HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT) – Leaders with the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) announced the university will terminate its membership in Conference USA effective June 30, 2022.
USM will not participate in Conference USA during the 2022-23 academic year. Leaders said the decision comes after considering the best interests of the university.
The University first advised Conference USA in early December 2021 of the University’s plans to terminate its membership in June 2022. Since then, the University has clearly and consistently repeated its intentions to the conference. The University has from the outset expressed its desire to work with Conference USA to achieve an amicable separation, including offering to cooperate to ensure that all remaining conference members had complete competitive schedules for those sports in which the University competes. Conference USA has so far refused to discuss any such arrangement with the University.
The Conference’s unwillingness to discuss the concept of separation this year creates confusion and doubt for all concerned. The remaining members of Conference USA deserve certainty about their schedules as they plan for competition next year. For their sake, the University makes public its intent.
While the University appreciates its time and experience as a Conference USA member, that time will end on June 30, 2022. We wish Conference USA and its membership success in the future.
University of Southern Mississippi