2017 Conference USA football season

Last updated

2017 Conference USA football season
Conference USA logo (2013-2023).svg
League NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
Sport Football
DurationAugust 26, 2017
through December 27, 2017
Number of teams14
TV partner(s) ESPN, CBS Sports Network, Stadium, beIN Sports, CUSA.tv, FloSports
2018 NFL Draft
Top draft pickDE Marcus Davenport, UTSA
Picked by New Orleans Saints, 14th overall
Regular season
Season MVPRB Devin Singletary, FAU
East champions Florida Atlantic
West champions North Texas
Championship Game
ChampionsFlorida Atlantic
  Runners-upNorth Texas
Finals MVPWR Kalib Woods, FAU
Football seasons
←  2016
2018  →
2017 Conference USA football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
East Division
Florida Atlantic x$  8 –0   11 –3  
FIU  5 –3   8 –5  
Marshall  4 –4   8 –5  
Western Kentucky  4 –4   6 –7  
Middle Tennessee  4 –4   7 –6  
Old Dominion  3 –5   5 –7  
Charlotte  1 –7   1 –11  
West Division
North Texas x  7 –1   9 –5  
UAB  6 –2   8 –5  
Southern Miss  6 –2   8 –5  
Louisiana Tech  4 –4   7 –6  
UTSA  3 –5   6 –5  
Rice  1 –7   1 –11  
UTEP  0 –8   0 –12  
Championship: Florida Atlantic 41, North Texas 17
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

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.

Contents

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]

Preseason

Media predictions

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.

Preseason awards

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
PositionPlayerClassTeam
QB Mike White SeniorWestern Kentucky
WR Richie James JuniorMiddle Tennessee
WRJonathan DuhartSeniorOld Dominion
WRAllenzae StaggersSeniorSouthern Miss
RBRay LawrySeniorOld Dominion
RB Ito Smith SeniorSouthern Miss
OLO’Shea DugasJuniorLouisiana Tech
OL Will Hernandez SeniorUTEP
OLTrey MartinSeniorRice
OLAustin PrattSeniorUTSA
OLBrandon RaySeniorWestern Kentucky
TERyan YurachekSeniorMarshall
Defense
PositionPlayerClassTeam
DL Marcus Davenport SeniorUTSA
DL Jaylon Ferguson SophomoreLouisiana Tech
DLChris JohnsonSeniorWestern Kentucky
DL Oshane Ximines SeniorOld Dominion
LBEmmanuel EllerbeeSeniorRice
LBAlvin JonesSeniorUTEP
LB Josiah Tauaefa SophomoreUTSA
LBAnthony WintSeniorFIU
DBBrandon AddisonSeniorOld Dominion
DBNate BrooksJuniorNorth Texas
DBJoe BrownSeniorWestern Kentucky
DBKishawn McClainSeniorNorth Texas
Specialists
PositionPlayerClassTeam
PJake CollinsJuniorWestern Kentucky
KCanon RookerSeniorMiddle Tennessee
KRKylen TownerSeniorWestern Kentucky
PRNacarius FantSeniorWestern Kentucky
LSMatt BaylissSeniorUTSA

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.

Note: All stats shown are before the beginning of the season.

TeamHead coachYears at schoolOverall recordRecord at schoolCUSA record
Charlotte Brad Lambert 516–3016–303–13
FIU Butch Davis 163–430–00–0
Florida Atlantic Lane Kiffin 135–210–00–0
Louisiana Tech Skip Holtz 5119–9331–2222–10
Marshall Doc Holliday 853–3753–3735–21
Middle Tennessee Rick Stockstill 1272–6672–6622–10
North Texas Seth Littrell 25–85–83–5
Old Dominion Bobby Wilder 967–3067–3014–10
Rice David Bailiff 1177–8456–6939–41
Southern Miss Jay Hopson 239–237–64–4
UAB Bill Clark 217–106–64–4
UTEP Sean Kugler 518–3118–3111–21
UTSA Frank Wilson 26–76–75–3
Western Kentucky Mike Sanford Jr. 10–00–00–0

Records against FBS conferences

Postseason

Postseason awards

All-Conference Teams

[11]

Bowl games

Legend
 CUSA win
 CUSA loss

(Rankings from final CFP Poll; All times Eastern)

DateTimeBowl GameSiteTVCUSA TeamOpponentResult
December 16, 20171:00 p.m. New Orleans Bowl Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA ESPNNorth Texas Troy 50–30
December 16, 20172:30 p.m. AutoNation Cure Bowl Camping World Stadium • Orlando, FL CBSSNWestern Kentucky Georgia State 27–17
December 16, 20174:30 p.m. New Mexico Bowl Dreamstyle Stadium • Albuquerque, NM ESPNMarshall Colorado State 31–28
December 16, 20178:00 p.m. Camellia Bowl Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL ESPNMiddle Tennessee Arkansas State 35–30
December 19, 20177:00 p.m. Boca Raton Bowl FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL ESPNFlorida Atlantic Akron 50–3
December 20, 20177:00 p.m. Frisco Bowl Toyota Stadium • Frisco, TX ESPNLouisiana Tech SMU 51–10
December 21, 20178:00 p.m. Gasparilla Bowl Tropicana Field • St. Petersburg, FL ESPNFIU Temple 28–3
December 22, 201712:30 p.m. Bahamas Bowl Thomas Robinson Stadium • Nassau, Bahamas ESPNUAB Ohio 41–6
December 27, 20171:30 p.m. Independence Bowl Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LA ESPNSouthern Miss Florida State 42–13

Home game attendance

TeamStadiumCapacityGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4Game 5Game 6Game 7TotalAverage% of Capacity
Charlotte Jerry Richardson Stadium 15,31418,65111,02910,58411,88910,9378,330—71,42011,90377.73%
FIU FIU Stadium 20,0005,017†15,34816,43318,87417,12716,19914,004103,00214,71573.57%
Florida Atlantic FAU Stadium 29,41928,48116,74312,91313,27715,88024,11614,258 ‡125,66817,95361.02%
Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium 28,56224,00228,10022,01317,81518,50416,51115,651142,59620,37171.32%
Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium 38,22722,46324,04426,09719,96619,51618,361130,44721,74156.87%
Middle Tennessee Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium 30788267171652315527134121141110128—93,71815,62050.73%
North Texas Apogee Stadium 30,85019,59220,14223,06818,87226,10826,392—134,17422,36272.49%
Old Dominion Foreman Field 20,11820,11820,11820,11820,11820,11820,118—120,70820,118100.00%
Rice Rice Stadium 47,00018,93221,76619,99218,12417,956——96,77019,35441.18%
Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium 36,00022,76124,33721,90721,97019,10120,189—130,26521,71160.31%
UAB Legion Field 71,59445,21221,78927,21325,30921,22412,505—153,25225,54235.68%
UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium 51,50019,13622,13320,41819,45616,597——97,74019,54837.96%
UTSA Alamodome 65,00025,09323,51725,27020,07620,148——114,10422,82135.11%
WKU Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium 22,11318,61416,22317,59016,75412,44112,612—94,23415,70671.02%

†Played at Legion Field in Birmingham, AL [12]

‡ Conference Championship Game

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References

  1. ↑ "FB: 2017 Schedule Released". Conferenceusa.com. January 26, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  2. ↑ "UAB to reinstate football for 2017 season". ESPN.com . July 21, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  3. ↑ "FB: Preseason Media Poll". Conference USA. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  4. ↑ "FB: 2017 Preseason Awards". Conference USA. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Weekend Replay: Head Coach Ron Turner relieved of duties". September 26, 2016.
  6. ↑ "ESPN analyst Davis leaving to be FIU coach". November 14, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Florida Atlantic fires Charlie Partridge after three seasons". USA Today .
  8. ↑ Low, Chris; McMurphy, Brett (December 12, 2016). "Alabama OC Lane Kiffin to be next head coach of Florida Atlantic". ESPN . Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "FB: 2017 C-USA Individual Awards" (Press release). Conference USA. December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  10. ↑ "FB: UAB's Bill Clark Named Coach of the Year" (Press release). Conference USA. December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  11. ↑ "FB: 2017 All-Conference Awards" (Press release). Conference USA. December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Hurricane Irma 2017: FIU vs. Alcorn State to be played in Birmingham". AL.com. September 7, 2017.
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