Conference USA Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron in Week 5.
| Team | Week 4 | Result | Up Next |
| Charlotte | vs UTEP | L, 41-35 | — OFF — |
| FAU | at North Texas | L, 45-28 | — OFF — |
| FIU | at New Mexico St | W, 21-7 | vs UConn |
| LA Tech | — OFF — | — | vs UTEP |
| MTSU | vs UTSA | L, 45-30 | at UAB |
| North Texas | vs FAU | W, 45-28 | — OFF — |
| Rice | vs UAB | W, 28-24 | — OFF — |
| UAB | at Rice | L, 28-24 | vs MTSU |
| UTEP | at Charlotte | W, 41-35 | at LA Tech |
| UTSA | at MTSU | W, 45-30 | vs WKU |
| WKU | vs Troy | L, 34-27 | at UTSA |
Notable Week 5 results – Standings
Who’s the bully now?
Much was made by the folks in Birmingham last week of Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren’s postgame comments from a year ago in which he called UAB the bully of Conference USA. Evidently, that didn’t sit well with the Blazers, who came to Houston looking for revenge. They left with a loss. Rice is 3-2 overall and 1-0 in conference for the first time since 2013 when they won the C-USA title.
UTEP goes East
For the first time in the long history of UTEP football. the Miners have won a game played in the Eastern Time Zone. Heading into Saturday, UTEP was 0-27 on games played on the East Coast until they beat Charlotte on the road to move to 3-3 on the season.
The only 2-0 team in Conference USA
Granted, only three teams have played multiple conference games through Week 5 and preseason favorite UTSA is 1-0 in their lone game, but North Texas currently stands atop the Conference USA standings at 2-0. For all the ire Seth Littrell has endured in recent years, his team is out to its best start in conference play since 2017.
Looking ahead – Key storylines
Title Game Rematch
Points were flying and players were making plays when Western Kentucky and UTSA met up in last year’s Conference USA Football Championship game. On a week where several C-USA squads have the week off, this should prove to be one of the most compelling storylines with potentially significant ramifications on who goes back to the championship game this season.
Here’s your chance
Head coach Miike MacIntyre knew wins were going to be hard to come by in his first season at the helm at FIU. Saturday’s upset of New Mexico State notwithstanding, the Panthers’ upcoming game against UConn might be the last real opportunity for this team to scratch out a win for a while.
Staying in contention
UAB entered the season with conference championship expectations. Middle Tennessee did not, but hope ballooned upward following their big win over Miami. Now both programs sit at 0-1 in conference play. One of the two will fall to 0-2 next weekend, which won’t technically eliminate them from a conference title run, but would put those aspirations on life support at the very least.
