Rice football capped off their year with a third straight win while the Conference USA Football Championship game was set, without a complex tiebreaker.
| Team | Week 14 | Result | Record |
| Charlotte | at Old Dominion | W, 38-22 | 7-5 (5-3) |
| FAU* | vs Southern Miss | W, 34-17 | 9-3 (7-1) |
| FIU | at Marshall | L, 30-27 (OT) | 6-6 (3-5) |
| LA Tech | vs UTSA | W, 41-27 | 9-3 (6-2) |
| Marshall | vs FIU | W, 30-27 (OT) | 8-4 (6-2) |
| MTSU | at WKU | L, 31-26 | 4-8 (3-5) |
| North Texas | vs UAB | L, 26-21 | 4-8 (3-5) |
| Old Dominion | vs Charlotte | L, 38-22 | 1-11 (0-8) |
| Rice | at UTEP | W, 30-16 | 3-9 (3-5) |
| Southern Miss | at FAU | L, 34-17 | 7-5 (5-3) |
| UAB* | vs North Texas | W, 26-21 | 9-3 (6-2) |
| UTEP | vs Rice | L, 30-16 | 1-11 (0-8) |
| UTSA | at LA Tech | L, 41-27 | 4-8 (3-5) |
| WKU | vs MTSU | W, 31-26 | 8-4 (6-2) |
*Clinched Conference USA Football Championship Game berths
Notable Week 14 results – Standings
Make it three!
It took a while for Rice football to get the monkey off their backs, but once they did the results seemed worth the wait. The Owls closed out the season on a three-game winning streak, dispatching Middle Tennesee and North Texas before closing out the year with a road win over UTEP. Rice football looks to be headed in the right direction.
Conference USA avoids tiebreaker drama
After changing the tiebreaker rules in the middle of the week, Conference USA could have found themselves in a tough spot had they had to enforce the newly minted rules on less than six days notice. With Southern Miss losing to FAU on the road, there was no three-team tie to break, making all the drama of the late change for naught.
And then there were two
C-USA East champ FAU will host C-USA West champ UAB will meet in the championship game next weekend. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network with the opening kickoff set for 1:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. CT. FAU was picked to finish third in the East in the preseason with three first place votes. UAB was picked to finish fourth in the West in the preseason with two first place votes.
Week 15 storylines
Hot seat watch
UTEP and Old Dominion end the season as the only C-USA teams without a conference win, both went 1-11 with their singular victories over non-FBS teams. UTEP headman Dana Dimel might be in better shape as he’s in Year 2 of a challenging rebuild. Bobby Wilder at Old Dominion is one to watch. After leading the Monarchs to a program-best 10-win season in 2016, they’ve regressed in his next three subsequent season, with the 1-win mark the programs worst-ever finish, by three games.
UTSA’s Frank Wilson and Middle Tennessee’s Rick Stockstill are two others who have had their names come up in those discussions this season. There’s a good chance one, if not multiple C-USA programs have a new man at the helm for the 2020 season.
Will Skip Holtz give answers?
Louisiana Tech was undefeated in conference play and the clear front runner to win the West before the program suspended quarterback J’Mar Smith and lead receiver Adrian Hardy. The two games missed, both losses, proved to be impactful, knocking the Bulldogs out of first place. The fanbase is understandably upset. Will there be a satisfactory resolution to this? Or will fans have to live with a promising season derailed by “internal discipline”.
Bowl season is right around the corner
Conference USA won the Bowl Challenge Cup last year, winning four of their program’s six bowl games. The conference has eight bowl-eligible squads this season, with 6-6 FIU the only team who might have to sweat the selection process should the total of eligible teams exceed the total amount of slots. Regardless, it should be another busy bowl season for C-USA.
