The Conference USA baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for Conference USA (C-USA). The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The tournament format, which has changed several times, currently consists of an eight-team double-elimination tournament format, in which the winners of two four-team brackets play in a single-game final. Rice, which has won the tournament seven times, is the most successful team in the tournament's history.
History The tournament was first held in 1996, the first season after Conference USA was formed from the merger of the Metro Conference and the Great Midwest Conference.
1996–1999
From 1996 to 1999, the tournament format consisted of an eight-team double-elimination tournament preceded by a single-game play-in round. The play-in round determined which of the lowest seeds (by regular season conference record) would qualify for the eight-team bracket. In 1996, when the league had nine baseball-sponsoring schools, the play-in round included the 8th and 9th seeds. When Houston joined from the Southwest Conference prior to the 1997 season, the play-in round featured the 7th–10th seeds. The eight-team double-elimination tournament consisted of two four-team double-elimination brackets, the winners of which met in a single-game final.
2000–2009
In the 2000 tournament, the play-in round was eliminated, and the top eight seeds qualified for the eight-team double-elimination tournament automatically. The eight-team bracket followed the same format as it had from 1996 to 1999.
2010
In 2010, the tournament format was changed from double-elimination to round robin. The top six regular season finishers qualified for the tournament field, which consisted of two three-team "pods." Pod 1 included the 1st, 4th, and 5th seeds, and Pod 2 included the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th seeds. Each team played three preliminary games, two against its podmates and one against a team from the opposite group. The cross-group games matched up the seeds as follows: 1st vs. 6th, 2nd vs. 5th, and 3rd vs. 4th. The winner of each round robin pod advanced to a single-game final.
2011–2013
In 2011, the round robin format was expanded to the top eight regular season finishers. The tournament field consisted of two four-team pods. Pod 1 included the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 8th seeds, and Pod 2 included the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th seeds. Each team played three preliminary games, one against each member of its pod. The winner of each pod advanced to a single game.
2014–Present Beginning in 2014, the format returned to the eight team double-elimination format used from 1996 through 2009.
Champions Year Champion Venue Most Valuable Player 1996 Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS Jason Fitzgerald (Tulane) 1997 Turchin Stadium • New Orleans, LA Scottie Scott (Houston) 1998 Zephyr Field • New Orleans, LA Brian Hughes (Tulane) 1999 USA Stadium • Millington, TN Mickey McKee (Tulane) 2000 Houston Florida Power Park • St. Petersburg, FL Jarrod Bitter (Houston) 2001 Zephyr Field • New Orleans, LA Barth Melius (Tulane) 2002 Grainger Stadium • Kinston, NC Darryl Lawhorn (East Carolina) 2003 Turchin Stadium • New Orleans, LA Clint King (Southern Miss) 2004 Cougar Field • Houston, TX Austin Adams (TCU) 2005 Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS Nathan Southard (Tulane) 2006 Reckling Park • Houston, TX Joe Savery (Rice) 2007 Clark-LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC Aaron Luna (Rice) 2008 Turchin Stadium • New Orleans, LA Bryan Pounds (Houston) 2009 Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS Anthony Rendon (Rice) 2010 Cougar Field • Houston, TX Scott Copeland (Southern Miss) 2011 Trustmark Park • Pearl, MS Tyler Duffey (Rice) 2012 Trustmark Park • Pearl, MS Michael Busby (UAB) 2013 Reckling Park • Houston, TX Christian Stringer (Rice) 2014 Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS Michael Aquino (Rice) 2015 Josh Anderson (FIU) 2016 Daniel Keating (Southern Miss) 2017 MGM Park • Biloxi, MS Glenn Otto (Rice) 2018 Mason Strickland (Southern Miss) 2019 Matt Wallner (Southern Miss) 2020Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic 2021 Old Dominion J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park • Ruston, LA Tommy Bell (Old Dominion) 2022 Louisiana Tech Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS Taylor Young (Louisiana Tech) 2023 Charlotte Reckling Park • Houston, TX Cam Fisher (Charlotte) 2024 Dallas Baptist J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park • Ruston, LA Alex Pendergast (Dallas Baptist) 2025 Liberty Baseball Stadium • Lynchburg, Virginia Ethan Lizama (Western Kentucky) 2026 Mickey Dunn Stadium • Kennesaw, Georgia Sam Richardson (Jacksonville State)
By school End of the 2026 tournament, updated. School Appearances W-L Pct Tourney Titles Title Years Rice 15 38–18 7 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 Tulane 17 39–23 5 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005 Southern Miss 26 60–42 5 2003, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2019 Houston 17 36–28 3 1997, 2000, 2008 TCU 4 9–5 2 2004, 2005 Jacksonville State 2 8–2 1 2026 Dallas Baptist 4 10–5 1 2024 Western Kentucky 6 11–9 1 2025 Charlotte 13 22–23 1 2023 Louisiana Tech 10 18–19 1 2022 Old Dominion 7 11–12 1 2021 East Carolina 13 20–22 1 2002 FIU 7 7–12 1 2015 UAB 18 19–33 1 2012 Missouri State 1 2–1 Florida Atlantic 8 16–15 Liberty 3 5–5 South Florida 9 15–17 UTSA 8 11–13 Memphis 12 15–22 Marshall 6 8–12 Sam Houston 2 2–3 Saint Louis 5 6–10 Cincinnati 6 5–9 Kennesaw State 2 2–4 UCF 6 5–11 Middle Tennessee 7 6–14 Louisville 10 8–19 New Mexico State 2 0–4 Bold indicate school currently sponsors baseball in Conference USA. Italics indicate school no longer sponsors baseball in Conference USA.
References
External links Conference USA baseball