The Super-conference USA

Recap: The Pac 16, ACC, SEC, and Big 10 have all expanded to develop 16 team super-conferences.  The WAC has merged with the Mountain West and the last remnants of the Big 12 to create a super-conference as well.  Despite the Mountain West not being an Automatic Qualifying conference, the league is organized similar to the other super-conferences for reasons which will be explored in a later blog post.  The MAC, Sun Belt and Conference USA are the only leagues left to develop into super-conferences.  Out of the remnants of the previous BCS era of stability, only USF remains non-attached to a conference, as  Baylor and TCU were relegated to the Mountain West.  

With the college landscape shifting to super-conferences, Conference USA decides it is their turn for expansion. The old C-USA consisted of the following schools:

Western Division:

Rice

Houston

SMU

UTEP

Tulsa

Tulane

Eastern Division:

Southern Miss

UAB

Memphis

Marshall

East Carolina

UCF

Conference USA is the 1st non-AQ conference to expand to 16 due to a number of programs stepping up to Division 1-A (FBS) status.  Ultimately, that is the purpose of the remaining conferences.  They will serve as a place for schools to upgrade to the next level and have a regional conference affiliation.  Conference USA is lucky that a number of schools have decided to make this leap, allowing them to immediately become a super-conference.  Among these schools are Texas State, UTSA, and Charlotte.  After these schools make the jump, Conference USA looks like:

Western Division:

Texas State

Houston

Rice

SMU

UTEP

UTSA

Tulsa

Tulane

Eastern Division:

Southern Miss

UAB

Memphis

Marshall

East Carolina

Charlotte

UCF

USF

So Conference USA does not have clear rivalry pairs intact.  Most schools however have 1 other school in the same state or bordering their state to create a rivalry.  Regardless, Conference USA attains Super-conference status.  Despite not being an AQ conference, the step up to a super-conference does have some significant benefits which will be explored in a few days.  Tomorrow we will preview the Mid American Conference.  Hope to see you there!

Mike