The C-USA baseball tournament will no longer be held in the state of Mississippi as long the state flag remains unchanged.
Monday morning, the conference’s board of directors released the following statement announcing their decision.
Statement on Conference USA Championship events in the state of Mississippi: pic.twitter.com/KSu4OLvPNc
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) June 22, 2020
For eight of the last nine years, the conference’s baseball tournament has been held at various locations in Mississippi including MGM Park in Biloxi, Pearl’s Trustmark Park and Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, where it is currently scheduled to take place in 2022.
C-USA’s decision becomes the latest in a recent string of announcements regarding future sporting events in Mississippi after both the SEC and the NCAA have moved to prevent postseason events in Mississippi due to the controversial state flag.
For those hoping for a change, lawmakers do have several options, but with the end of the 2020 session approaching, it doesn’t seem likely that a solution will materialize in the coming days. Speaker of the House Philip Gunn believes that a potential vote may not occur until “next year at the earliest.”
Southern Miss AD Jeremy McClain and many others have voiced their support for a new state flag.
I fully support this statement from our higher education leaders throughout the state of Mississippi. It is time to make this long overdue change and allow us as Mississippians to pursue a brighter future TOGETHER! https://t.co/QiZgxLbscT
— Jeremy McClain (@jmcclain_USM) June 19, 2020
The NCAA’s expanded policy prohibits any postseason events from taking place in the Magnolia State, even ones that are earned such as baseball & softball regionals, NCAA Women’s Tournament games and more.
