98-532: The title Conference-USA Championship Game may refer to several sporting events that are sponsored by the Conference USA . Conference USA Football Championship Game crowns the champion of the C-USA football season. Conference USA men's basketball tournament crowns the champion of the C-USA men's basketball season. Conference USA women's basketball tournament crowns
196-504: A Division I realignment that affected a number of conferences around the country, the Big East asked Villanova to consider becoming a football member. The school once considered the offer, which required the school to substantially expand its football budget, as well as expand its stadium to meet FBS requirements or find another suitable venue in the Philadelphia area . Villanova presented
294-461: A "brand refresh" on July 1, 2023, the same day that Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State, and Sam Houston joined. The former abbreviation of "C-USA" was retired in favor of "CUSA", and the logo was slightly updated. On November 27, 2023, Pete Thamel reported on X that Conference USA was expected to add Delaware as a new member for the 2025–26 season. On Tuesday, November 28, 2023, both CUSA and Delaware announced on their websites and social
392-682: A $ 110 million pool that had accumulated from entry fees, exit fees, and proceeds earned from appearances in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. On April 3, the football-playing schools, which retained the old Big East's structure and its automatic BCS bid, announced they would operate as the American Athletic Conference starting on July 1. Full members Full members (non-football) Assoc. members (football only) New Big East American Athletic Conference Other Conference Other Conference Other Conference Mike Tranghese retired at
490-493: A condition of membership, and BYU was unwilling to do so. TCU was to join the Big East as a full member in 2012 before accepting an invitation to the Big 12. Houston, Memphis, SMU, and UCF accepted invitations to the Big East as full members. The Big East Conference sponsored championship competition in eleven men's and thirteen women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Temple was an Associate member for football, and Loyola, Maryland
588-598: A game in it. With Boise State staying in the Mountain West, it was noted that San Diego State would indeed try to rejoin the Mountain West as well. On January 16, 2013, reports surfaced that SDSU would indeed stay in the Mountain West. Rumors of the MWC looking at potentially adding Houston and SMU as its 13th and 14th football members, both of which had stated they would join the Big East in 2013, continued to circulate as well. In February 2013, multiple media reports indicated that
686-508: A history of success at the national level in basketball throughout its history, while its shorter (1991 to 2013) football program, created by inviting one college and four other "associate members" (their football programs only) into the conference, resulted in two national championships . In basketball , Big East teams made 18 Final Four appearances and won 7 NCAA championships as Big East members through 2013 (UConn with three, Georgetown, Syracuse, Louisville and Villanova with one each). Of
784-530: A month before the game. West Virginia finished the season ranked No. 6 and Cincinnati finished ranked #17. The 2009 season saw Cincinnati finish the regular season undefeated at 12–0 and climb to No. 3 in the final BCS standings. After completing a fourth quarter comeback to beat Pittsburgh on the final day of the season, the Bearcats narrowly missed a spot in the BCS national championship game, as No. 2 Texas pulled out
882-509: A national team championship while a member of the conference is Jacksonville State , which won the 2024 bowling championship in its first season of both varsity bowling and CUSA membership. The only other school to have won such a championship while a CUSA member is Marshall , which moved to the Sun Belt Conference in 2022. Marshall won the 2020–21 men's soccer championship in May 2021 (with
980-699: A ninth member, Army , which was C-USA football-only, opted to become an independent in that sport again. With the loss of these members, CUSA lured six schools from other conferences: UCF and Marshall from the MAC , as well as Rice , SMU , Tulsa , and later UTEP from the WAC . UCF played in the MAC for football only; for all other sports, it was a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). With CUSA's membership now consisting of 12 schools, all of which sponsor football,
1078-527: A non-football playing conference that purchased the Big East Conference name. The remaining six football-playing members, three of whom had only joined the Big East in 2005 when the earlier exodus had started, joined with four schools from other conferences to become the American Athletic Conference (The American/AAC), which is the Big East's legal successor. The American retains the Big East's football structure and inherited its single automatic berth in
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#17328761652571176-557: A plan to the Big East football members on April 10, 2011, which included the use of PPL Park as a football stadium, but the league declined to schedule a vote to offer membership on the objections of Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Rutgers to the plan. On September 17, 2011, Syracuse, a charter member of the conference, and Pittsburgh announced that they would be leaving the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference . Both schools originally intended to fulfill their commitment to
1274-452: A settlement was reached with allowed West Virginia's departure for 2012 in exchange for sizable compensation. Syracuse and Pittsburgh then used the acquiescence of the Big East to West Virginia's departure to challenge the validity of their own commitment, and the Big East agreed to a settlement with both schools in July 2012 to allow their departure for the 2013 academic year. In December, after
1372-441: A year earlier than planned. At about this time, the BCS announced that it would adjust the automatic bids granted to its six founding conferences based on results from 2004 to 2007, and that there would be five, six, or seven such bids starting in 2008. The obvious inference was that soon the Big East might lose its bid. The conference's fortunes improved in 2005. The three new teams from Conference USA began play that year, restoring
1470-563: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Conference USA Conference USA ( CUSA ) is an intercollegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States . The conference participates in the NCAA 's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas . Member departing for
1568-463: The 1987 National Final to Indiana. Syracuse eventually won its first national title in 2003 , led by coach Boeheim and freshman Carmelo Anthony . Beginning with their first Big East championship in 1990, Connecticut has become the preeminent power in the Big East. Over the past two decades, UConn has made many deep runs in NCAA tournament, playing in the Elite 8 nine times and making four appearances in
1666-551: The 2010–11 season . Due to the strength of the Connecticut program, 2001 national champion and 2011 and 2012 national runner-up Notre Dame, and 2007 national runner-up Rutgers , the Big East has emerged as one of the major powers in women's college basketball . In 2009 two Big East schools met in the national championship game (Connecticut and Louisville ) and the South Florida women's basketball team defeated Kansas to become
1764-542: The American Athletic Conference , which had been rocked by the impending departure of three of its most prominent schools ( Cincinnati , Houston , UCF ) for the Big 12 Conference , was preparing to receive applications from six CUSA members: Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. ESPN reported the next day that The American had received all six schools' applications, and The American announced all six as future members on October 21, though it did not announce
1862-589: The Atlantic 10 Conference , where they have been a perennial powerhouse. On August 29, 2012, Loyola and the Patriot League announced that all Loyola athletic teams, including the school's Big East team in women's lacrosse, would join that conference on July 1, 2013. On September 12, 2012, Notre Dame announced it would follow Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC, joining that league in all sports except football. Notre Dame and
1960-515: The Catholic 7 would depart in July 2013, two years earlier than originally planned. On March 5, the Associated Press reported tentative details of a financial agreement: In exchange for selling both the Big East name and a contract with Madison Square Garden (MSG) to host the men's basketball tournament to the Catholic 7 , as well as $ 10 million, the football schools would receive $ 100 million of
2058-621: The Final Four , culminating in Villanova's stunning championship game victory over the heavily favored Georgetown Hoyas. The conference's 1985 success was nearly duplicated in 1987, when Syracuse and a surprising Providence both made the Final Four , followed by the Orangemen's narrow loss to Indiana University in the tournament final. Two years later, the Seton Hall Pirates also advanced to
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#17328761652572156-924: The Mountain West Conference in 2026. On November 5, 2024, the conference announced that former full member South Florida would join as an affiliate member in beach volleyball in 2025. In 2019, Conference USA inducted its first Hall of Fame class, comprising 20 student-athletes, three coaches, and two administrators. The inductees included former University of Cincinnati basketball player Kenyon Martin , baseball player Kevin Youkilis , and men's basketball head coach Bob Huggins . Conference USA sponsors championship competition in eight men's and 11 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Twelve schools are affiliate members—one in baseball, four in beach volleyball, six in bowling, and one in both beach volleyball and bowling. The most recent changes in sports sponsorship were
2254-400: The Mountain West Conference in 2026. In this table, all dates reflect the calendar year of entry into Conference USA, which for spring sports is the year before the start of competition. In this table, all dates reflect each school's actual entry into and departure from Conference USA. For spring sports, the joining date is the calendar year before the start of competition. For fall sports,
2352-479: The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship . In 1982, Penn State applied for membership, but was rejected, with only five schools in favor (Penn State needed six out of eight). It was long rumored that Syracuse cast the deciding vote against Penn State, but Mike Tranghese confirmed that this was not the case and that Syracuse had, in fact, voted for Penn State's inclusion. Penn State would loom large over
2450-491: The NCAA Men's tournament in 2006 and again matched their own record in both 2008 and 2010 . At the start of the 2008–2009 season, many sports analysts predicted that the conference would surpass the record by sending 10 teams to the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament . When the brackets were revealed, seven made it, but three of them (Louisville, Pittsburgh and Connecticut) gained No. 1 seeds, and Louisville earned
2548-593: The Navy Midshipmen accepted an invitation to join the Big East for football only starting in 2015. On February 9, 2012, the Big East invited the University of Memphis to join as a full member in all sports to begin play in 2013. On March 7, 2012, it was announced that Temple University would return to the conference for football in the 2012 season, filling the void left by West Virginia. Temple would join for all sports in 2013. Temple basketball would move over from
2646-450: The WAC , New Mexico State and Sam Houston . Liberty and New Mexico State previously played football as FBS independents , while Jacksonville State and Sam Houston played at the FCS level in their respective conferences. On October 7, 2022, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that current football-sponsoring ASUN member Kennesaw State was in talks to become the tenth member of Conference USA for
2744-727: The WNIT champions. In 2011 , UConn and Notre Dame both made the Final Four; the Irish defeated the Huskies in their semifinal but lost to Texas A&M in the NCAA Championship Game. The Irish returned to the championship game in 2012 , losing there to unbeaten Baylor . The final season under the original conference structure, 2012–13, saw three Big East teams make the Final Four —UConn, Notre Dame, and Louisville. UConn first defeated Notre Dame in
2842-552: The Yankee Conference , which merged with the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1997, then in 2007 the CAA took over management of the A-10 football conference (which happened after Northeastern University joined the CAA in 2005, giving them the six football-playing members needed to start sponsoring football, which was eventually dropped by Northeastern after 2009). In September 2010, in the wake of
2940-423: The 2011 football regular season was completed announcements were made that Boise State University and San Diego State University , both of the Mountain West Conference , would join the Big East in football only; and that Conference USA members University of Central Florida , Southern Methodist University , and the University of Houston would join in all sports for the 2013 academic year. On January 24, 2012,
3038-553: The 2012–13 academic year. Big East schools compete in Division I. Most of the football-playing schools play in Division I FBS, while Georgetown and Villanova have Division I FCS (formerly I-AA) football programs. Georgetown football competes in the Patriot League . Villanova has competed in the Colonial Athletic Association football conference since 1988, dating back to its time as a completely separate conference known as
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3136-666: The 2016 season, presumably keeping the school in CUSA for the immediate future. The return of football was later pushed back to 2017 with their first game in September. The Blazers won the 2018 conference championship their second year back and won the CUSA title again in 2020. Commissioner Britton Banowsky stepped down on September 15, 2015, to become the head of the College Football Playoff Foundation. Executive associate commissioner and chief operating officer Judy MacLeod
3234-565: The 2024 season, and that Florida Atlantic and UAB would remain in CUSA beach volleyball after otherwise departing for The American. On May 10, 2023, CUSA announced that it would add bowling , a women-only sport in the NCAA, effective in 2023–24. The Southland Bowling League , a single-sport conference established by the Southland Conference , was merged into CUSA. The bowling league added Wichita State when it elevated its club team to varsity status in 2024–25. The conference unveiled
3332-491: The 2024 season. One week later, CUSA officially announced Kennesaw State's 2024 entry. This was followed by the Sun Belt Conference adding beach volleyball for the 2023 season (2022–23 school year), taking with it the three full SBC members that had previously housed that sport in CUSA: Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, and Louisiana–Monroe. Southern Miss also left CUSA beach volleyball as part of its full-time move to
3430-405: The 27-month waiting period. TCU also reversed its decision and accepted an invitation from the Big 12 Conference to move there. On October 28, 2011, it was announced by the Big 12 Conference that West Virginia accepted its invitation to join, with membership beginning in 2012. This timeline was challenged by the Big East, and countersuits were launched by the school and conference. Eventually,
3528-462: The A-10 and accelerated its recently established football program, which was set to begin play in 2013 as an FCS school, to FBS in 2015 with full conference rights in 2016. 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 (ECU's membership was upgraded to all-sports in March 2013 after
3626-463: The ACC, while five schools moved to the Big East from Conference USA — Louisville , Cincinnati , South Florida , Marquette , and DePaul . The addition of the three football schools, along with Big East non-football member Connecticut moving up to the Big East football conference, ensured that the league would keep the minimum eight teams needed to keep its BCS bid. In addition, two traditional basketball teams, DePaul and Marquette, were added to gain
3724-529: The American Athletic Conference, Aresco continued as commissioner. The new Big East named Val Ackerman as commissioner on July 1, but reckons her as its fifth commissioner. As of the beginning of the 2012–13 academic year, there were 15 full members and two associate members of the Big East. On July 1, 2013, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Notre Dame joined the ACC. DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Villanova joined
3822-450: The Big East and joined the ACC. Syracuse and Pittsburgh departed the Big East on July 1, 2013; each paid the Big East $ 7.5 million to depart on that date. Notre Dame joined the ACC on July 1, 2013, while Louisville left for the ACC on July 1, 2014. Rutgers left for the Big Ten on July 1, 2014. Rutgers and West Virginia joined the Big East as full members in 1995. Virginia Tech joined
3920-778: The Big East as a full member in 2000. Temple was removed from the Big East as a football-only member after the 2004 football season. Temple was invited to the Big East as a full member in March 2012, with football returning in July 2012 and all other sports joining in July 2013. The following is a list of institutions which planned to join the Big East conference but later reneged. The Big East invited nine schools – four full time members ( University of Houston , Southern Methodist University , University of Memphis , University of Central Florida ) and, five as football-only members ( United States Air Force Academy , United States Naval Academy , Boise State University , Brigham Young University , San Diego State University ). To further stabilize
4018-468: The Big East as full members starting in the 1995–96 academic year, and Notre Dame , committed to its football independence, was offered a non-football membership effective the same year. Virginia Tech would be forced to wait until 2000–01 for full admission, and Temple remained a football-only member until 2004, when it was voted out of the conference due to poor attendance figures, lack of playing success, and inadequate facilities. Some have argued that
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4116-510: The Big East entered competition as a conference in 1991, after inviting five football colleges to become members of the Big East, joining three teams from the Big East whose football teams were competing as Division I independents ( Boston College , Pittsburgh and Syracuse ) to form a new Division I football league. The strength of this league earned the Big East an automatic berth in the Bowl Championship Series , when that series
4214-498: The Big East reached agreement on March 13, 2013; the exit took place July 1, 2013. On November 20, 2012, Rutgers announced it would be leaving the Big East to join the Big Ten Conference as a full member, effective with the start of the 2014–15 academic year. Rutgers' announcement came one day after the University of Maryland departed the ACC to join the Big Ten. One week later, on November 27, Tulane University accepted
4312-433: The Big East's full members, all but South Florida attended the Final Four, the most of any conference, though Marquette, DePaul, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh made all their trips before joining the Big East. In 2011, the Big East set the record for the most teams sent to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship by a single conference with eleven out of their sixteen teams qualifying. In football,
4410-403: The Big East's invitation to join as an all-sports member. East Carolina University 's football program also joined the Big East in 2014; both schools were previously with Conference USA. The following day the ACC voted to invite Louisville to join in 2014, making them the seventh school since 2004 to leave the Big East in favor of the ACC. On March 27, 2013, East Carolina's future membership in
4508-526: The Big East's non-football members, except ACC-bound Notre Dame , announced they were leaving to form a new conference which took the Big East name, leaving the football-playing members to become the American Athletic Conference ). Conference USA responded by adding Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic , both from the Sun Belt. On April 1, 2013, Conference USA announced it was adding Western Kentucky, also from
4606-512: The Big East, including three football-playing schools ( Cincinnati , Louisville , and South Florida ) and two non-football schools ( DePaul and Marquette ; both joined the New Big East in 2013). Another two schools ( Charlotte and Saint Louis ) left for the Atlantic 10 ; TCU joined the Mountain West (and is now in the Big 12 with several other former Southwest Conference members); and
4704-674: The Bowl Championship Series. However, both conferences claim 1979 as their founding date, and the same history up to 2013. As of the 2023–24 season, South Florida is the only full member of the original Big East that still plays in the AAC today. The Big East, often referred to as the Classic Big East, was founded in 1979 after new NCAA basketball scheduling requirements caused the athletic directors of independent schools Providence , St. John's , Georgetown , and Syracuse to discuss
4802-513: The Chicago and Milwaukee television markets and help the already solid basketball status of the conference. Meanwhile, Loyola University Maryland (then Loyola College in Maryland) also joined the Big East as an associate member in women's lacrosse for the 2005–06 academic year. In 2010, Texas Christian University accepted an invitation to join the conference as an all-sports member beginning in
4900-478: The Final Four. Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun 's program, led by such stars as Ray Allen , Richard "Rip" Hamilton , Caron Butler , Emeka Okafor and Kemba Walker , averaged nearly 26 wins per year during that time span, won numerous Big East regular season and tournament championships, and claimed the National Championship in 1999 , 2004 and 2011 . The conference got a then-record eight teams into
4998-469: The NCAA Championship Game, but were defeated by the Michigan Wolverines in an overtime heartbreaker. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, and Syracuse were the primary powers in the conference. UConn became a power in 1990 with a # 1 seed and a trip to the Elite 8 before being defeated by Duke. Georgetown was led by John Thompson Jr. , who was named three times as
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#17328761652575096-493: 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 CUSA and the MW backed away from a full merger. As of April 2012 , the likeliest scenario was an all-sports alliance in which both conferences retained separate identities. However, after the MW added more members, the alliance was apparently abandoned. For men's soccer, there
5194-626: The NCAA tournament including advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1982, 1983 and 1988 as well as their 1985 Championship season. Massimino coached for 19 seasons at Villanova, compiling a record of 357–241 (.596). In the NCAA tournament, Massimino had an incredible 20–10 record (.667). St. John's was led by Lou Carnesecca , who won the National Coach of the Year honor in 1983 and 1985. He led the Redmen (now
5292-479: The Nittany Lions. About a decade after the conference's inception, Big East members decided to become a major football conference and thus added five schools including Rutgers, Miami , Temple , Virginia Tech , and West Virginia – though only Miami would be offered full all-sports membership immediately. The inaugural Big East football season launched in 1991. West Virginia and Rutgers were offered admission to
5390-488: The Red Storm) to the 1985 Final Four, and made a post-season appearance in each of his 24 years at the helm. Syracuse has been led by alumnus Jim Boeheim since the 1977 season. He was named conference Coach of the Year in 1984 and 1991. During this period, the Orangemen won five regular season conference championships, three Big East tournaments, and were invited to the NCAA tournament every year but two (1981 and 1982), losing
5488-575: The SBC. CUSA would add three new beach volleyball members for that season; Jacksonville State joined CUSA for beach volleyball in advance of full membership that July, Tulane became an associate member, and full member UTEP added a new beach volleyball program. Tarleton announced on April 24, 2023, that it would join CUSA as an associate member for the school's first season of varsity beach volleyball in 2024; CUSA confirmed this on May 11, adding that Missouri State and TCU would also join in beach volleyball for
5586-482: The Sun Belt Conference on October 27, followed later in the week by Marshall. On March 29, 2022, CUSA agreed to allow Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss to move to the Sun Belt beginning July 1, 2022, a year earlier than initially announced. In response to these losses, on November 5, Conference USA announced the addition of four new members to start the 2023 athletic season. These included two ASUN schools, Liberty and Jacksonville State , along with two from
5684-643: The Sun Belt Conference. Old Dominion , which already housed five of its sports in CUSA, moved the rest of its athletic program from the CAA (except for field hockey , women's lacrosse and wrestling , with the three sports joining the new Big East , the Atlantic Sun , and the MAC respectively because CUSA does not sponsor those sports) and upgraded its football program from the Football Championship Subdivision . Charter member Charlotte returned from
5782-646: The Sun Belt, to offset Tulsa's departure to The American in all sports which was confirmed the next day. The board of trustees in the University of Alabama system (of which UAB is a member) voted to shut down that football program on December 2, 2014, in a highly controversial move that many have attributed to a pro-Tuscaloosa bias (including trustees such as Paul Bryant Jr. , son and namesake of Alabama football coaching legend Bear Bryant ). According to Conference USA bylaws, member schools must sponsor football. In January 2015, UAB announced an independent re-evaluation of
5880-538: The champion of the C-USA women's basketball season. Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Conference USA Championship Game . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conference_USA_Championship_Game&oldid=1221379621 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
5978-502: The conference Coach of the Year. They won five regular season conference championships and six Big East tournaments to go with their 1984 national title. Villanova was coached by Rollie Massimino , who led them to the 1985 NCAA Championship in a historic 66–64 win over No. 1 ranked Georgetown where forward Ed Pinckney was named the Most Outstanding Player . In their first 11 seasons in the Big East, Villanova made 9 trips to
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#17328761652576076-426: The conference adopted a two-division alignment. In 2013, CUSA entered its next phase with the departure of four schools (Houston, Memphis, SMU, and UCF) for the American Athletic Conference , the football-sponsoring portion of the former Big East Conference. This was again the result of Big East schools leaving for the ACC, this time being Syracuse and Pittsburgh , as well as Notre Dame for non-football sports. It
6174-415: The conference during future rounds of realignment as the Nittany Lions had the potential to shore up the conference once football members began to join. Following the decisions by Georgetown, St. John's, and fellow Pennsylvania school Villanova to vote against Penn State's admission, then-Big Ten administrator and future-Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said the conference would "rue the day" they rejected
6272-414: The conference in 1995, 1996, and in 1999, when they also earned a No. 2 national ranking. West Virginia and Syracuse were the only other teams to win conference titles during the league's original alignment. The conference experienced a major reconstruction when Miami and Virginia Tech left for the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004, followed by Boston College in 2005. Initially, Syracuse University
6370-524: The conference title in the end. In bowl action, the Big East went 5–0, including an Orange Bowl victory for Louisville over Wake Forest and a win by West Virginia over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl . Louisville would finish the season ranked 6th, West Virginia 10th, and Rutgers 12th in the final AP Poll. In 2007, USF rose to No. 2 in the BCS rankings. They lost their next three games, however, to drop out of
6468-403: The conference, members unanimously agreed to double the exit fee from $ 5 million to $ 10 million, contingent on any one accepted invitation. Of the schools, all four invited to full membership accepted, as well as football-only Boise State, Navy, and San Diego State. BYU and the Big East were unable to come to terms; the conference insisted that BYU relinquish its TV rights for its home games as
6566-539: The creation of a conference centered in the Northeast . Other schools invited were Seton Hall , Connecticut , Holy Cross , Rutgers , and Boston College , with Rutgers and Holy Cross declining to join. Villanova joined a year later in 1980 and Pittsburgh joined in 1982. Before the formation of the conference, many of these schools participated in the ECAC men's basketball tournament in order to receive an automatic bid for
6664-472: The current season, see 2023–24 Conference USA men's basketball season . This list goes through the 2022–23 season. This list goes through the 2022–23 season. Champions from the previous school year are indicated with the calendar year of their title. "RS" is regular season, "T" is tournament. Women's swimming & diving was dropped after the 2021–22 season. Fall 2023 Winter 2023–24 Spring 2024 The only current CUSA member to have won
6762-502: The departure date is the calendar year after the last season of competition. Full members (all-sports) Full members (non-football) Affiliate members (football-only) Affiliate member (other sport) Other Conference Other Conference CUSA (abbreviated "C-USA" before 2023) was founded in 1995 by the merger of the Metro Conference and Great Midwest Conference , two Division I conferences that did not sponsor football. However,
6860-502: The dropping of men's soccer and women's swimming and diving after the 2021–22 season, plus the addition of bowling in 2023–24. Incoming members are highlighted in gray. Conference USA used a divisional format for football from 2005 to 2021. CUSA champions Bowl games Through the 2023 season, the highest-ranked champion from the so-called "Group of Five" conferences ( The American , CUSA, MAC , Mountain West , and Sun Belt )
6958-635: The effective date. The entry date would eventually be confirmed as July 1, 2023. The day after The American announced its expansion, The Action Network reported that Southern Miss had accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference in 2023, a move which was formally announced by the university on October 26. The report added that the Sun Belt was preparing to add two other CUSA members in Marshall and Old Dominion, as well as FCS program James Madison . Old Dominion officially announced its move to
7056-547: The end of the 2008–09 academic year, which he announced in June 2008, and was replaced by former senior associate commissioner John Marinatto. On May 7, 2012, John Marinatto resigned as commissioner. He was replaced by Joseph Bailey on an interim basis. Mike Aresco , the Executive Vice President of CBS Sports ' Programming, was named Commissioner of The Big East on August 14, 2012. After the old Big East changed its name to
7154-587: The final day of the season, Pittsburgh upset No. 2 WVU 13–9 in the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl to give the Huskies a share of the conference championship, while WVU was stopped on the doorstep of the BCS National Championship Game . In bowl games, WVU upset the Big 12 Champion Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, despite having lost their highly touted coach, Rich Rodriguez to Michigan less than
7252-484: The following year, followed by Pittsburgh in 1982. Georgetown , led by senior Sleepy Floyd and freshman Patrick Ewing , made the NCAA Championship Game in 1982. Just two years later, in 1984 , Georgetown won the Big East's first NCAA basketball championship with a victory over the University of Houston . The following year three Big East teams ( Villanova , St. John's , and Georgetown ) all advanced to
7350-661: The league to eight teams. West Virginia won the conference title and the Sugar Bowl , and finished 11–1 and finished No. 5 in the AP poll. Newcomer Louisville also ranked in the Top 20. In 2006, West Virginia , Louisville , and Rutgers all entered November undefeated. However, they did not stay that way, as in a trio of exciting games over the next month, Louisville defeated West Virginia 44–34, Rutgers defeated Louisville 28–25, and West Virginia defeated Rutgers 41–39 in three overtimes. Louisville won
7448-495: The merger did not include either Great Midwest member Dayton or Metro members VCU and Virginia Tech . Since this left an uneven number of schools in the conference, Houston of the dissolving Southwest Conference was extended an invitation and agreed to join following the SWC's disbanding at the end of the 1995–96 academic year. The conference immediately started competition in all sports, except football which started in 1996. Being
7546-474: The new Big East. Cincinnati, Connecticut, South Florida, and Temple remained in the old Big East, which changed its name to the American Athletic Conference. Rutgers and Louisville played one season in the AAC before joining the Big Ten and ACC, respectively, for 2014–15. Virginia Tech was an associate member of the Big East 1991–2000. West Virginia was an associate member of the Big East 1991–1995. Note: Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Louisville left
7644-426: The official move to make Delaware the eleventh all-sports member of the conference. Six months later, on May 10, 2024, both CUSA and Missouri State University jointly announced on their respective websites that Missouri State would also join the league for the 2025–26 season, bringing league membership up to 12. The 12-member lineup will last only one year, as UTEP, the longest-tenured current member, will leave for
7742-446: The other league teams and drew very poor attendance to its games. The conference was compelled to expel the Owls voluntarily in 2004 (after playing two seasons as an independent, Temple joined the MAC in 2007). The universities that replaced them were Louisville , South Florida and Cincinnati from Conference USA . The league also invited the University of Connecticut to play football
7840-444: The program and the finances involved, leaving open a possible resumption of the program as early as the 2016 season. On January 29, 2015, the conference announced that there was no time pressure in making a decision regarding UAB's future membership. The conference also stated that it would wait for the new study results before any further discussions on the subject. On June 1, UAB announced that it would reinstate football effective with
7938-404: The rankings. They eventually finished the season No. 21 in the final BCS polls. The Connecticut Huskies, getting as high as No. 13, and West Virginia remained in the top 25. Cincinnati also rose as high as No. 15 in the rankings eventually finishing the season with 10 wins and a No. 17 ranking. Connecticut lost subsequent games and dropped substantially in the rankings, ultimately finishing 25th. On
8036-437: The renamed conference was officially upgraded to all-sports membership. Less than two weeks after Louisville announced its departure for the ACC, multiple media reports indicated that the Big East's seven remaining non-FBS schools, all Catholic institutions, were considering a mass exit from the conference. By December 13, it was likely that the non-FBS schools would indeed leave to form a new conference, and on December 15,
8134-493: The result of a merger, CUSA was originally a sprawling, large league that stretched from Florida to Missouri, Wisconsin to Texas. Many of its original schools were located in major urban centers and had strong basketball traditions, which helped establish the league on a national basis. The conference saw radical changes for the 2005–06 academic year. The Big East Conference had lost several members, and looked to Conference USA to attract replacements. Five CUSA members departed for
8232-442: The semifinals and, in a rematch of the 2009 final, defeated Louisville for the national title. Big East began football during the 1991–1992 season with the addition of Miami and was a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series . In the league's early years the University of Miami dominated, winning nine of the first thirteen championships and two national championships in 1991 and 2001. Virginia Tech also did well, winning
8330-470: The seven schools (soon to be called the Catholic 7 by the media) made their departure official, effective with the 2015–16 school year. Many details remained to be worked out, with one major issue being whether the "Big East" name would stay with the FBS schools. On December 31, Boise State announced they had decided to stay in the Mountain West conference, leaving the Big East, much like TCU, without ever playing
8428-1282: The top seed overall. Connecticut and Villanova (a No. 3 seed) both reached the Final Four. At the finish of the 2010–11 season , the Big East eclipsed its record, sending 11 teams to the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament . The conference has a number of former players currently playing in the National Basketball Association with some of the most recent being Ray Allen , Caron Butler , Carmelo Anthony , Ryan Gomes , Austin Croshere , Richard "Rip" Hamilton , Ben Gordon , Emeka Okafor , Troy Murphy , Hakim Warrick , Quincy Douby , Dante Cunningham , Randy Foye , Kyle Lowry , Rudy Gay , Matt Carroll , Jake Voskuhl , Etan Thomas , Samuel Dalembert , Charlie Villanueva , Donté Greene , Ron Artest , Chris Quinn , Jason Hart , Tim Thomas , Aaron Gray , Daniel Ochefu, Sam Young , DeJuan Blair , Wilson Chandler , Jeff Green , Joe Alexander , Marcus Williams , Jonny Flynn , Terrence Williams , Earl Clark , Roy Hibbert , Wesley Johnson , Wesley Matthews , Lazar Hayward , Jimmy Butler , Steve Novak , Jae Crowder , Maalik Wayns , and Darius Johnson-Odom . Big East women's basketball
8526-456: The tournament having moved from its normal schedule in fall 2020 to spring 2021 due to COVID-19 ). Big East Conference (1979%E2%80%932013) The Big East Conference was a collegiate athletics conference that consisted of as many as 16 universities in the eastern half of the United States from 1979 to 2013. The conference's members participated in 24 NCAA sports. The conference had
8624-489: The two SEC members already in CUSA for the sport (Kentucky, South Carolina), and the Sun Belt's FIU. However, the only MW member school that ultimately moved to CUSA men's soccer was New Mexico. For the 2013–14 season CUSA invited five new members to join their conference, with all accepting. UTSA and Louisiana Tech joined from the WAC and North Texas and FIU , (an affiliate member of CUSA joining for men's soccer in 2005), from
8722-466: The unusual structure of the Big East, with the "football" and "non-football" schools, led to instability in the conference. In 2003, the ongoing press reports of tensions between the football schools and the basketball-only schools finally exploded into a months-long public tug-of-war between the Big East and the Atlantic Coast Conference over several Big East members. The result was that three Big East schools—Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College—moved to
8820-424: Was a chance that the MW, SEC, and CUSA along with the one Sun Belt member (FIU), that sponsor the sport, would play under the CUSA's men's soccer program. The MW, 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 is a Pac-12 associate member in that sport), join CUSA's three full members that offer the sport (UAB, Marshall, Tulsa),
8918-513: Was an Associate member for women's lacrosse. NOTE: Under NCAA rules reflecting the large number of male scholarship participants in football and attempting to address gender equity concerns (see also Title IX ), each football playing member institution is required to provide two more women's varsity sports than men's. The Big East was founded by seven charter schools in 1979 ( Providence , St. John's , Georgetown , Syracuse , Seton Hall , Connecticut , and Boston College ). Villanova joined
9016-433: 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
9114-400: Was created in 1998. The Big East won two national football championships, both by University of Miami . Between 2005 and 2012, four of the more successful football schools left the Big East for other conferences, starting a process that led to a complete realignment of the Big East in 2013. On July 1, 2013, the non-football playing schools (also known collectively as the Catholic 7 ) formed
9212-474: Was ended in 2003 when Villanova beat Connecticut for the Big East tournament title, in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in women's basketball (Villanova would go on to reach the Elite Eight that year). The Huskies broke their own record with consecutive unbeaten championship seasons in 2009 and 2010, and stretched their streak to 90, a Division I record for both sexes, before losing to Stanford during
9310-568: Was guaranteed a berth in one of the non-semifinal bowls of the College Football Playoff if the group's top team was not in the playoff. Starting in 2024, at least one Group of Five conference champion will receive a berth in the expanded 12-team CFP. For the 2014–19 seasons, Conference USA was guaranteed at least five of the following bowl games. Stadiums and names reflect those in use during that period. Rivalries Current or former CUSA in-conference rivalries: [REDACTED] For
9408-438: Was in place to make the jump instead of Virginia Tech , but in 2003, the governor of Virginia Mark Warner put pressure on the ACC (via the vote of the University of Virginia) to ensure that Virginia Tech was not left out of the conference expansion. Syracuse, then, was not invited to the ACC and was left to remain in the Big East. Temple had joined the Big East for football only in 1991, but found it difficult to compete with
9506-421: Was just as competitive as the conference's men's programs. Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma has led his women's team to eight national championships (including four between 2000 and 2004) and four undefeated seasons (1995, 2002 , 2009 , and 2010 ). Connecticut set the record for longest winning streak in all of NCAA women's basketball history with a 70-game winning streak stretching from 2001 to 2003. This streak
9604-521: Was subsequently named interim commissioner. On October 26 MacLeod was named the conference's third official commissioner, also becoming the first woman to head an FBS conference. Marshall University 's men's soccer program captured the league's first team national championship with its 1–0 overtime win over Indiana in the 2020 College Cup , held in May 2021 due to COVID-19 issues, in Cary, North Carolina . On October 18, 2021, Yahoo Sports reported that
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