| Conference USA | |
|---|---|
| Data | |
| Classification | NCAA Division I FBS |
| Established | 1995 |
| Members | 12 full-time, 3 part-time |
| Sports fielded | 19 (9 men's, 10 women's) |
| Region | Southern United States |
| States | 9 – Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia |
| Headquarters | Irving, Texas |
| Locations | |
Conference USA, officially abbreviated 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 blank">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.
