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Conference USA

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Conference USA was established in 1995 after the Metro Conference and Great Midwest Conference merged. The conference did not begin playing football until 1996. The conference underwent a major overhaul after Miami , Virginia Tech and Boston College left the Big East for the ACC. Original Conference USA members Louisville , South Florida and Cincinnati left for the Big East. TCU joined the Mountain West Conference. Army left the conference, opting to be an independent like Navy . To make up for the conference upheaval, Central Florida and Marshall left the MAC to join Conference USA. The conference also added SMU , Tulsa , UTEP and Rice from the Western Athletic Conference. The only original members of the conference are UAB , Houston , Memphis , Southern Mississippi and Tulane .

In 2005, the conference was divided into two divisions: East and West. The East Division features East Carolina , Marshall, Memphis , Southern Mississippi, Alabama-Birmingham and Central Florida. The West Division consists of Houston, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and UTEP.

The Conference USA Championship Game made its debut in 2005. The inaugural game was held at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando and featured Tulsa against Central Florida. Tulsa defeated Central Florida 44-27 in front of 51,378 fans. Tulsa tight end Garrett Mills was named game MVP. The winner of the conference championship game is awarded a berth in the Liberty Bowl.

In addition to the Liberty Bowl, Conference USA has a bowl tie-in to six other bowl games. The conference runner-up typically is invited to the GMAC Bowl. Other bowl games include the PapaJohns.com Bowl, Armed Forces Bowl, New Orleans Bowl, Hawaii Bowl and Texas Bowl.

Last year’s title game featured the Houston Cougars against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. The game was held at Robertson Stadium in Houston. Houston defeated Southern Mississippi 34-20 to capture the conference crown. Houston wide receiver Vincent Marshall was named game MVP.

The Conference USA Championship Game in 2007 will feature a rematch of the inaugural game in 2005. Tulsa will take on Central Florida. The game will once again be held in Orlando. The game will be televised on ESPN for the fourth consecutive year.

Southern Mississippi has won the most conference titles with four. Southern Miss and Houston were co-champions in 1996, Conference USA’s inaugural season. Southern Miss won the outright conference title in 1997, 1999 and 2003. Prior to joining the Big East, Louisville won three Conference USA titles in 2000, 2001, and 2004. The only Conference USA program to finish the season undefeated was Tulane in 1998. Led by quarterback Shaun King, Tulane capped off their perfect season with a win in the Liberty Bowl.