Rice football fell at home to UAB in Week 7. How did the rest of the conference fare and what’s next for Conference USA football in Week 8?
| Team | Last Week | Result | This Week |
| Charlotte | vs WKU | W, 40-14 | at MTSU |
| FAU | — OFF — | — | at Marshall |
| FIU | vs MTSU | W, 24-21 | vs Rice |
| LaTech | at UTSA | W, 31-3 | vs UTEP |
| Marshall | at ODU | W, 42-20 | vs FAU |
| MTSU | at FIU | L, 24-21 | vs Charlotte |
| North Texas | vs Southern Miss | W, 30-7 | at UAB |
| ODU | vs Marshall | L, 42-20 | at WKU |
| Rice | vs UAB | L, 42-0 | at FIU |
| Southern Miss | at North Texas | L, 30-7 | vs UTSA |
| UAB | at Rice | W, 42-0 | vs North Texas |
| UTEP | — OFF — | — | at LaTech |
| UTSA | vs LaTech | L, 31-3 | at Southern Miss |
| WKU | @ Charlotte | L, 40-14 | vs ODU |
Notable Week 6 results
North Texas bounces back
The Mean Green saw their perfect record tarnished on the final play against Louisiana Tech. They followed it up with an ugly win against UTEP, causing some to wonder if their hot start caused the hype to become a bit overblown. North Texas responded by defeating a tough Southern Miss team, handily. Going undefeated is out the window, but a CUSA crown is still very much in play.
Western Kentucky might be broken
Outside of an eight-point victory over Ball State in late September, the 2018 season hasn’t left much for the Hilltoppers to be excited about. They squared off with fellow CUSA East cellar dwellers Charlotte and left. Neither side of the ball is playing all that well and games against FIU, MTSU, FAU and Louisiana Tech await them in the coming weeks.
Rice has plenty of work to do
Rice football has lost six straight games after a last-second field goal lifted the Owls over Prairie View A&M in Week 0. The offense has been the culprit over the latest two-game stretch, scoring three points in the last eight quarters including a Week 7 shutout, the first time that’s happened at Rice since 2000. Execution remains an issue for the Owls.
Week 8 storylines
Will UAB put the West away?
Sitting at 3-0 and 2-1, respectively, UAB and North Texas meet in Week 8 in a game that will play a major role in determining who wins CUSA West. UAB holds the tiebreaker over Lousiaia Tech who holds a tiebreaker over North Texas. The Blazers can lockdown the division with a win on Saturday.
FAU meets Marshall in an elimination game
On the other side of the conference, FAU desperately needs to emerge victorious over Marshall in Week 8. A loss would drop them to 1-2 in CUSA and 3-4 overall, effectively eliminating them from title contention and putting their bowl hopes in jeopardy.
And then there were four…
UTEP, Rice, Old Dominion and Western Kentucky are the lone CUSA programs without a conference win. ESPN FPI gives the Hilltoppers the best chance to pick up their first win, favoring them to beat fellow winless CUSA squad ODU in Week 8.
