After marking its 15-year milestone
during the 2009-10 sea-
son, Conference USA is
still going strong. From
the beginning, dedication
to excellence has been
the league’s guiding prin-
ciple and remains today
a common thread for a
promising future. C-USA
is home to 12 nationally
prominent, tradition-rich members in East
Carolina, Houston, Marshall, Memphis, Rice,
SMU, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB,
UCF and UTEP. This combination enhances
men’s and women’s programs that are
immersed in athletic success and academic
prowess. Together, we are committed to
excellence, integrity and leadership in athlet-
ics, academics and in our communities.
All C-USA institutions sponsor Division
I-A football, along with several other men’s
and women’s athletic programs, many
of which compete regularly for NCAA
Championships. C-USA sponsors competition in 20 sports - nine for men (baseball,
basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis and indoor and outdoor track and
field) and 11 for women (basketball, cross
country, golf, rowing, softball, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor
track and field and volleyball).
The league sponsors numerous academic awards, including the Commissioner’s
Honor Roll and the Commissioner’s
Academic Medal, indicative of outstanding
achievement in the classroom.
C-USA annually awards 12 postgraduate
scholarships, along with the Sport Academic
Award, Scholar Athletes of the Year and the
Institutional Academic Excellence Award.
Conference USA also added a Spirit of
Service Award, recognizing student-athletes
three times a year for a combination of
significant community service efforts, good
academic standing and participation in their
elected sport.
Britton
Banowsky
Commissioner
Success On The Playing Field
Football
Men’s Basketball
• Consistently rated as one of the top
basketball leagues in the country
• 97 postseason teams
( 47 NCAA, 39 NIT, 6 CBI, 5 CIT)
• One National Championship title game
appearance
• Three Final Four teams
• Seven Elite Eight NCAA Tournament teams
• One NIT Champion and four NIT
semifinalists
• Inaugural CBI Champion
Women’s Basketball
• 46 NCAA Tournament appearances
• 36 WNIT appearances
• One team in the NCAA Sweet 16
• Two WNIT semifinalists
• One WBI Champion
Baseball
• 53 NCAA appearances
• Six College World Series appearances
(2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 and
2001), including five of the last seven
• 13 Super Regional appearances
• Has produced at least four NCAA teams in
eight of the last 10 seasons
In addition, 35 volleyball teams, 55
men’s and women’s soccer teams and
30 softball teams have earned NCAA
Tournament bids. C-USA has sent three
men’s soccer teams to the NCAA College
Cup, five softball teams to the Women’s
College World Series and three volleyball
teams to the Sweet 16. The league has
also had six national champions in NCAA
track and field competition, one national
champion in diving and numerous NCAA
individual and team competitors in cross
country, golf, swimming, tennis and track
and field. Overall, Conference USA teams
and individuals have made more than 600
NCAA appearances.
Success Off The Field
C-USA institutions are among the nation’s
best in academic performance among
student-athletes, bolstered by the fact that
student-athletes at league schools have a
higher graduation rate than the general
student population. Among C-USA’s 5,000
student-athletes, there are champions off
the playing field as well. In 15 years, 153
student-athletes earned national ESPN The
Magazine Academic All-America honors,
while 541 were named All-District. In addition, more than 20,000 student-athletes
have been named to the Commissioner’s
Honor Roll or received the Commissioner’s
Academic Medal, indicative of outstanding
achievement in the classroom.
C-USA On TV
C-USA enjoys significant television
exposure through a multi-tiered selection
process that is rooted in partnerships with
FOX Sports Media Group and CBS Sports
Network. By partnering with FOX Sports
Media Group and extending an existing
partnership with CBS Sports Network, the
league has substantially increased the number of national and regional appearances for
football, men’s and women’s basketball, and
all other conference sports.
C-USA Digital Network
The C-USA Digital Network will officially launch in August of 2011. Network
programming will include live streaming
of non-televised events, video on demand,
a weekly C-USA studio show, podcasting,
regular season and championship event
highlights and C-USA produced feature
stories. Monthly and yearly subscriptions
will offer access to events offered on all 12
of the C-USA member institution’s athletic
websites as well as C-USA network programming.
C-USA In The Community
The conference’s footprint is concentrated with 12 members in nine states and
a combined area population of nearly
17 million. More than 1. 1 million living
alumni represent C-USA schools across the
nation. With a renewed commitment to
community involvement, the conference has
begun development of several initiatives to
maintain strong ties in C-USA cities, as well
as with fans and alumni across the country. C-USA schools also place a priority on
giving back to their communities through
volunteer service with local and national
organizations.
