2017 Conference USA football season | |
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League: | NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision |
Sport: | Football |
Pixels: | 250px |
Duration: | August 26, 2017 through December 27, 2017 |
No Of Teams: | 14 |
Tv: | ESPN, CBS Sports Network, Stadium, beIN Sports, CUSA.tv, FloSports |
Draft: | 2018 NFL Draft |
Draft Link: | 2018 NFL Draft |
Top Pick: | DE Marcus Davenport, UTSA |
Picked By: | New Orleans Saints, 14th overall |
Season: | Regular season |
Season Champ Name: | Champions |
Mvp: | RB Devin Singletary, FAU |
Conf1: | East |
Conf1 Champ: | Florida Atlantic |
Conf2: | West |
Conf2 Champ: | North Texas |
Finals: | Championship Game |
Finals Link: | 2017 Conference USA Football Championship Game |
Finals Champ: | Florida Atlantic |
Finals Runner-Up: | North Texas |
Finals Mvp: | WR Kalib Woods, FAU |
Seasonslistnames: | Football |
Prevseason Year: | 2016 |
Nextseason Year: | 2018 |
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.[1] 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.
C-USA consists 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 is divided into the East and West divisions. UAB will begin play for the first time since 2014, after the Blazer football program was dropped from competition.[2]
The 2017 preseason media football poll was released on July 18.[3] 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
The conference preseason awards were released on July 17.[4] 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
QB | Mike White | Senior | Western Kentucky | |
---|---|---|---|---|
WR | Richie James | Junior | ||
WR | Jonathan Duhart | Senior | Old Dominion | |
WR | Allenzae Staggers | Senior | Southern Miss | |
RB | Ray Lawry | Senior | Old Dominion | |
RB | Ito Smith | Senior | Southern Miss | |
OL | O’Shea Dugas | Junior | Louisiana Tech | |
OL | Will Hernandez | Senior | UTEP | |
OL | Trey Martin | Senior | Rice | |
OL | Austin Pratt | Senior | UTSA | |
OL | Brandon Ray | Senior | Western Kentucky | |
TE | Ryan Yurachek | Senior | Marshall |
DL | Marcus Davenport | Senior | UTSA | |
---|---|---|---|---|
DL | Jaylon Ferguson | Sophomore | Louisiana Tech | |
DL | Chris Johnson | Senior | Western Kentucky | |
DL | Oshane Ximines | Senior | Old Dominion | |
LB | Emmanuel Ellerbee | Senior | Rice | |
LB | Alvin Jones | Senior | UTEP | |
LB | Josiah Tauaefa | Sophomore | UTSA | |
LB | Anthony Wint | Senior | FIU | |
DB | Brandon Addison | Senior | Old Dominion | |
DB | Nate Brooks | Junior | North Texas | |
DB | Joe Brown | Senior | Western Kentucky | |
DB | Kishawn McClain | Senior | North Texas |
P | Jake Collins | Junior | Western Kentucky | |
---|---|---|---|---|
K | Canon Rooker | Senior | ||
KR | Kylen Towner | Senior | Western Kentucky | |
PR | Nacarius Fant | Senior | Western Kentucky | |
LS | Matt Bayliss | Senior | UTSA |
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.
Note: All stats shown are before the beginning of the season.
Team | Head coach | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | CUSA record | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charlotte | Brad Lambert | 5 | 16–30 | 16–30 | 3–13 | |
FIU | Butch Davis | 1 | 63–43 | 0–0 | 0–0 | |
Florida Atlantic | Lane Kiffin | 1 | 35–21 | 0–0 | 0–0 | |
Louisiana Tech | Skip Holtz | 5 | 119–93 | 31–22 | 22–10 | |
Marshall | Doc Holliday | 8 | 53–37 | 53–37 | 35–21 | |
Middle Tennessee | Rick Stockstill | 12 | 72–66 | 72–66 | 22–10 | |
North Texas | Seth Littrell | 2 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 3–5 | |
Old Dominion | Bobby Wilder | 9 | 67–30 | 67–30 | 14–10 | |
Rice | David Bailiff | 11 | 77–84 | 56–69 | 39–41 | |
Southern Miss | Jay Hopson | 2 | 39–23 | 7–6 | 4–4 | |
UAB | Bill Clark | 2 | 17–10 | 6–6 | 4–4 | |
UTEP | Sean Kugler | 5 | 18–31 | 18–31 | 11–21 | |
UTSA | Frank Wilson | 2 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 5–3 | |
Western Kentucky | Mike Sanford Jr. | 1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
Regular season
Power 5 conferences | Record | |
---|---|---|
ACC | 1–4 | |
Big Ten | 0–4 | |
Big 12 | 1–2 | |
Pac-12 | 0–2 | |
SEC | 0–7 | |
Power 5 Total | 2–19 | |
Other FBS conferences | Record | |
American | 2–4 | |
Independents | 3–2 | |
MAC | 4–3 | |
Mountain West | 0–0 | |
Sun Belt | 4–2 | |
Other FBS Total | 13–11 | |
FCS Opponents | Record | |
Football Championship Subdivision | 9–1 | |
Total non-conference record | 24–31 |
Post season
Other FBS conferences | Record | |
---|---|---|
ACC | 0–1 | |
American | 1–1 | |
MAC | 1–1 | |
Mountain West | 1–0 | |
Sun Belt | 1–2 | |
Total bowl record | 4–5 |
Position | Player | Team | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First Team Offense | ||||
QB | style= | North Texas | ||
RB | style= | Florida Atlantic | ||
RB | style= | Southern Miss | ||
WR | style= | FIU | ||
WR | style= | Marshall | ||
WR | style= | Southern Miss | ||
TE | style= | Marshall | ||
OL | style= | Florida Atlantic | ||
OL | style= | Florida Atlantic | ||
OL | style= | Florida Atlantic | ||
OL | style= | UTEP | ||
OL | style= | Western Kentucky | ||
First Team Defense | ||||
DL | style= | Louisiana Tech | ||
DL | style= | Old Dominion | ||
DL | style= | Rice | ||
DL | style= | UTSA | ||
LB | style= | Florida Atlantic | ||
LB | style= | Rice | ||
LB | style= | Western Kentucky | ||
DB | style= | Florida Atlantic | ||
DB | style= | Florida Atlantic | ||
DB | style= | Louisiana Tech | ||
DB | style= | UAB | ||
First Team Special Teams | ||||
P | style= | Marshall | ||
K | style= | Southern Miss | ||
KR | style= | Old Dominion | ||
PR | style= | Old Dominion | ||
LS | style= | Louisiana Tech |
Position | Player | Team | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Second Team Offense | ||||
QB | style= | Western Kentucky | ||
RB | style= | North Texas | ||
RB | style= | UAB | ||
WR | style= | Louisiana Tech | ||
WR | style= | Middle Tennessee | ||
WR | style= | North Texas | ||
TE | style= | Florida Atlantic | ||
OL | style= | FIU | ||
OL | style= | Louisiana Tech | ||
OL | style= | Marshall | ||
OL | style= | Southern Miss | ||
OL | style= | UAB | ||
Second Team Defense | ||||
DL | style= | FIU | ||
DL | style= | Marshall | ||
DL | style= | Southern Miss | ||
DL | style= | UTSA | ||
LB | style= | FIU | ||
LB | style= | Marshall | ||
LB | style= | Middle Tennessee | ||
DB | style= | FIU | ||
DB | style= | Louisiana Tech | ||
DB | style= | Marshall | ||
DB | style= | Southern Miss | ||
Second Team Special Teams | ||||
P | style= | Rice | ||
K | style= | North Texas | ||
KR | style= | Marshall | ||
PR | style= | Rice | ||
LS | style= | UTSA |
Position | Player | Team | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Honorable Mention Offense | ||||
QB | style= | FIU | ||
QB | style= | Florida Atlantic | ||
QB | style= | Middle Tennessee | ||
QB | style= | UAB | ||
RB | style= | FIU | ||
RB | style= | Florida Atlantic | ||
RB | style= | Louisiana Tech | ||
RB | style= | Louisiana Tech | ||
RB | style= | Old Dominion | ||
WR | style= | Louisiana Tech | ||
WR | style= | Marshall | ||
WR | style= | North Texas | ||
WR | style= | Rice | ||
WR | style= | Southern Miss | ||
WR | style= | UAB | ||
WR | style= | Western Kentucky | ||
WR | style= | Western Kentucky | ||
TE | style= | FIU | ||
TE | style= | Louisiana Tech | ||
TE | style= | Western Kentucky | ||
OL | style= | Charlotte | ||
OL | style= | Charlotte | ||
OL | style= | Louisiana Tech | ||
OL | style= | Louisiana Tech | ||
OL | style= | Middle Tennessee | ||
OL | style= | Middle Tennessee | ||
OL | style= | North Texas | ||
OL | style= | North Texas | ||
OL | style= | North Texas | ||
OL | style= | North Texas | ||
OL | style= | Old Dominion | ||
OL | style= | Old Dominion | ||
OL | style= | Rice | ||
OL | style= | Rice | ||
OL | style= | Southern Miss | ||
OL | style= | Southern Miss | ||
OL | style= | UAB |
See also: 2017–18 NCAA football bowl games.
Legend | ||
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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. | ESPN | North Texas | 50–30 | ||||
December 16, 2017 | 2:30 p.m. | CBSSN | Western Kentucky | 27–17 | ||||
December 16, 2017 | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN | Marshall | 31–28 | ||||
December 16, 2017 | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN | Middle Tennessee | 35–30 | ||||
December 19, 2017 | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN | Florida Atlantic | 50–3 | ||||
December 20, 2017 | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN | Louisiana Tech | 51–10 | ||||
December 21, 2017 | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN | FIU | 28–3 | ||||
December 22, 2017 | 12:30 p.m. | ESPN | UAB | 41–6 | ||||
December 27, 2017 | 1:30 p.m. | ESPN | Southern Miss | 42–13 |
Team | Stadium | Capacity | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Total | Average | % of Capacity |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charlotte | Jerry Richardson Stadium | 15,314 | 18,651 | 11,029 | 10,584 | 11,889 | 10,937 | 8,330 | 71,420 | 11,903 | 77.73% | |
FIU | FIU Stadium | 20,000 | 5,017† | 15,348 | 16,433 | 18,874 | 17,127 | 16,199 | 14,004 | 103,002 | 14,715 | 73.57% |
Florida Atlantic | FAU Stadium | 29,419 | 28,481 | 16,743 | 12,913 | 13,277 | 15,880 | 24,116 | 14,258 ‡ | 125,668 | 17,953 | 61.02% |
Louisiana Tech | Joe Aillet Stadium | 28,562 | 24,002 | 28,100 | 22,013 | 17,815 | 18,504 | 16,511 | 15,651 | 142,596 | 20,371 | 71.32% |
Marshall | Joan C. Edwards Stadium | 38,227 | 22,463 | 24,044 | 26,097 | 19,966 | 19,516 | 18,361 | 130,447 | 21,741 | 56.87% | |
Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium | 30788 | 26717 | 16523 | 15527 | 13412 | 11411 | 10128 | 93,718 | 15,620 | 50.73% | ||
North Texas | Apogee Stadium | 30,850 | 19,592 | 20,142 | 23,068 | 18,872 | 26,108 | 26,392 | 134,174 | 22,362 | 72.49% | |
Old Dominion | Foreman Field | 20,118 | 20,118 | 20,118 | 20,118 | 20,118 | 20,118 | 20,118 | 120,708 | 20,118 | 100.00% | |
Rice | Rice Stadium | 47,000 | 18,932 | 21,766 | 19,992 | 18,124 | 17,956 | 96,770 | 19,354 | 41.18% | ||
Southern Miss | M. M. Roberts Stadium | 36,000 | 22,761 | 24,337 | 21,907 | 21,970 | 19,101 | 20,189 | 130,265 | 21,711 | 60.31% | |
UAB | Legion Field | 71,594 | 45,212 | 21,789 | 27,213 | 25,309 | 21,224 | 12,505 | 153,252 | 25,542 | 35.68% | |
UTEP | Sun Bowl Stadium | 51,500 | 19,136 | 22,133 | 20,418 | 19,456 | 16,597 | 97,740 | 19,548 | 37.96% | ||
UTSA | Alamodome | 65,000 | 25,093 | 23,517 | 25,270 | 20,076 | 20,148 | 114,104 | 22,821 | 35.11% | ||
WKU | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium | 22,113 | 18,614 | 16,223 | 17,590 | 16,754 | 12,441 | 12,612 | 94,234 | 15,706 | 71.02% | |
‡ Conference Championship Game