Aug. 26, 2005

Today marks a historical day in Conference USA annals as each of its six new schools make their athletic debuts. Each of the six remaining schools will also open their 2005-06 athletic campaigns in the sports of volleyball and women's soccer this weekend as the 12-team realigned league begins a new and exciting chapter in the conference's history book.

The UTEP volleyball program will officially kick off the athletic season at 10:00 a.m. CDT when it faces Tennessee State in the Middle Tennessee Invitational in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Rice, SMU, Tulsa and UCF will each open their volleyball campaigns on Friday, while Marshall's volleyball team makes its debut at Miami (Ohio) on Monday night.

Charter member Southern Miss and veteran member East Carolina kick off the women's soccer season with separate matches that begin at 4:00 p.m. CDT on Friday. New members Marshall, Rice, SMU, Tulsa and No. 28-ranked UCF open women's soccer play today, with UTEP opening on Saturday.

Men's soccer begins next Thursday, September 1. While women's soccer and volleyball are sponsored by all 12 institutions, men's soccer teams compete for East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, SMU, Tulsa, UAB and UCF. Men's soccer is bolstered by the addition of three associate members that compete in C-USA only in that sport. Perennially successful programs Florida International, Kentucky and South Carolina give men's soccer a 10-team field that features three nationally ranked teams and three others that received votes in the preseason polls.

Three nationally-televised games highlight the opening night on football on Thursday, September 1. UCF makes its C-USA gridiron debut at South Carolina on ESPN (6:45 p.m. CDT), while ESPN 2 features a doubleheader involving C-USA teams as Houston hosts Oregon at 6:00 CDT, followed by Minnesota at Tulsa at 9:15 p.m. Marshall also makes its debut that night when it hosts William & Mary. Eleven of the league's 12 football teams are in action during the opening weekend with seven games receiving national television exposure.

Cross Country will begin its fall run with several meets during the weekend of September 2-4 and men's and women's golf teams take their first swings on Sept. 10. Men's tennis takes to the court on Sept. 9, while women's tennis has its first serve on Sept. 16.

Be sure and keep up with the progress on all of the sports that C-USA sponsors throughout the year by visiting ConferenceUSA.com. The recently re-launched website is powered by CSTV Online and features live stats, standings, results, statistics and press releases for every sport.

Conference USA is a 12-team conference that sponsors 19 sports. Members include East Carolina, Houston, Marshall, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, UCF and UTEP.