Conference USA (also referred to as the C-USA or CUSA) is a college athletic conference with its member schools in the Southern United States. Conference USA is an athletic conference that is focused on building the next generation of great college programs with innovative partnerships, dynamic leadership and diverse membership.All member schools of the Conference USA participate in the NCAA Division 1 Basketball.
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The C-USA prides itself on upholding unwavering standards of success and integrity in the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. They have a strong commitment to their student athletes and keeping excellence and leadership in basketball competition, and in academics and the community. The C-USA remains at the forefront as they embark on its 28th season.
Conference USA Member Schools
Currently, 11 member schools in the Conference USA have basketball programs. Below you can find the list of all the member schools.
- The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte)
- Florida International University (FIU)
- Florida Atlantic University (FAU)
- Louisiana Tech University
- Middle Tennessee State University
- University of North Texas
- Rice University
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
- The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)
- The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)
- Western Kentucky University (WKU)
Future C-USA Members
With the Conference USA now in its third decade, with an unwavering commitment to excellence, integrity, and leadership in competition, academics, and community, they have announced the following schools with be joining the C-USA.
2023 New Joins:
- Jacksonville State – become a member on July 1st
- Liberty University – become a member on July 1st
- New Mexico State – become a member on July 1st
- Sam Houston – become a member on July 1st
2024 New Joins:
- Kennesaw State – become a member in 2024
Conference USA History
The Conference USA was formed in 1995 when it unveiled its name, logo and commissioner on April 24, 1995, in Chicago. C-USA quickly emerged as one of the nation’s top conferences. The C-USA’s headquarters were established in Chicago but after nine years here, they relocated to the current office in Dallas, Texas. Mike Slive was the conferences first Comissioner who’s spot was taken over by Britton Banowsky in October 2002. October 2015 saw Judy MacLeod become the league’s third Commissioner.
NOTE: The league’s founding members were: Charlotte, Cincinnati, DePaul, Houston, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, Saint Louis, Southern Miss, Tulane, UAB and USF.
Eleven of the institutions began athletic participation in 1995, with Houston joining the competition in the fall of 1996. The C-USA added East Carolina (September, 1996) and the United States Military Academy (March, 1997) as football members. ECU began league competition in 1997; Army in 1998 and UAB began football play in 1999. The league brought in TCU and ECU (1999) for all sports and they began competition in 2001. USF started C-USA football in 2003. Marshall, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UCF and UTEP became full-time Conference USA members for all sports in 2005.
In 2013, charter member Charlotte returned to C-USA and was joined by new members FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Old Dominion and UTSA. WKU joined the league on July 1, 2014.
In November 2021, Conference USA added Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State and Sam Houston State to join the league on July 1, 2023.
Conference USA has significant representation in the NCAA governance structure with the presidents of the member schools serving as the league’s Board of Directors.
Conference USA Competition & Awards
Conference USA sponsors competition in 18 sports – eight for men (baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field) and 10 for women (basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball).
Success is not limited to athletic achievement as more than 265 Conference USA student-athletes have garnered Academic All-America honors, and more than 877 have achieved academic all-district laurels and thousands of student-athletes have earned a college degree.
The C-USA league promotes the scholar-athlete ideal, honoring outstanding academic achievement with numerous conference-sponsored awards, including the Commissioner’s Honor Roll and the Commissioner’s Academic Medal as well as sport-specific All-Academic teams.
C-USA Scholarships
C-USA annually awards 11 Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarships. Other notable awards they offer are the:
- Sport Academic Awards,
- Scholar-Athletes of the Year
- Institutional Academic Excellence Award
- Spirit of Service Award – given three times each year (to recognize student-athletes who excel on the field, in the classroom and give back to the community)
With a commitment to community involvement, the Conference USA has developed several initiatives to maintain strong ties in C-USA cities, fans and alumni across the country. The C-USA member schools place a priority on giving back to their communities through volunteer service with local and national organizations.
C-USA Success on the Basketball Court
In Men’s Basketball the following achievements have been attained so far:
- 142 postseason teams (58 NCAA, 53 NIT, 15 CBI, 14 CIT, 2 LV16)
- One National Championship title game appearance
- Three Final Four teams
- Seven Elite Eight NCAA Tournament teams
- One NIT Champion and six NIT semifinalists
- Two CBI Champions
- One CIT Championship
- Inaugural Las Vegas 16 Champion
In addition to this, C-USA schools are among the nation’s best in academic performance of student-athletes. The student-athletes at the league schools have a higher graduation rate than the general student population. Among C-USA’s 5,300 student athletes you will find that they are also champions off the court as well as on the court.
In 27 years, more than 52,000 student-athletes have been named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll or received the Commissioner’s Academic Medal. The Honor Roll is awarded to student athletes in Conference sponsored sports (which includes basketball) that have achieved a 3.0 cumulative GPA or above, while Academic Medal recipients have achieved a 3.75 cumulative GPA or above.
Conference USA – Media
C-USA enjoys significant exposure through various multimedia partners. These partnerships include:
The multi-tiered selection process that is rooted in partnering with all entities has substantially increased the number of national, regional and digital appearances for men’s (and women’s) basketball and conference Olympic sports.
CUSA.TV
Conference USA introduced CUSA TV in the fall of 2016. It is powered by Sidearm Sports. CUSA TV includes the following:
- Live streaming of non-televised events
- Video on demand
- Specialty events
- Regular-season and championship event highlights
- Press conferences
- Feature stories
It is available exclusively at CUSA.tv. It is your one-stop online access to the league and each school has its own branded channel and URL.
C-USA Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC)
In 1998, the NCAA adopted proposal No. 98-99 which mandated that Division 1 conferences have a student athlete advisory committee. So, the Conference USA formed what is now know as “SAAC”. The SAAC consists of 23 members (one male and one female from each school) and one national representative. Out of the 22 members, one member serves as Chair and one member serves as Vice Chair with the Committee meeting five times a year which includes one in-person meeting.
What does the SAAC Provide?
The Committee provides insight into the student athlete experience and offers input on the rules, regulations and polices that affect student-athletes’ lives within Conference USA. The Committee also functions to strengthen the communication between the campus and national committees.
What does the SAAC do?
There are 4 main jobs that the SAAC aim to do, these are detailed in the following list:
- The Committee reviews all issues relating to the student athlete experiences and welfare. Through increased communication and networking, the SAAC hopes to better represent the views of all student-athletes.
- To provide a forum for student athletes to express ideas, concerns, and opinions relating to NCAA and Conference legislation plus other issues that affect their welfare.
- To maintain a positive environment that fosters a healthy relationship between athletic administrators and student-athletes.
- To provide an environment that values cultural diversity and gender equity among student-athletes and community service.
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