Sports season
2017 Conference USA football season League NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Sport Football Duration August 26, 2017 through December 27, 2017 Number of teams 14 TV partner(s) ESPN , CBS Sports Network , Stadium , beIN Sports , CUSA.tv , FloSportsTop draft pick DE Marcus Davenport , UTSA Picked by New Orleans Saints , 14th overallSeason MVP RB Devin Singletary , FAU East champions Florida Atlantic West champions North Texas Champions Florida Atlantic Runners-up North Texas Finals MVP WR Kalib Woods, FAU
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 1. Western Kentucky (20 first-place votes) 2. Middle Tennessee (4) 3. Old Dominion (3) 4. Marshall (1) 5. Florida Atlantic 6. FIU 7. Charlotte West Division 1. Louisiana Tech (20) 2. UTSA (7) 3. Southern Miss (1) 4. North Texas 5. Rice 6. UTEP 7. UAB
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
Offense Position Player Class Team QB Mike White Senior Western Kentucky WR Richie James Junior Middle Tennessee 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
Defense Position Player Class Team 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
Specialists Position Player Class Team P Jake Collins Junior Western Kentucky K Canon Rooker Senior Middle Tennessee KR Kylen Towner Senior Western Kentucky PR Nacarius Fant Senior Western Kentucky LS Matt Bayliss Senior UTSA
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 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.[ 5] 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.[ 6] 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.[ 7] 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.[ 8] 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.
Records against FBS conferences [ edit ] Regular season
Post season
Most Valuable Player : Devin Singletary , RB, Florida Atlantic[ 9] Offensive Player of the Year : Mason Fine , QB, North Texas[ 9] Defensive Player of the Year : Marcus Davenport , DE, UTSA[ 9] Special Teams Player of the Year : Isaiah Harper, KR, Old Dominion[ 9] Coach of the Year : Bill Clark , UAB[ 10] Freshman of the Year : Spencer Brown , RB, UAB[ 9] Newcomer of the Year : Jalen Guyton , WR, sophomore, North Texas & Teddy Veal, WR, junior, Louisiana Tech[ 9] All-Conference Teams [ edit ] [ 11]
Position Player Team Second Team Offense QB Mike White Western Kentucky RB Jeffery Wilson North Texas RB Spencer Brown UAB WR Teddy Veal Louisiana Tech WR Ty Lee Middle Tennessee WR Jalen Guyton North Texas TE Harrison Bryant Florida Atlantic OL Jordan Budwig FIU OL O'Shea Dugas Louisiana Tech OL Levi Brown Marshall OL Devin Farrior Southern Miss OL Chris Schleuger UAB Second Team Defense DL Fermin Silva FIU DL Ryan Bee Marshall DL Xavier Thigpen Southern Miss DL Kevin Strong UTSA LB Anthony Wint FIU LB Chase Hancock Marshall LB Khalil Brooks Middle Tennessee DB Brad Muhammad FIU DB Amik Robertson Louisiana Tech DB Malik Gant Marshall DB Curtis Mikell Southern Miss Second Team Special Teams P Jack Fox Rice K Trevor Moore North Texas KR Keion Davis Marshall PR Austin Trammell Rice LS Matt Bayliss UTSA
Position Player Team Honorable Mention Offense QB Alex McGough FIU QB Jason Driskel Florida Atlantic QB Brent Stockstill Middle Tennessee QB A. J. Erdely UAB RB Alex Gardner FIU RB Gregory Howell Florida Atlantic RB Jarred Craft Louisiana Tech RB Boston Scott Louisiana Tech RB Ray Lawry Old Dominion WR Rashid Bonnette Louisiana Tech WR Marcel Williams Marshall WR Michael Lawrence North Texas WR Austin Walter Rice WR Allenzae Staggers Southern Miss WR Andre Wilson UAB WR Nacarius Fant Western Kentucky WR Lucky Jackson Western Kentucky TE Pharoah McKever FIU TE Kam McKnight Louisiana Tech TE Deon Yelder Western Kentucky OL Nate Davis Charlotte OL Eugene German Charlotte OL Joshua Outlaw Louisiana Tech OL Ethan Reed Louisiana Tech OL Robert Behanan Middle Tennessee OL Chandler Brewer Middle Tennessee OL T. J. Henson North Texas OL Sosaia Mose North Texas OL Jordan Murray North Texas OL Elex Woodworth North Texas OL Nick Clarke Old Dominion OL Isaac Weaver Old Dominion OL Calvin Anderson Rice OL Trey Martin Rice OL Drake Dorbeck Southern Miss OL Arvin Fletcher Southern Miss OL James Davis UAB
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 [ edit ] 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% Middle Tennessee 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%
†Played at Legion Field in Birmingham, AL [ 12]
‡ Conference Championship Game
^ "FB: 2017 Schedule Released" . Conferenceusa.com. January 26, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017 . ^ "UAB to reinstate football for 2017 season" . ESPN.com . July 21, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2017 . ^ "FB: Preseason Media Poll" . Conference USA . Retrieved July 19, 2017 . ^ "FB: 2017 Preseason Awards" . Conference USA . Retrieved July 19, 2017 . ^ "Weekend Replay: Head Coach Ron Turner relieved of duties" . September 26, 2016. ^ "ESPN analyst Davis leaving to be FIU coach" . November 14, 2016. ^ "Florida Atlantic fires Charlie Partridge after three seasons" . USA Today . ^ Low, Chris; McMurphy, Brett (December 12, 2016). "Alabama OC Lane Kiffin to be next head coach of Florida Atlantic" . ESPN . Retrieved December 12, 2016 . ^ a b c d e f "FB: 2017 C-USA Individual Awards" (Press release). Conference USA. December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017 . ^ "FB: UAB's Bill Clark Named Coach of the Year" (Press release). Conference USA. December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017 . ^ "FB: 2017 All-Conference Awards" (Press release). Conference USA. December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017 . ^ "Hurricane Irma 2017: FIU vs. Alcorn State to be played in Birmingham" . AL.com . September 7, 2017.
Current teams Future members Championships & awards Seasons
Conference seasons Inter-conference All-Americans