The University of Tulsa officially began its new membership in Conference USA on July 1, 2005. |
Tulsa Now a Member of Conference USA
Click here to watch a video on Conference USA.July 1, 2005
Tulsa, Oklahoma - After nine seasons as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, The University of Tulsa begins its membership today, July, 1, 2005, in Conference USA.
Conference USA is the fifth league throughout the history of Tulsa athletics, although not every sport participated in conference play for that many years. Tulsa was a member of the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference for 15 years (1914-1928), the Big Four Conference for four years (1929-32), the Missouri Valley Conference for 60 years (1935-96) and the Western Athletic Conference for nine seasons (1996-2005).
"The Western Athletic Conference has been good for The University of Tulsa," said Judy MacLeod, TU's Director of Athletics. "But, we've been looking forward to this day since we announced the move on November 4, 2003. Geographically and financially Conference USA is a better fit for Tulsa's athletic program, and we'll be matched with old rivals and some new opponents as well."
C-USA begins a new chapter in 2005-06 after celebrating 10 years of remarkable history. Six nationally prominent universities - Marshall, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UCF and UTEP - join tradition-rich members - East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Southern Miss, Tulane and UAB - to form the new look of the league. This combination further enhances C-USA men's and women's programs that are steeped in athletic success and academic prowess.
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 19 sports - nine for men (baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis and indoor and outdoor track and field) and 10 for women (basketball, cross country, golf, softball, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball).
Seventeen of Tulsa's 18 intercollegiate sports will play a conference schedule. Women's Rowing will remain as an independent.
Although July 1 begins the new membership, Tulsa's first C-USA game will be on the volleyball court at another new league member, SMU, on September 13. The football team will kick-off the C-USA season with a Homecoming game at Skelly Stadium against the Memphis Tigers on Sept. 24.
In the first year of the new C-USA, Tulsa will host two conference championships. The Michael D. Case Tennis Center will serve as host site of the C-USA Men's Tennis Championships April 20-23, 2006. The eight-team C-USA Softball Championship will be played at the Donna J. Hardesty Sports Complex Softball Field, May 11-13.
C-USA MEMBERS
East Carolina
Central Florida (UCF)
Marshall
Memphis
Southern Mississippi
UAB
Houston
Rice
SMU
Tulane
Tulsa
UTEP
C-USA COMPETITIVE HIGHLIGHTS
• 104 Bowl appearances (30 since 1994)
• 108 NCAA Appearances in Men's Basketball (23 since 1994)
• 8 Men's Basketball Final Four Appearances and One National Championship
• 2002 NIT Champions (Memphis) and 2001 NIT Champions (Tulsa)
• 42 NCAA appearances in Women's Basketball (30 since 1994)
• 82 NCAA Appearances in Baseball (43 since 1994)
• 7 College World Series Appearances (2003 National Champions - Rice)
• 16 NCAA appearances in Volleyball in the last 10 years
• Two Softball College World Series Appearances
• 17 Men's Golf National Championships
• 2 Women's Golf NCAA National Championships
• 22 National Championships in Track and Field and Cross Country
CONFERENCE USA EXCLLENCE
Excellence in Leadership
•C-USA has an outstanding reputation for excellence in competition, academics, NCAA compliance, sportsmanship, student-athlete welfare and overall sports services.
Excellence in a Commitment to the Student-Athlete
•Less travel distance between schools means less missed class time for the student-athletes. •Student-athletes in C-USA schools have a higher graduation rate than the general student population.
Excellence in Competition
•The C-USA football championship game makes its debut in 2005, pitting the top teams from the East and West Divisions against one another for the C-USA crown. •Closer proximity allows more fans to travel to away contests. Developing rivalries will be enriched through membership in the same conference and new rivalries will be established.
Excellence in Community Involvement
•The conference's footprint is concentrated with 12 members in nine states. The 11 metropolitan areas have a combined population of nearly 17 million. • C-USA schools give back to their communities through volunteer service with local and national organizations. • More than 1.1 million living alumni represent C-USA schools across the nation.
C-USA SUCCESS ON THE PLAYING FIELD
Conference USA performers have achieved great success in competition, placing the league among the top conferences in the nation (facts listed below are since 1995)
Men's Basketball
•Consistently rated as one of the top basketball leagues in the country
•68 postseason teams (38 NCAA and 30 NIT)
•Strong fan support, drawing nearly 2 million fans each season
•Among the nation's best in home attendance
•Two Final Four teams
•Four Elite Eight NCAA Tournament teams
•One NIT Champion
•Four NIT semifinalists
Football
•Began competition in 1996
•Rated among the top seven conferences in the nation
•27 teams have earned bowl bids
•Member of the Bowl Championship Series
•Bowl ties-ins with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl (champion), GMAC Bowl, Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl and the Wyndham New Orleans Bowl
Women's Basketball
•Consistently rated among the nation's best conferences
•38 NCAA Tournament appearances
•23 WNIT appearances
•One team in the NCAA Sweet 16
•Two WNIT semifinalists
•Strong fan support, ranking among the nation's top 10 conferences in attendance
•Setting league attendance record for three straight seasons
Volleyball
•26 NCAA appearances
•Three Sweet 16 appearances in 1996, 1998 and 2004
•Has sent at least three teams to the NCAA Championship five of the last seven years
•Five C-USA teams posting 20-win seasons for six of the last eight seasons
In addition, 29 men's and women's soccer teams, 23 baseball teams and 13 softball teams have earned NCAA Tournament bids. C-USA has sent two men's soccer teams to the Final Four, one baseball team to the College World Series and four softball teams to the Women's College World Series. The league has also had three 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 350 NCAA appearances.
C-USA 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 nine years, 78 student-athletes earned national Co-SIDA/Verizon Academic All-America honors, while 216 were named All-District. In addition, more than 9,500 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 its partnerships with ESPN Inc. and College Sports Television Networks (CSTV). The league entered into a long-term agreement with CSTV, which provides C-USA with significant national and regional exposure for football, men's and women's basketball, and all other conference sports.
Additionally, the CSTV agreement includes video-on-demand, Internet, broadband, national over-the-air and satellite radio, and wireless distribution as well as corporate marketing rights, and website production through CSTV Online, a subsidiary of CSTV.
The agreement with ESPN extends the conference's current regular season football package to include the broadcast of the conference's Football Championship Game, starting with the inaugural event in 2005. It also encompasses distribution of men's basketball and women's basketball on ESPN/ESPN2 and both tournament championship games.
