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A milestone summer

C-USA officials confident as league anniversaries arrive in challenging time

cusacommish

Judy MacLeod reacts to a reporter’s question during a press conference in 2003 announcing Tulsa was set to join Conference USA. MacLeod left her job as Tulsa's athletic director in 2005 to join C-USA's staff and rose through the ranks to become the first female commissioner of a Football Bowl Subdivision conference in 2015. She has guided C-USA through a time of growth and change. The league is celebrating its fifth anniversary with its current lineup of schools and the beginning of its 25th school year.

Conference USA was in a tough spot when Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick joined a host of league officials in making a decision that shaped the conference’s future a few years ago.

SMU, Houston and Central Florida were the first of seven schools to announce beginning in 2011 that they were leaving C-USA for what would become the American Athletic Conference.

Jeremy McClain

Jeremy McClain

Middle Tennessee-Michigan State

Middle Tennessee players, from right, Darnell Harris, Perrin Buford and Aldonis Foote celebrate during their 90-81 win over Michigan State in the 2016 NCAA tournament in St. Louis. The Blue Raiders were a No. 15 seed and pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the recent history of the college basketball when they knocked off the Spartans, a No. 2 seed. The win was a landmark moment for Conference USA. 

Chris Massaro

Chris Massaro

UNT series Part I Wren Baker

North Texas athletic director Wren Baker acknowledges the challenges schools in Conference USA face, where athletic departments are trying to stretch their financial resources.

Wood Selig

Wood Selig

Todd Stewart

Todd Stewart

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870 and via Twitter at @brettvito.

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