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 joining in July 2024, and two joining in July 2025. One school is confirmed to be leaving in 2026, and another will leave no later than 2027.

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 12 "full members" which play most of their sports in the league; Liberty (which joined in 2023) is the only fully private school. Delaware (which joined 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.

School	Location	Founded	Type (affiliation)	Nickname	Joined
University of Delaware	Newark, Delaware	1746	Private–public hybrid	Blue Hens[a]	2025
Florida International University (FIU)	Miami, Florida[b]	1965	Public	Panthers	2013[c]
Jacksonville State University	Jacksonville, Alabama	1883	Public	Gamecocks	2023[d]
Kennesaw State University	Kennesaw, Georgia[e]	1963	Public	Owls	2024
Liberty University	Lynchburg, Virginia	1971	Private	Flames & Lady Flames	2023
Louisiana Tech University[f]	Ruston, Louisiana	1894	Public	Bulldogs & Lady Techsters	2013
Middle Tennessee State University	Murfreesboro, Tennessee	1911	Public	Blue Raiders	2005
Missouri State University	Springfield, Missouri	1905	Public	Bears & Lady Bears[g]	2025[h]
New Mexico State University	Las Cruces, New Mexico	1888	Public	Aggies	2023
Sam Houston State University (Sam Houston)	Huntsville, Texas	1879	Public	Bearkats	2023
University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)[i]	El Paso, Texas	1914	Public	Miners	2005
Western Kentucky University (WKU)	Bowling Green, Kentucky	1906	Public	Hilltoppers & Lady Toppers	2014[j]

1. The "Blue Hens" nickname is sometimes preceded by the word "Fightin'".
2. The FIU campus has a Miami mailing address, but is in the unincorporated Miami-Dade County community of Westchester.
3. FIU was a member in men's soccer only from 2005 to 2013.
4. Jacksonville State joined CUSA beach volleyball in 2022, a year before it became a full member.
5. The KSU campus has a Kennesaw mailing address, but is in unincorporated Cobb County.
6. Louisiana Tech will join the Sun Belt Conference no later than 2027.
7. The women's beach volleyball team is nicknamed "Beach Bears" instead of "Lady Bears".
8. Missouri State joined CUSA beach volleyball in 2023, two years before becoming a full member.
9. UTEP will join the Mountain West Conference in 2026.
10. WKU was a member in women's swimming and diving only in the 2013–14 school year.

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, four play women's beach volleyball, six 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]

School	Location	Founded	Type	Nickname	CUSA Sport(s)	Joined	Main Conference
Arkansas State University	Jonesboro, Arkansas	1909	Public	Red Wolves	Bowling	2023	Sun Belt
Dallas Baptist University	Dallas, Texas	1898	Private	Patriots	Baseball	2022	Lone Star (Division II)
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, Florida	1961	Public	Owls	Beach volleyball	2023[a]	American
University of South Florida	Tampa, Florida	1956	Public	Bulls	Beach volleyball	2025	American
Tarleton State University	Stephenville, Texas	1899	Public	Texans	Beach volleyball	2023	WAC
Tulane University	New Orleans, Louisiana	1834	Private	Green Wave	Beach volleyball	2022	American
					Bowling	2023
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)	Birmingham, Alabama	199	Public	Blazers	Beach volleyball	2023[a]	American
Valparaiso University	Valparaiso, Indiana	1859	Private	Beacons	Bowling	2023	MVC
Vanderbilt University	Nashville, Tennessee	1873	Private	Commodores	Bowling	2023	SEC
Wichita State University	Wichita, Kansas	1895	Public	Shockers	Bowling	2024	American
Youngstown State University	Youngstown, Ohio	1908	Public	Penguins	Bowling	2023	Horizon

Notes

1. Measured from FAU's and UAB's move to the American Athletic Conference.

Former full members

No fewer than 23 schools have left CUSA since it was founded. Of these schools, 11 are now members of the American Athletic Conference. Three others had been in The American before joining the Big 12 Conference in 2023, and another left The American for the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024.

School	Location	Founded	Type	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current Conference
University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte)	Charlotte, North Carolina	1946	Public	49ers	1995, 2013[a]	2023	The American
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	1819	Public	Bearcats	1995	2005	Big 12
DePaul University	Chicago, Illinois	1898	Private	Blue Demons	1995	2005	Big East
East Carolina University	Greenville, North Carolina	1907	Public	Pirates	2001[b]	2014	The American
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, Florida	1961	Public	Owls	2013	2023	The American
University of Houston	Houston, Texas	1907	Public	Cougars	1996[c]	2013	Big 12
University of Louisville	Louisville, Kentucky	1798	Public	Cardinals	1995	2005	ACC
Marshall University	Huntington, West Virginia	1837	Public	Thundering Herd	2005	2022	Sun Belt
Marquette University	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	1881	Private	Golden Eagles	1995	2005	Big East
University of Memphis	Memphis, Tennessee	1912	Public	Tigers	1995	2013	The American
University of North Texas	Denton, Texas	1890	Public	Mean Green	2013	2023	The American
Old Dominion University	Norfolk, Virginia	1930	Public	Monarchs	2013[d]	2022	Sun Belt
Rice University	Houston, Texas	1912	Private	Owls	2005	2023	The American
Saint Louis University	St. Louis, Missouri	1818	Private	Billikens	1995	2005	Atlantic 10
Southern Methodist University (SMU)	University Park, Texas	1911	Private	Mustangs	2005	2013	ACC
University of South Florida[e]	Tampa, Florida	1956	Public	Bulls	1995	2005	The American
University of Southern Mississippi	Hattiesburg, Mississippi	1910	Public	Golden Eagles	1995	2022	Sun Belt
Texas Christian University (TCU)[f]	Fort Worth, Texas	1873	Private	Horned Frogs	2001	2005	Big 12
Tulane University[g]	New Orleans, Louisiana	1834	Private	Green Wave	1995	2014	The American
University of Tulsa	Tulsa, Oklahoma	1894	Private	Golden Hurricane	2005	2014	The American
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)	Birmingham, Alabama	1969	Public	Blazers	1995	2023	The American
University of Central Florida (UCF)	Orlando, Florida	1963	Public	Knights	2005	2013	Big 12
University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)	San Antonio, Texas	1969	Public	Roadrunners	2013	2023	The 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. South Florida returned to CUSA as a beach volleyball member in 2025.
6. TCU returned to CUSA as a beach volleyball member in 2023, and left a year later when the Big 12 Conference started a beach volleyball league.
7. 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. (This does not include the four current full members that had been associate members.) 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).