# Conference USA baseball tournament

The Conference USA baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for Conference USA (C-USA). The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The tournament format, which has changed several times, currently consists of an eight-team double-elimination tournament format, in which the winners of two four-team brackets play in a single-game final. Rice, which has won the tournament seven times, is the most successful team in the tournament's history.

## History

The tournament was first held in 1996, the first season after Conference USA was formed from the merger of the Metro Conference and the Great Midwest Conference.

### 1996–1999

From 1996 to 1999, the tournament format consisted of an eight-team double-elimination tournament preceded by a single-game play-in round. The play-in round determined which of the lowest seeds (by regular season conference record) would qualify for the eight-team bracket. In 1996, when the league had nine baseball-sponsoring schools, the play-in round included the 8th and 9th seeds. When Houston joined from the Southwest Conference prior to the 1997 season, the play-in round featured the 7th–10th seeds. The eight-team double-elimination tournament consisted of two four-team double-elimination brackets, the winners of which met in a single-game final.

### 2000–2009

In the 2000 tournament, the play-in round was eliminated, and the top eight seeds qualified for the eight-team double-elimination tournament automatically. The eight-team bracket followed the same format as it had from 1996 to 1999.

### 2010

In 2010, the tournament format was changed from double-elimination to round robin. The top six regular season finishers qualified for the tournament field, which consisted of two three-team "pods." Pod 1 included the 1st, 4th, and 5th seeds, and Pod 2 included the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th seeds. Each team played three preliminary games, two against its podmates and one against a team from the opposite group. The cross-group games matched up the seeds as follows: 1st vs. 6th, 2nd vs. 5th, and 3rd vs. 4th. The winner of each round robin pod advanced to a single-game final.

### 2011–2013

In 2011, the round robin format was expanded to the top eight regular season finishers. The tournament field consisted of two four-team pods. Pod 1 included the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 8th seeds, and Pod 2 included the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th seeds. Each team played three preliminary games, one against each member of its pod. The winner of each pod advanced to a single game.

### 2014–Present

Beginning in 2014, the format returned to the eight team double-elimination format used from 1996 through 2009.

## Champions

| Year | School | Site | MVP |
| 1996 | Tulane | Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS | Jason Fitzgerald (Tulane) |
| 1997 | Houston | Turchin Stadium • New Orleans, LA | Scottie Scott (Houston) |
| 1998 | Tulane | Zephyr Field • New Orleans, LA | Brian Hughes (Tulane) |
| 1999 | Tulane | USA Stadium • Millington, TN | Mickey McKee (Tulane) |
| 2000 | Houston | Florida Power Park • St. Petersburg, FL | Jarrod Bitter (Houston) |
| 2001 | Tulane | Zephyr Field • New Orleans, LA | Barth Melius (Tulane) |
| 2002 | East Carolina | Grainger Stadium • Kinston, NC | Darryl Lawhorn (East Carolina) |
| 2003 | Southern Miss | Turchin Stadium • New Orleans, LA | Clint King (Southern Miss) |
| 2004 | TCU | Cougar Field • Houston, TX | Austin Adams (TCU) |
| 2005 | TCU Tulane | Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS | Nathan Southard (Tulane) |
| 2006 | Rice | Reckling Park • Houston, TX | Joe Savery (Rice) |
| 2007 | Rice | Clark-LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC | Aaron Luna (Rice) |
| 2008 | Houston | Turchin Stadium • New Orleans, LA | Bryan Pounds (Houston) |
| 2009 | Rice | Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS | Anthony Rendon (Rice) |
| 2010 | Southern Miss | Cougar Field • Houston, TX | Scott Copeland (Southern Miss) |
| 2011 | Rice | Trustmark Park • Pearl, MS | Tyler Duffey (Rice) |
| 2012 | UAB | Trustmark Park • Pearl, MS | Michael Busby (UAB) |
| 2013 | Rice | Reckling Park • Houston, TX | Christian Stringer (Rice) |
| 2014 | Rice | Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS | Michael Aquino (Rice) |
| 2015 | FIU | Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS | Josh Anderson (FIU) |
| 2016 | Southern Miss | Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS | Daniel Keating (Southern Miss) |
| 2017 | Rice | MGM Park • Biloxi, MS | Glenn Otto (Rice) |
| 2018 | Southern Miss | MGM Park • Biloxi, MS | Mason Strickland (Southern Miss) |
| 2019 | Southern Miss | MGM Park • Biloxi, MS | Matt Wallner (Southern Miss) |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic |
| 2021 | Old Dominion | J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park • Ruston, LA | Tommy Bell (Old Dominion) |
| 2022 | Louisiana Tech | Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS | Taylor Young (Louisiana Tech) |
| 2023 | Charlotte | Reckling Park • Houston, TX | Cam Fisher (Charlotte) |
| 2024 | Dallas Baptist | J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park • Ruston, LA | Alex Pendergast (Dallas Baptist) |
* ↑ TCU and Tulane were declared co-champions by Conference USA in 2005 due to a cancelled championship game during severe weather.
* ↑ Trustmark Park opted out of its contract to host the tournament in 2013. Conference USA announced that it would be held at Reckling Park instead.

### By school

End of the 2024 tournament, updated.
| School | Appearances | W-L | Pct | Tourney Titles | Title Years |
| Rice | 15 | 38–18 | .679 | 7 | 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 |
| Tulane | 17 | 39–23 | .629 | 5 | 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005 |
| Southern Miss | 26 | 60–42 | .588 | 5 | 2003, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2019 |
| Houston | 17 | 36–28 | .563 | 3 | 1997, 2000, 2008 |
| TCU | 4 | 9–5 | .643 | 2 | 2004, 2005 |
| Louisiana Tech | 8 | 17–15 | .531 | 1 | 2022 |
| Charlotte | 13 | 22–23 | .489 | 1 | 2023 |
| Old Dominion | 7 | 11–12 | .478 | 1 | 2021 |
| East Carolina | 13 | 20–22 | .476 | 1 | 2002 |
| Dallas Baptist | 2 | 7–1 | .875 | 1 | 2024 |
| FIU | 6 | 6–10 | .375 | 1 | 2015 |
| UAB | 18 | 19–33 | .365 | 1 | 2012 |
| Sam Houston | 1 | 1-2 | .333 | | |
| New Mexico State | 1 | 0-2 | .000 | | |
| Florida Atlantic | 8 | 16–15 | .516 | | |
| South Florida | 9 | 15–17 | .469 | | |
| UTSA | 8 | 11–13 | .458 | | |
| Memphis | 12 | 15–22 | .405 | | |
| Marshall | 6 | 8–12 | .400 | | |
| Saint Louis | 5 | 6–10 | .375 | | |
| Middle Tennessee | 6 | 6–12 | .333 | | |
| Liberty | 1 | 2-2 | .500 | | |
| Cincinnati | 6 | 5–9 | .357 | | |
| Western Kentucky | 4 | 6–8 | .429 | | |
| UCF | 6 | 5–11 | .313 | | |
| Louisville | 10 | 8–19 | .296 | | |
* Bold indicate school currently sponsors baseball in Conference USA.
* Italics indicate school no longer sponsors baseball in Conference USA.