For the past 25 years, Southern Miss has been a member of “the Conference of the United States of America” as head baseball coach Scott Berry once referred to it. Despite the loyalty the athletic department feels towards Conference USA, it is time to cut ties and move on.
Conference USA was founded in 1995 with its original members being Cincinnati, De Paul, Louisville, Marquette, St. Louis, South Florida, Memphis, Tulane, Charlotte, UAB and Southern Miss. Out of the original 11, only three schools remain with Charlotte leaving for the Atlantic 10 between 2005 and 2013. In 2005, six schools left C-USA for the Big East and Atlantic 10, and in 2013-2014 ,the remaining three realigned with the American Athletic Conference.