Conference USA Conference USA ( C - USA ) is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States . The conference participates in the NCAA ' s Division I in all sports . C - USA ' s offices are located in the Las Colinas business district of the Dallas suburb of Irving , Texas . C - 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 . To even out at 12 members ( because Dayton , VCU , and Virginia Tech were left out of the merger ) the conference invited the University of Houston , but UH could not start C - USA play for a year due to committing to being in the Southwest Conference in its final year . The conference immediately started competition in all sports , except football which started in 1996 . In 2011 , Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference announced a plan for a football only alliance . Then on February 12 , 2012 , the league announced that it would dissolve in order to form an new legal entity merging its remaining members , the Mountain West and two to eight more schools . However , because of financial issues related to NCAA rules , both conferences backed away from a full merger ; as of April 2012 , the likeliest scenario is now an all - sports alliance in which both conferences retain their separate identities . Member schools . Current members . Pink denotes schools that will be departing for the Big East Conference on July 1 , 2013 . < br > Yellow denotes a school that will be departing for the Big East Conference on July 1 , 2014 . < br > † - East Carolina will move their football program to the Big East Conference on July 1 , 2014 . C - USA rules do not allow them to remain as a non - football member of C - USA but they have yet to identify the conference to which their other teams will move . < br > < nowiki > * < / nowiki > - Houston was a founding member of C - USA in 1995 but did not begin competition until 1996 because of its commitments to the final year of competition in the Southwest Conference . Future members . On May 4 , 2012 , C - USA announced that Charlotte , FIU , LA Tech , North Texas , and UTSA would join the league on July 1 , 2013 . A couple weeks later on May 17 , 2012 , Old Dominion announced they would join C - USA on July 1 , 2013 . Old Dominion will play eight conference opponents in football 2014 and be eligible for the C - USA championship , but will not be eligible for postseason play as the team is transitioning to FBS . Charlotte will officially begin conference play in football in the 2015 season . On November 28 , 2012 , it was announced that Middle Tennessee State University of Murfreesboro , Tennessee and Florida Atlantic University of Boca Raton , Florida would make the move to C - USA , joining FIU and North Texas universities as recent Sun Belt conference defectors . History . C - 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 . To even out at 12 members ( because Dayton , VCU , and Virginia Tech were left out of the merger ) the conference invited the University of Houston , but UH could not start C - USA play for a year due to committing to being in the Southwest Conference in its final year . The conference immediately started competition in all sports , except football which started in 1996 . The conference saw radical changes for the 2005 – 06 academic year . The stage for these changes was set in 2003 , when the Atlantic Coast Conference successfully lured Miami and Virginia Tech to make a move from the Big East Conference in 2004 . Boston College would later make the same move , joining the ACC in 2005 . In response to that series of moves , which depleted the Big East football conference , the Big East looked to Conference USA to attract replacements . 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 ) . Another two schools ( Charlotte and Saint Louis ) left for the Atlantic 10 ; TCU joined the Mountain West ; and a ninth member , Army , which was C - USA football - only , opted to become an independent in that sport again . With the loss of these teams , C - USA lured six teams from other conferences : UCF and Marshall from the MAC , as well as Rice , SMU , Tulsa , and later UTEP from the WAC . Note that UCF played in the MAC for football only ; for all other sports , it was a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference . With C - USA ' s membership now consisting of 12 schools , all of which sponsor football , the conference has adopted a two - division alignment . In 2013 , C - USA will enter its next phase with the departure of four schools for the Big East Conference ( Houston , Memphis , SMU , and UCF ) . This was again the result of Big East schools leaving for the ACC , this time being Syracuse and Pittsburgh . 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 . 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 . As a result , both C - USA and the MWC backed away from a full merger . As of April 2012 , the likeliest scenario is an all - sports alliance in which both conferences retain separate identities . ( For men ' s soccer , there is a likelihood that the MWC , SEC , and C - USA along with the one Sun Belt member , that sponsor the sport , will play under the C - USA ' s men ' s soccer program . The MWC , 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 , leaving for the Big West in 2013 , 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 Florida International ( also in C - USA for the sport ) . ) For the 2013 - 14 season C - USA invited five new members to join their conference , with all accepting . UTSA and Louisiana Tech will join from the WAC . North Texas will join from the Sun Belt . Old Dominion , which already houses five of its sports in C - USA , will move the rest of its athletic program from the CAA ( except for field hockey and wrestling , which are respectively joining the Big East and MAC because C - USA does not sponsor those sports ) and upgrade its football program from the Football Championship Subdivision . Charlotte will return from the A - 10 and accelerate its recently established football program set to begin play in 2013 as an FCS school to FBS in 2015 with full conference rights in 2016 . Also Florida International , another Sun Belt member that joined C - USA for men ' s soccer in 2005 , will become a full all - sports member in 2013 . On November 27 , 2012 , it was announced that Tulane would leave the conference to join the Big East in all sports and East Carolina would join the Big East for football only . Conference USA responded by adding Middle Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic , both from the Sun Belt . Sports . Conference USA sponsors championship competition in nine men ' s and eleven women ' s NCAA sanctioned sports . Twelve schools , including future members Florida International and Old Dominion , are Affiliate members for six sports . Football . " For the most recent season , see 2012 Conference USA football season . " C - USA champions Bowl games Conference USA has the following bowl tie - ins for the 2013 season : The C - USA champion will receive an automatic berth in one of the five Bowl Championship Series ( BCS ) bowl games if they are the highest ranked non - automatic qualifying conference champion and either of the following : Any C - USA team ranked in the top 14 of the BCS Rankings and that has at least nine wins is eligible to be selected for an at - large BCS berth by the individual bowl committees . Rivalries Football rivalries involving C - USA teams include : Men ' s basketball . " For the most recently completed season , see 2011 – 12 Conference USA men ' s basketball season . " Championships . Current C - USA champions . Fall 2012 Winter 2012 Spring 2012 NCAA champions . No team has won an NCAA team championship as a member of C - USA . However , the following current and future C - USA teams have won NCAA Division I team championships when they were not affiliated with C - USA : Media . In 2005 , C - USA began a long - term television contract with CBS Sports Network ( formerly known as CBS College Sports Network and before known as CSTV ) to carry a variety of sports . The deal largely replaced the one it had with ESPN and ESPN Plus , though some C - USA football and men ' s basketball games are still carried by the ESPN networks . The college basketball men ' s championship game can be seen on CBS Sports Network . Beginning in 2011 - 12 , CBS Sports Network will be joined by FSN for football and select men ' s & women ' s basketball games . Some games , including the C - USA Football Championship game may be moved to Fox or FX .