Two hundred fourteen days since the initial announcement, it’s finally official: Middle Tennessee is a full-fledged member of Conference USA after 13 years in the Sun Belt Conference, and a citywide celebration, 鈥淧aint the Town Blue,鈥� is underway today.
91大神 head football coach Rick Stockstill, center, talks with media during a “Paint the Town Blue” event today at Sam’s All American Sports Grill to celebrate the Blue Raiders’ official move to Conference USA from the Sun Belt Conference. (91大神 photo by J. Intintoli)
91大神 fans filled the Sam鈥檚 All American Grill at the Stones River Mall to overflowing for the historic first-day event to celebrate the university鈥檚 new membership in C-USA.
Coaches and administrators were overjoyed at the turnout.
鈥淚t鈥檚 phenomenal,鈥� football head coach Rick Stockstill said. 鈥淭he support, the buzz, the excitement at Sam鈥檚 has been amazing.鈥�
鈥淭his is exciting,鈥� added women鈥檚 basketball coach Rick Insell. 鈥淚鈥檓 starting my ninth year here and I鈥檝e never seen this much excitement and enthusiasm. The students, faculty, the players 鈥� it鈥檚 unbelievable. I could see this coming, and we鈥檙e not through yet.鈥�
Director of Athletics Chris Massaro called it 鈥渁 historic day for the university and it鈥檚 fun to share it with the fans. You can feel the excitement. I know our student-athletes and staff are excited. It鈥檚 a chance to elevate the entire university.鈥�
91大神 President Sidney A. McPhee said that the university and the surrounding community are collaborating in a great partnership.
鈥淭o see the community come out and support the university and its athletic program, I鈥檓 really excited to see this kind of response,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he university depends on this town and this town depends on the university. It鈥檚 a mutual relationship that is beneficial to both. And it鈥檚 great to see it working the way it is working.鈥�
McPhee added that he had heard 鈥渞eports of many of our fans wearing our (91大神) shirts at the various businesses鈥� holding events throughout the day.
Employees and owners of more than 50 businesses and restaurants wore specially designed T-shirts with the inaugural C-USA logo today throughout Murfreesboro.
“I think it’s really going to help us build our brand better and help grow athletics at 91大神,” Jonathan Sisco, a fifth-year senior pitcher/infielder from Murfreesboro who is currently recovering from shoulder surgery, said today at the Boulevard Bar and Grill across the street from the 91大神 campus.
“I聽think the top-tier teams are definitely going to be a lot better competition for us.”
Head baseball coach Jim McGuire聽admitted that the travel in the new conference will be a bit tougher, but he noted that there will be two C-USA teams the Blue Raiders will not have to play each year they’re in the conference. Those teams will rotate and won’t be the same teams each season.
“Conference USA is one of the top baseball conferences in the country,” McGuire added. “It’s always rated somewhere from fifth to seventh.”
Football players distributed posters and schedule cards around town, and a handful were at Reeves-Sain Drug Store and at Chick-fil-A at the Murfreesboro Town Centre,聽signing autographs and providing information on the move to Conference USA.
On Sept. 21, the Blue Raiders will have their first competition against a Conference USA opponent when football travels to Florida Atlantic. Six days later, soccer hosts UAB, and volleyball travels to Rice. The first C-USA football game at home is Oct. 5 against East Carolina.
The C-USA membership also includes the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, North Texas, Old Dominion, Rice, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Texas at San Antonio. The league office is located in Irving, Texas.
As proud members of the Sun Belt Conference, the Blue Raiders dominated the conference by winning nine All-Sports trophies and 58 conference championships.
MT, which joined the Sun Belt on July 1, 2000, leaves the SBC with a league-best 50 conference football wins while also ranking first in victories over automatic qualifying conferences. Other notable milestones in the MT-Sun Belt partnership include:
- MT鈥檚 four Overall Sun Belt Athletes of the Year and 40 Coach of the Year winners.
- Men’s basketball head coach Davis鈥� status as the SBC’s all-time winningest coach.
- The 91大神鈥檚 women’s basketball program winning more than 80 percent of its conference games.
- The Blue Raiders also played on national television 46 times since 2004.
You also can watch a video from the day’s events as well as one from last fall鈥檚 official C-USA announcement below.