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| Association | NCAA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1975 |
| Ceased | 1995 |
| Division | Division I |
| No. of teams | 7 (final), 13 (total) |
| Locations | |
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TheMetropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference, popularly known as theMetro Conference, was anNCAA Division I athletics conference, so named because its six charter members were all inurbanmetropolitan areas, though its later members did not follow that pattern. The conference was centered in theUpper South with some strength in theDeep South. The conference never sponsoredfootball, although most of its members throughout its history had Division I-A football programs (from 1983 to 1991, all Metro schools had independent football programs). In 1995, it merged with theGreat Midwest Conference to formConference USA. The merger was driven mainly by football, as several Metro Conference members had been successfully lured to larger conferences that sponsored the sport.
The conference was popularly known as the "Metro 6" during its first season, then as the "Metro 7" during the rest of the 1970s and early 1980s. For most of its existence, it was considered a "major" conference.
TheMetro Conference was founded in 1975 with institutions that were located in urban metropolitan areas. The charter members were theUniversity of Cincinnati,Georgia Institute of Technology, theUniversity of Louisville,Memphis State University (now theUniversity of Memphis),Saint Louis University andTulane University.Florida State University joined in 1976, while theUniversity of South Carolina turned down an invitation.
In 1978, Georgia Tech left the Metro for theAtlantic Coast Conference, effective on July 1, 1979; andVirginia Tech took its spot. In 1982, Saint Louis left to join theMidwestern Collegiate Conference, now known as theHorizon League; while theUniversity of Southern Mississippi took its spot in that same year. TheUniversity of South Carolina later joined in 1983. In 1985,West Virginia University was in talks to replace Tulane, which had suspended its men’s basketball program due to apoint shaving scandal and thus expelled from the conference. Ultimately, West Virginia officials decided to remain in theAtlantic 10 Conference. Tulane was readmitted to the Metro on July 1, 1989 after it announced it was reinstating men's basketball for the 1989-90 season.
In 1991, Florida State joined the ACC, and then South Carolina joined theSoutheastern Conference. However, South Carolina re-joined the Metro for 1993 and 1994 men's soccer seasons in that sport only, because the SEC did not offer the sport for men (four schools were required to sponsor a sport; the SEC had just three, now two). Charter members Cincinnati and Memphis State also left the Metro in 1991 to become charter members of the Great Midwest. To replace them, three of the stronger non-football schools from theSun Belt Conference (theUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte, theUniversity of South Florida andVirginia Commonwealth University) shifted to the Metro.
In 1993, the Metro and Great Midwest conferences began reunification talks that led to the creation of C-USA. However, theVirginia schools filed a lawsuit in order to prevent the merger from happening, which ultimately failed. VCU joined theColonial Athletic Association, now known as theCoastal Athletic Association. Virginia Tech (which was banking on an invitation to join theBig East Conference) was left out of Conference USA, and joined theAtlantic 10 Conference (it later joined the Big East in 2000 and is now in theAtlantic Coast Conference since 2004). It was joined by Great Midwest memberDayton, which was intrigued by the prospect of playing against regional rivalXavier.
Initially, South Carolina was not permitted to participate in Conference USA formen's soccer, although it was admitted ten years later, also bringing alongKentucky, the only other men's soccer school in the SEC (coincidentally,Tulane was a longtime SEC member from 1932 until 1966). Until 2021–22 season, South Carolina men's soccer was the last link of the Metro Conference with the reunified Conference USA, although West Virginia, which rejected Metro membership in 1985, was supposed to join Conference USA for men's soccer in 2022 but with the2021–22 NCAA conference realignment, Conference USA lost almost all of their men's soccer members and was consequently forced to drop the sport. South Carolina, Kentucky and West Virginia joined theSun Belt Conference in men's soccer.
The Metro Conference also had studies into a new "Super conference" in 1990. The study was conducted by Raycom Sports. The conference would have included members of the Metro,Atlantic 10, andBig East conferences, but it was not clear if the conference would become a football-sponsoring conference as many of its members did in fact sponsor football but were either independents or belonged to other conferences. The original study plan also includedPenn State, which was invited to join theBig Ten on December 15, 1989.[1]
| North Division | South Division |
|---|---|
| Boston College | East Carolina |
| Cincinnati | Florida State |
| Pittsburgh | Louisville |
| Rutgers | Memphis State |
| Syracuse | Miami |
| Temple | South Carolina |
| Virginia Tech | Southern Mississippi |
| West Virginia | Tulane |
Notes:
| Full members |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Affiliate members | ||
| History | ||
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