By Courtney Morrison-Archer,  Asst. Commissioner for Public Affairs

With the leaves changing and the smell of pumpkin and bonfires filling the air, that must mean its Conference USA Fall Championship Season!

Halloween will be a real treat as the Conference USA Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships will be held on Monday, Oct. 31 at Wildcat Golf Course in Houston, Texas. Rice University will serve as host for the annual event, which offers free admission to fans. The men's 8K race is scheduled for a 9 a.m. CT start, while the women's 6K race will begin at 10 a.m. An awards ceremony will follow the races at 11 a.m.

Tulsa is the defending C-USA men's and women's cross country champion after becoming the third program in league history to sweep the championship titles. The TU men are one of four C-USA teams ranked among the Top 10 in their respective regions. Tulsa women are ranked No. 30 in the country.

UTEP claimed both individual winners in 2010 as the men finished second and the women placed third as a team. Two-time C-USA medalist for the women, Risper Kimaiyo, returns to this year's meet looking to become the first three-repeat champion in league history. Pushing her on Halloween Monday will be redshirt senior and 2008 individual medalist Silje Fjortoft of SMU. Both enter the championship race with stellar regular-season results. The individual medalist on the men's side from a year ago also returns in UTEP's Elkana Rotich.

More information will be available here on the C-USA Cross Country Championship Central page.

 The 2011 C-USA Women's Soccer Championship begins later that week as the top eight teams in the regular-season advance to this year's tournament at Mike Rose Soccer Stadium in Memphis, Tenn. The host Tigers completed an unbeaten regular season with an 18-0-1 overall mark and 10-0-1 in league play to secure the top seed. No. 9 Memphis is also the four-time defending champion, but there will be seven teams trying to upend their host this year.

As of this writing, seven of the eight teams had secured their tournament berths. Besides Memphis, Colorado College is the only other team to have clinched its seed at No. 2. SMU, UCF, East Carolina , Tulsa and UTEP will also be among the tournament field, but seeding will be determined following matches on Friday and Sunday. The eighth and final spot will go to the winner of Friday night's Houston-Rice crosstown rivalry match-up.

First-round games will be played Wednesday, Nov. 2, beginning with Colorado College vs. the No. 7 seed at Noon CT. Top-seeded Memphis will play the 8 p.m. CT contest. Semifinal matches start at 5 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 4 and the title game on Sunday, Nov. 6, will be televised live on CBS Sports Network at 1 p.m. CT.

For ticket information as well as a final schedule and stats, check out the C-USA Women's Soccer Championship Central page.

The field is already set for the 2011 C-USA Men's Soccer Championship, which will be held November 9-13 in Tulsa, Okla., however each team must wrap up its regular season before seeding can be determined. Marshall, Memphis, SMU, South Carolina, UAB and UCF have secured their bids in the six-team field.

The Blazers and Gamecocks enter the next-to-last weekend of the regular season in a tie for first place, but five of the six teams are still in contention for one of the top two seeds and a first-round bye. Those quarterfinal games will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. CT. Winners will advance to play those top two seeds at the same match times on Friday, Nov. 11. The men's title game will also be televised live on CBS Sports Network at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday, Nov. 13, with the winner earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.

For ticket information in Tulsa as well as a complete championship schedule and stats, check out the C-USA Men's Soccer Championship Central page.

Of course, you can also get the latest championship updates on our website at www.ConferenceUSA.com and the C-USA Digital Network.

by Debbie Davis, Associate Director of Media Relations

Well, we're sitting at the halfway point of the 2011 Conference USA regular season volleyball race and the NCAA automatic bid is still up for grabs. For the past couple of seasons, only a trio of losses has separated No. 1 from No. 4 and, for three out of the last five years, only one loss was the difference between the champion and the runner-up. Looks like that could again be the case this season.

Currently sitting atop the C-USA leader board is defending champion Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane sports an overall mark of 17-5 and stands 8-1 in league action. After participating in the 2010 NCAA Championship, TU appeared at No. 23 in the AVCA Preseason Top 25 Poll and most recently the program found itself at No. 21 in the first addition of the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) Report. Tulsa has only suffered one loss coming from rival SMU back on Oct. 5. In order to repeat as champion, first-year head coach Steven McRoberts must win on the road as six of TU's remaining 11 matches at away from the Reynolds Center. However, TU does host second-placed UAB on Oct. 30.

UAB entered last weekend as the hottest team in the league, riding a seven-match win streak and winners of 13 of its last 14 matches. The Blazers suffered their first two league losses as they ran into an offensive powerhouse in Tulsa's Tyler Henderson and crew Friday night, and an SMU team that's picked up momentum over the last few weeks. Head Coach Kerry Messersmith has her team at 7-2, behind Tulsa, and a solid 17-4 overall.  Along with Rice and Houston, the Blazers are among the NCAA RPI Top 65, ranking 61^st.  Messersmith will be aiming for her first regular season title as the Blazers have a strong history of being a title contender.

Sporting an NCAA RPI of No. 44 is Houston. The Cougars had an extremely tough non-conference schedule as they faced five teams that were ranked among the AVCA Top 25. That competition has second-year head coach Molly Alvey prepped for a strong finish in the C-USA race. UH is currently 14-5 overall and tied with UAB for second in the league at 7-2. Of Houston's 11 remaining matches, seven will come against team in the second half of the current standings and six will be inside the friendly surroundings of the UH Athletics/Alumni Center, where they're undefeated (8-0).    

After losing three of the league's best players a year ago, eighth-year head coach Genny Volpe has Rice sitting fourth in the standings and ranked No. 63 in the NCAA RPI. Volpe has coached her team to a 6-3 C-USA record and 11-9 overall. However, the next few weeks will be a challenge for the Owls as they will face one of the toughest roads to the championship. They must travel to UAB, UCF, a team that upset then-No. 1 USC, and UTEP as well as drive a few miles across the city to face Houston. Rice does get the opportunity to host Tulsa and a very different SMU team the beat on Sept. 30. Since that time, the Mustangs have taken down Tulsa, UAB and Houston.

Could Tulsa repeat? Will UAB win its first title? What about Houston? Is Rice experienced enough? Or, could SMU be the dark horse to win it all? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Conference USA expects an unpredictable and exciting finish to the 2011 regular season race. Stay tuned to the C-USA Digital Network and ConferenceUSA.com for all the latest and most up-to-date volleyball news and results as we enter the second-half of the C-USA race.