Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod spoke to the media at halftime of WKU Football’s game against Kennesaw State to discuss the current state of C-USA.
MacLeod has served as the league’s commissioner since 2015, and has been the commissioner through the league’s realignment. In 2022 the league had six teams leave for the American Athletic Conference and has had five teams join since then.
She said the league is happy with 11 teams, including the future loss of UTEP in 2026, and the ensuing addition of Missouri State and Delaware in 2025, but said the conference will “always examine” where the league stands in terms of membership.
“I don’t think anyone has a crystal ball of what’s going to happen,” MacLeod said. “We’re trying to be as proactive as we can as we work with our membership, but we want to make sure our programs still have a chance to be nationally relevant.”
For Hilltopper Athletics, MacLeod said WKU Athletic Director Todd Stewart and University President Timothy Caboni, who have both served as the chair of the C-USA Board, have been “a tremendous part of Conference USA.”
“The leadership in the rooms with our AD’s, our presidents, our coaches, I mean Western Kentucky brings so much to us,” MacLeod said.
She also said the facilities and commitment on the Hill are things that standout within the conference.
National relevance is something the conference has strived for in the last couple of years with weekday football games in October. MacLeod said a game like last week’s Wednesday night upset win for Kennesaw State against Liberty is a game that would not have gotten as much attention on a Saturday.
“I think our fan bases are adjusting,” she said. “The exposure that we’re getting for our programs, especially when we’re a relatively new group together, and to build that and show the country what we’re all about, exposure has just been fantastic.”
She said the weekday games will continue for at least three more years and the conference will have the option to continue them for a fourth. After that she said the conference will reevaluate the continuation of weekday games.
Since 2023, the conference has brought in three teams from the Football Championship Subdivision ranks and will bring two more in next year. MacLeod said the Conference has a “rich tradition of bringing people in” and said the conference board has “30 data points” to examine when finding new members from the lower ranks.
“They look at everything from the university to what’s going on in athletics, and the kind of support they have for athletics and the commitment,” she said. “There’s some great schools out there that we’ll always continue to look at and see if something makes sense as they continue to develop.”
For Conference championship games, MacLeod said the conference feels good about hosting the C-USA Football Championship Game on the top-team’s campus. She said a neutral site game is something the league will “never not look at” but said it would come down to the question of geography.
“It’s hard to pick a spot that we could get fans to travel to,” she said.
For basketball, Huntsville, Alabama was the host city last year and will host at least the next two years.
Sports Editor Jake McMahon can be reached at [email protected]
