The 2017 Conference USA football season was the 22nd season of Conference USA football and part of the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on August 26 with Rice facing Stanford in Sydney, Australia. This season was the third season for C-USA under realignment that took place in 2014, which added the 14th member Charlotte from the Atlantic 10 Conference. C-USA is a "Group of Five" conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the American Athletic Conference, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference.

The C-USA consisted of 14 members: Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Old Dominion, Rice, Southern Miss, UAB, UTEP, UTSA, and Western Kentucky; and was divided into the East and West divisions. UAB began play for the first time since 2014, after the Blazer football program was dropped from competition.

Preseason Media predictions The 2017 preseason media football poll was released on July 18. Western Kentucky was picked to win its third straight East Division title, while Louisiana Tech was picked to repeat as West Division champion.

East Division Western Kentucky (20 first-place votes) Middle Tennessee (4) Old Dominion (3) Marshall (1) Florida Atlantic FIU Charlotte

West Division Louisiana Tech (20) UTSA (7) Southern Miss (1) North Texas Rice UTEP UAB

Preseason awards The conference preseason awards were released on July 17. WKU senior QB Mike White was selected as the C-USA Offensive Player of the Year. Rice senior LB Emmanuel Ellerbee was selected the Defensive Player of the Year, and WKU senior KR Kylen Towner was selected Special Teams Player of the Year honors + Offense Position Player Class Team QB Mike White SeniorWestern Kentucky WR Richie James Junior WR Jonathan Duhart SeniorOld Dominion WR Allenzae Staggers SeniorSouthern Miss RB Ray Lawry SeniorOld Dominion RB Ito Smith SeniorSouthern Miss OL O’Shea Dugas JuniorLouisiana Tech OL Will Hernandez SeniorUTEP OL Trey Martin SeniorRice OL Austin Pratt SeniorUTSA OL Brandon Ray SeniorWestern Kentucky TE Ryan Yurachek SeniorMarshall

+ Defense Position Player Class Team DL Marcus Davenport SeniorUTSA DL Jaylon Ferguson SophomoreLouisiana Tech DL Chris Johnson SeniorWestern Kentucky DL Oshane Ximines SeniorOld Dominion LB Emmanuel Ellerbee SeniorRice LB Alvin Jones SeniorUTEP LB Josiah Tauaefa SophomoreUTSA LB Anthony Wint Senior FIU DB Brandon Addison SeniorOld Dominion DB Nate Brooks JuniorNorth Texas DB Joe Brown SeniorWestern Kentucky DB Kishawn McClain SeniorNorth Texas

+ Specialists Position Player Class Team P Jake Collins JuniorWestern Kentucky K Canon Rooker Senior KR Kylen Towner SeniorWestern Kentucky PR Nacarius Fant SeniorWestern Kentucky LS Matt Bayliss SeniorUTSA

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Mike White, Senior, QB, WKU Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Emmanuel Ellerbee, Senior, LB, Rice Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year: Kylen Towner, Senior, KR, WKU

Head coaches Three Conference USA teams hired new head coaches for the 2017 season. All three were in the East Division, and all three were replacing coaches who had spent at least three seasons at their respective schools. FIU hired Butch Davis to replace Ron Turner, who was fired after going 0–4 with the panthers. Ron Cooper was promoted as interim head coach after the fire until the hire of Davis. Davis is coming from a break from coaching football from 2011 to 2016. He was the head coach for many teams in college such as North Carolina and teams in NFL. Littrell was hired on November 14, 2016. Florida Atlantic hired Lane Kiffin to replace Charlie Partridge, who was fired after leading the Owls to a 9–27 record during his three-year tenure at Florida Atlantic. Kiffin spent three years prior to Florida Atlantic at Alabama as an offensive coordinator under the head coach, Nick Saban. Lane was hired on December 12, 2016. Western Kentucky hired Mike Sanford Jr. to replace Jeff Brohm, who resigned on December 5, 2016, to become the head coach at Purdue. Sanford was a quarterback coach and an offensive coordinator at Notre Dame for two seasons. Sanford was hired on December 14, 2016.

Note: All stats shown are before the beginning of the season. Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school CUSA recordCharlotte Brad Lambert 5 16–30 16–30 3–13FIU Butch Davis 1 63–43 0–0 0–0Florida Atlantic Lane Kiffin 1 35–21 0–0 0–0Louisiana Tech Skip Holtz 5 119–93 31–22 22–10Marshall Doc Holliday 8 53–37 53–37 35–21Middle Tennessee Rick Stockstill 12 72–66 72–66 22–10North Texas Seth Littrell 2 5–8 5–8 3–5Old Dominion Bobby Wilder 9 67–30 67–30 14–10Rice David Bailiff 11 77–84 56–69 39–41Southern Miss Jay Hopson 2 39–23 7–6 4–4UAB Bill Clark 2 17–10 6–6 4–4UTEP Sean Kugler 5 18–31 18–31 11–21UTSA Frank Wilson 2 6–7 6–7 5–3Western Kentucky Mike Sanford Jr. 1 0–0 0–0 0–0

Records against FBS conferences

Regular season

Power 5 conferencesRecordACC1–4Big Ten0–4Big 121–2Pac-120–2SEC0–7Power 5 Total2–19Other FBS conferencesRecordAmerican2–4Independents3–2MAC4–3Mountain West0–0Sun Belt4–2Other FBS Total13–11FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision9–1Total non-conference record24–31

Post season

Other FBS conferencesRecordACC0–1American1–1MAC1–1Mountain West1–0Sun Belt1–2Total bowl record4–5

Postseason

Postseason awards Most Valuable Player: Devin Singletary, RB, Florida Atlantic Offensive Player of the Year: Mason Fine, QB, North Texas Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Davenport, DE, UTSA Special Teams Player of the Year: Isaiah Harper, KR, Old Dominion Coach of the Year: Bill Clark, UAB Freshman of the Year: Spencer Brown, RB, UAB Newcomer of the Year: Jalen Guyton, WR, sophomore, North Texas & Teddy Veal, WR, junior, Louisiana Tech

All-Conference Teams

Position Player Team First Team OffenseQB North Texas RB Florida Atlantic RB Southern Miss WR FIU WR Marshall WR Southern Miss TE Marshall OL Florida Atlantic OL Florida Atlantic OL Florida Atlantic OL UTEP OL Western Kentucky First Team DefenseDL Louisiana Tech DL Old Dominion DL Rice DL UTSA LB Florida Atlantic LB Rice LB Western Kentucky DB Florida Atlantic DB Florida Atlantic DB Louisiana Tech DB UAB First Team Special Teams P Marshall K Southern Miss KR Old Dominion PR Old Dominion LS Louisiana Tech

Position Player Team Second Team OffenseQBWestern KentuckyRB North TexasRBUABWRLouisiana TechWRMiddle TennesseeWRNorth TexasTEFlorida AtlanticOLFIUOLLouisiana TechOLMarshallOLSouthern MissOLUAB Second Team DefenseDL FIU DL Marshall DL Southern Miss DL UTSA LB FIU LB Marshall LB Middle Tennessee DB FIU DB Louisiana Tech DB Marshall DB Southern Miss Second Team Special Teams P Rice K North Texas KR Marshall PR Rice LS UTSA

Position Player Team Honorable Mention OffenseQBFIUQBFlorida AtlanticQBMiddle TennesseeQBUABRB FIURBFlorida AtlanticRBLouisiana TechRBLouisiana TechRBOld DominionWRLouisiana TechWRMarshallWRNorth TexasWRRiceWRSouthern MissWRUABWRWestern KentuckyWRWestern KentuckyTEFIUTELouisiana TechTEWestern KentuckyOLCharlotteOLCharlotteOLLouisiana TechOLLouisiana TechOLMiddle TennesseeOLMiddle TennesseeOLNorth TexasOLNorth TexasOLNorth TexasOLNorth TexasOLOld DominionOLOld DominionOLRiceOLRiceOLSouthern MissOLSouthern MissOLUAB

Bowl games

Legend CUSA win CUSA loss

(Rankings from final CFP Poll; All times Eastern) Date Time Bowl Game Site TV CUSA Team Opponent Result December 16, 2017 1:00 p.m. New Orleans Bowl Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA ESPN North Texas Troy 50–30 December 16, 2017 2:30 p.m. AutoNation Cure Bowl Camping World Stadium • Orlando, FL CBSSN Western Kentucky Georgia State 27–17 December 16, 2017 4:30 p.m. New Mexico Bowl Dreamstyle Stadium • Albuquerque, NM ESPN Marshall Colorado State 31–28 December 16, 2017 8:00 p.m. Camellia Bowl Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL ESPN Middle Tennessee Arkansas State 35–30 December 19, 2017 7:00 p.m. Boca Raton Bowl FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL ESPN Florida Atlantic Akron 50–3 December 20, 2017 7:00 p.m. Frisco Bowl Toyota Stadium • Frisco, TX ESPN Louisiana Tech SMU 51–10 December 21, 2017 8:00 p.m. Gasparilla Bowl Tropicana Field • St. Petersburg, FL ESPN FIU Temple 28–3 December 22, 2017 12:30 p.m. Bahamas Bowl Thomas Robinson Stadium • Nassau, Bahamas ESPN UAB Ohio 41–6 December 27, 2017 1:30 p.m. Independence Bowl Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LA ESPN Southern Miss Florida State 42–13

Home game attendance TeamStadiumCapacityGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4Game 5Game 6Game 7Total Average% of CapacityCharlotteJerry Richardson Stadium15,31418,65111,02910,58411,88910,9378,33071,42011,90377.73%FIUFIU Stadium20,0005,017†15,34816,43318,87417,12716,19914,004103,00214,71573.57%Florida AtlanticFAU Stadium29,41928,48116,74312,91313,27715,88024,11614,258 ‡125,66817,95361.02%Louisiana TechJoe Aillet Stadium28,56224,00228,10022,01317,81518,50416,51115,651142,59620,37171.32%MarshallJoan C. Edwards Stadium38,22722,46324,04426,09719,96619,51618,361130,44721,74156.87%Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium3078826717165231552713412114111012893,71815,62050.73%North TexasApogee Stadium30,85019,59220,14223,06818,87226,10826,392134,17422,36272.49%Old DominionForeman Field20,11820,11820,11820,11820,11820,11820,118120,70820,118100.00%RiceRice Stadium47,00018,93221,76619,99218,12417,95696,77019,35441.18%Southern MissM. M. Roberts Stadium36,00022,76124,33721,90721,97019,10120,189130,26521,71160.31%UABLegion Field71,59445,21221,78927,21325,30921,22412,505153,25225,54235.68%UTEPSun Bowl Stadium51,50019,13622,13320,41819,45616,59797,74019,54837.96%UTSAAlamodome65,00025,09323,51725,27020,07620,148114,10422,82135.11%WKUHouchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium22,11318,61416,22317,59016,75412,44112,61294,23415,70671.02% †Played at Legion Field in Birmingham, AL

‡ Conference Championship Game

References