three members to the SBC. The football championship game now features the top two teams in the conference standings.

SchoolLocationFoundedType
(affiliation)		NicknameJoined
Florida International University (FIU)Miami, Florida1965PublicPanthers2013[lower-alpha 1]
Jacksonville State UniversityJacksonville, Alabama1883PublicGamecocks2023[lower-alpha 2]
Liberty UniversityLynchburg, Virginia1971PrivateFlames &
Lady Flames		2023
Louisiana Tech UniversityRuston, Louisiana1894PublicBulldogs &
Lady Techsters		2013
Middle Tennessee State UniversityMurfreesboro, Tennessee1911PublicBlue Raiders2005
New Mexico State UniversityLas Cruces, New Mexico1888PublicAggies2023
Sam Houston State University
(Sam Houston)		Huntsville, Texas1879PublicBearkats2023
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)El Paso, Texas1914PublicMiners2005
Western Kentucky University (WKU)Bowling Green, Kentucky1906PublicHilltoppers &
Lady Toppers		2014[lower-alpha 3]
  1. FIU was a member in men's soccer only from 2005 to 2013.
  2. Jacksonville State joined CUSA beach volleyball in 2022, a year before it became a full member.
  3. WKU was a member in women's swimming and diving only in the 2013–14 school year.

Future members

CUSA will add one member in 2024 and two in 2025.

SchoolLocationFoundedType
(affiliation)		NicknameJoiningFormer
conference
Kennesaw State UniversityKennesaw, Georgia1963PublicOwls2024ASUN
FCS independent (football)
University of DelawareNewark, Delaware1746Private–public hybridFightin' Blue Hens2025CAA
Missouri State UniversitySpringfield, Missouri1905PublicBears & Lady Bears2025MVC

Associate members

CUSA now has 12 "associate members"—schools that are full members of another conference who play select sports in CUSA. One plays baseball, five play women's beach volleyball, five others compete in bowling (which the NCAA runs only for women), and one competes in both beach volleyball and bowling. Most of these schools became associate members in 2023, when CUSA expanded its beach volleyball membership[2] and added bowling as a sponsored sport. CUSA added bowling by absorbing the Southland Bowling League, a single-sport conference founded by, but separate from, the all-sports Southland Conference.[3]

One of the current associates, Missouri State, will become a full member in 2025.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameCUSA
Sport(s)		JoinedMain Conference
Arkansas State UniversityJonesboro, Arkansas1909PublicRed WolvesBowling2023Sun Belt
Dallas Baptist UniversityDallas, Texas1898PrivatePatriotsBaseball2022Lone Star
(Division II)
Florida Atlantic UniversityBoca Raton, Florida1961PublicOwlsBeach volleyball2023[lower-alpha 1]American
Missouri State UniversitySpringfield, Missouri1905PublicBeach BearsBeach volleyball2023MVC
(CUSA in 2025)
Stephen F. Austin State University (Stephen F. Austin)Nacogdoches, Texas1923PublicLadyjacksBowling2023WAC
Tarleton State University (Tarleton)Stephenville, Texas1899PublicTexansBeach volleyball2023WAC
Texas Christian University (TCU)Fort Worth, Texas1873PrivateHorned FrogsBeach volleyball2023Big 12
Tulane UniversityNew Orleans, Louisiana1834PrivateGreen WaveBeach volleyball2022American
Bowling2023
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Birmingham, Alabama199PublicBlazersBeach volleyball2023[lower-alpha 1]American
Valparaiso UniversityValparaiso, Indiana1859PrivateBeaconsBowling2023MVC
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Tennessee1873PrivateCommodoresBowling2023SEC
Youngstown State UniversityYoungstown, Ohio1908PublicPenguinsBowling2023Horizon
Notes
  1. Measured from FAU's and UAB's move to the American Athletic Conference.

Future associate members

Conference USA will add another associate member in July 2024.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameCUSA
Sport		JoiningMain Conference
Wichita State UniversityWichita, Kansas1895PublicShockersBowling2024American

Former full members

No fewer than 23 schools have left CUSA since it was founded. Of these schools, 12 are now members of the American Athletic Conference, and three others had been in The American before joining the Big 12 Conference in 2023.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameJoinedLeftCurrent Conference
University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte)Charlotte, North Carolina1946Public49ers1995, 2013[lower-alpha 1]2023The American
University of CincinnatiCincinnati, Ohio1819PublicBearcats19952005Big 12
DePaul UniversityChicago, Illinois1898PrivateBlue Demons19952005Big East
East Carolina UniversityGreenville, North Carolina1907PublicPirates2001[lower-alpha 2]2014The American
Florida Atlantic UniversityBoca Raton, Florida1961PublicOwls20132023The American
University of HoustonHouston, Texas1907PublicCougars1996[lower-alpha 3]2013Big 12
University of LouisvilleLouisville, Kentucky1798PublicCardinals19952005ACC
Marshall UniversityHuntington, West Virginia1837PublicThundering Herd20052022Sun Belt
Marquette UniversityMilwaukee, Wisconsin1881PrivateGolden Eagles19952005Big East
University of MemphisMemphis, Tennessee1912PublicTigers19952013The American
University of North TexasDenton, Texas1890PublicMean Green20132023The American
Old Dominion UniversityNorfolk, Virginia1930PublicMonarchs2013[lower-alpha 4]2022Sun Belt
Rice UniversityHouston, Texas1912PrivateOwls20052023The American
Saint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, Missouri1818PrivateBillikens19952005Atlantic 10
Southern Methodist University (SMU)University Park, Texas1911PrivateMustangs20052013The American
(ACC in 2024)
University of South FloridaTampa, Florida1956PublicBulls19952005The American
University of Southern MississippiHattiesburg, Mississippi1910PublicGolden Eagles19952022Sun Belt
Texas Christian University (TCU)[lower-alpha 5]Fort Worth, Texas1873PrivateHorned Frogs20012005Big 12
Tulane University[lower-alpha 6]New Orleans, Louisiana1834PrivateGreen Wave19952014The American
University of TulsaTulsa, Oklahoma1894PrivateGolden Hurricane20052014The American
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)Birmingham, Alabama1969PublicBlazers19952023The American
University of Central Florida (UCF)Orlando, Florida1963PublicKnights20052013Big 12
University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)San Antonio, Texas1969PublicRoadrunners20132023The American
  1. Charlotte left in 2005 for the Atlantic 10 Conference and came back in 2013.
  2. Before joining CUSA, East Carolina had been a football-only member since 1997.
  3. Houston was a founding member of CUSA in 1995, but did not start play until 1996. It was committed to playing in the final season of its old league, the Southwest Conference.
  4. Before becoming a full member in 2013, Old Dominion was an affiliate in men's golf, women's golf, rowing, men's tennis, and women's tennis in 2012–13. Its football team did not join CUSA until 2014..
  5. TCU returned to CUSA as a beach volleyball member in 2023.
  6. Tulane returned to CUSA as a beach volleyball member in 2022, and added bowling to its CUSA membership in 2023.

Former associate members

In addition to the former full members, 21 other schools have been associate members in the past, but have moved their CUSA sports elsewhere. Most notably, the United States Military Academy, more often called "Army" in a sports context, was a football member from 1996 to 2005 (final CUSA season in 2004).

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Conference USA.
  1. Garci, Marlen (August 19, 2009). "NCAA vacates Memphis' '07–08 season record, Final Four run". USA Today. Gannett Company, Inc. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  2. "BVB: C-USA Adds TCU, Tarleton State and Missouri State as Affiliate Members for Beach Volleyball" (Press release). Conference USA. May 11, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  3. "Conference USA to Add Bowling for 2023-24 Season" (Press release). Conference USA. May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
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