CBS Miami: FIU Heading to C-USA

[Harry]

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Florida International University will leave the Sun Belt Conference and join Conference USA next year, according to CBSSports.com.

The Panthers will join Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Texas San Antonio, Charlotte, and Old Dominion in the new Conference USA which will eventually have 14 members. Charlotte and Old Dominion’s membership in football likely won’t start in 2013.

Conference USA was cannibalized late last year during conference realignment. C-USA lost Houston, Southern Methodist, Central Florida, and Memphis to the Big East when Missouri and Texas A&M joined the SEC and Pittsburgh and Syracuse jumped to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Conference USA will keep a presence in Florida by adding FIU and will still have two schools in Texas along with Rice. C-USA also has Marshall, East Carolina, Southern Miss, UAB, Tulane, Tulsa, and UTEP.

Read More: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/05/01/report-fiu-heading-to-conference-usa-in-2013/