2016 Conference USA football season


The 2016 Conference USA football season was the 21st season of Conference USA football and part of the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on September 1 with Charlotte facing Louisville. This season was the second season for the C-USA under realignment that took place in 2014, which added the 14th member Charlotte from the Atlantic 10 Conference. The 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 split up into the East and West divisions. West champion Louisiana Tech played at East champion Western Kentucky's Houchens Industries-L. T. Smith Stadium for the Conference USA Championship on December 3, which Western Kentucky won 58–44. UAB continued to undergo reinstatement of its football program during the 2016 season and will begin play for the 2017 season.
Western Kentucky entered the season as defending Conference USA champions, defeating Southern Miss in the previous year's championship game. The Hilltoppers would then go on to defeat South Florida in the Miami Beach Bowl 45–35.

Preseason

2016 predictions

The 2016 preseason media predictions were released on July 21, 2016 with the vote conducted by media members that cover the conference schools. Middle Tennessee was picked to win the East division for the first time in school history. After coming second in the East last year, which resulted a trip to the Bahamas Bowl, the Blue Raiders returned 13 starters for the upcoming season. In the West division, the media predicted Southern Miss to overcome the other 5 teams in the division. Southern Miss has been in the C-USA championship more than any team in the conference, with 3 appearances including an appearance last season against Western Kentucky. The Golden Eagles brought back seven starters on offense and six starters on defense. Western Kentucky, defending C-USA champion, was predicted to finish second in the East division, instead of returning to the title game.
The twelve annual championship game will be held on December 3, 2016, which is predicted to pit Southern Miss and Middle Tennessee.
West Division
East Division
References:

Head Coaches

Three Conference USA teams hired new head coaches for the 2016 season. All three were in the West Division, and all three were replacing coaches who had spent at least 3 seasons at their respective schools.
Note: All stats shown are before the beginning of the season.
TeamHead coachYears at schoolOverall recordRecord at schoolCUSA record
CharlotteBrad Lambert412–2212–220–8
FIURon Turner455–8210–267–17
Florida AtlanticCharlie Partridge36–186–185–11
Louisiana TechSkip Holtz4110–8822–1716–8
MarshallDoc Holliday750–2850–2833–15
Middle TennesseeRick Stockstill1164–6164–6117–7
North TexasSeth Littrell10–00–00–0
Old DominionBobby Wilder857–2757–277–9
RiceDavid Bailiff1074–7553–6037–35
Southern MissJay Hopson132–170–00–0
UTEPSean Kugler414–2314–239–15
UTSAFrank Wilson10–00–00–0
Western KentuckyJeff Brohm320–720–712–4

C-USA vs other conferences

C-USA vs power conferences

Index to colors and formatting
Conference USA member won
Conference USA member lost
Conference USA teams in bold

This is a list of the power conference teams C-USA plays in non-conference :
DateVisitorHomeSiteScore
September 1Charlotte#19 LouisvillePapa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, Kentucky14–70
September 1IndianaFIUFIU Stadium • Miami34–13
September 3Louisiana TechArkansasDonald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, Arkansas20–21
September 3Southern MissKentuckyCommonwealth Stadium • Lexington, Kentucky44–35
September 9MarylandFIUFIU Stadium • Miami, Florida41–14
September 10Florida Atlantic#25 MiamiHard Rock Stadium • Miami Gardens, Florida10–38
September 10Middle TennesseeVanderbiltVanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, Tennessee24–47
September 10UTEP#11 TexasDarrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, Texas7–41
September 10WKU#1 AlabamaBryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, Alabama10–38
September 16BaylorRiceRice Stadium • Houston38–10
September 16Arizona StateUTSAAlamodome • San Antonio, Texas32–28
September 17Florida AtlanticKansas St.Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium • Manhattan, Kansas7–63
September 17Louisiana TechTexas TechJones AT&T Stadium • Lubbock, Texas45–59
September 17North TexasFloridaBen Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida0–32
September 17Old DominionNC StateCarter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, North Carolina22–49
September 24VanderbiltWKUHouchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, Kentucky31–30 OT
September 24LouisvilleMarshallJoan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, West Virginia59–28
October 1MarshallPittsburghHeinz Field • Pittsburgh27–43
October 15Southern MissLSUTiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana10–45
October 22Middle TennesseeMissouriFaurot Field • Columbia, Missouri51–45
November 19UTSATexas A&MKyle Field • College Station, Texas10–23
November 26RiceStanfordStanford Stadium • Stanford, California17–41

2016 records against non-conference opponents

Regular season
Power 5 conferencesRecord
ACC0–5
Big Ten0–2
Big 120–4
Pac-120–2
SEC2–7
Power 5 Total2–20
-
Other FBS conferencesRecord
American0–3
Independents3–3
MAC2–3
Mountain West0–1
Sun Belt1–2
Other FBS Total6–12
-
FCS OpponentsRecord
Football Championship Subdivision11–0
-
Total non-conference record19–32

Post season
Other FBS conferencesRecord
American2–0
Independents0–1
MAC1–0
Mountain West0–2
Sun Belt1–0
-
Total bowl record4–2

Postseason

Bowl games

Per conference regulations, all teams with seven or more wins shall be placed into conference bowls prior to any other bowl eligible teams without a winning record. The rankings are from final CFP Poll and all game times are in Eastern. Old Dominion was the first team to accept a bowl bid on November 28.
DateTimeBowl GameSiteTVCUSA TeamOpponentResult
December 27, 201612:00 PMHeart of Dallas BowlCotton Bowl • DallasESPNNorth TexasArmyArmy 38, North Texas 31 OT
December 24, 20168:00 PMHawaii BowlAloha Stadium • Honolulu, HawaiiESPNMiddle TennesseeHawaiiHawaii 52, Middle Tennessee 35
December 23, 20163:30 PMArmed Forces Bowl*Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TexasESPNLouisiana TechNavyLouisiana Tech 48, Navy 45
December 23, 20161:00 PMBahamas BowlThomas Robinson Stadium • Nassau, BahamasESPNOld DominionEastern MichiganOld Dominion 24, Eastern Michigan 20
December 20, 20167:00 PMBoca Raton BowlFAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FloridaESPNWestern KentuckyMemphisWestern Kentucky 51 Memphis 31
December 17, 20169:00 PMNew Orleans BowlMercedes-Benz Superdome • New OrleansESPNSouthern Miss.UL-LayfeyetteSouthern Miss 28 UL Lafayette 21
December 17, 20162:00 PMNew Mexico BowlUniversity Stadium • Albuquerque, New MexicoESPNUTSANew MexicoNew Mexico 23 UTSA 20

All C-USA

Home game attendance

Bold – Exceed capacity
†Season High