What Happened to Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference (Metro Conference)?

The Metro Conference, officially known as the Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference, was an NCAA Division I athletic conference founded in 1975. It quickly gained recognition for its strong men's basketball programs, with member institutions like the University of Louisville achieving significant success, including two NCAA national championships in 1980 and 1986 under coach Denny Crum. The conference was initially composed of institutions located in urban metropolitan areas and focused on sports other than football, which it never officially sponsored.

The dissolution of the Metro Conference was a direct consequence of the evolving landscape of collegiate athletics in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This era saw a growing emphasis on football-sponsoring "super conferences" and the lucrative television revenues they could generate. Many Metro Conference members, despite having independent football programs, sought the stability and financial benefits of an all-sports conference. This pressure led to several key turning points, including a 1990 study commissioned by the Metro Conference with Raycom Sports to explore the viability of a 16-team "super conference" that would include football. However, this ambitious plan did not come to fruition at the time.

The early 1990s marked a period of significant upheaval for the conference. In 1991, several prominent members departed: Florida State University joined the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the University of South Carolina moved to the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and charter members the University of Cincinnati and Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) left to form the Great Midwest Conference. To maintain its membership numbers, the Metro Conference added the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the University of South Florida, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Ultimately, the desire for a more stable, football-inclusive league led to reunification talks between the Metro and Great Midwest conferences in 1993. These discussions culminated in the merger of the two conferences in 1995, along with the addition of the University of Houston, to form Conference USA. This merger effectively dissolved the Metro Conference as an independent entity, with Conference USA beginning football sponsorship in 1996. The last remaining direct link to the Metro Conference through Conference USA, the University of South Carolina men's soccer program, moved to the Sun Belt Conference in 2022.

As of May 28, 2026, the original Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference remains defunct, having been fully integrated into Conference USA decades ago. However, a notable development occurred on this date: the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced its rebranding to "The Metro Conference," effective July 1, 2026. This new "Metro Conference" is a distinct collegiate athletic entity, adopting the historic name to simplify its identity and enhance its brand recognition within the competitive landscape of college sports. It is crucial to understand that this is a rebranding of an existing conference (MAAC) and not a revival or continuation of the original Metro Conference.