Rice football was off in Week 11, but Conference USA Football had plenty of interesting results while the Owls were prepping for Week 12.
| Team | Week 11 | Result | Week 12 |
| Charlotte | at UTEP | W, 28-21 | — OFF — |
| FAU | vs FIU | W, 37-7 | — OFF — |
| FIU | at FAU | L, 37-7 | — OFF — |
| LA Tech | vs North Texas | W, 52-17 | at Marshall (Fri) |
| Marshall | — OFF — | — | vs LA Tech (Fri) |
| MTSU | — OFF — | — | vs Rice |
| North Texas | at Louisiana Tech | L, 52-17 | — OFF — |
| Old Dominion | vs UTSA | L, 24-23 | — OFF — |
| Rice | — OFF — | — | at MTSU |
| Southern Miss | vs UAB | W, 37-2 | at UTSA |
| UAB | at Southern Miss | L, 37-2 | vs UTEP |
| UTEP | vs Charlotte | L, 28-21 | at UAB |
| UTSA | at Old Dominion | W, 24-23 | vs Southern Miss |
| WKU | at Arkansas | W, 45-19 | — OFF — |
Notable Week 11 results – Standings
Central Arkansas champs
We’ve come a long way from Week 1. On the opening weekend of the season, FCS Central Arkansas upset Western Kentucky, putting Year 1 of the Tyson Helton era into chaos. The sky was falling in Bowling Green before — all of a sudden — it wasn’t. Not only did Western Kentucky turn it around, they’ve clinched a bowl berth with Saturday win over Arkansas. So, by the transitive property: Central Arkansas > Western Kentucky > Arkansas. That’s college football, folks.
U.A.Bummer
The Blazers had a chance to contend for the West title but they needed to beat Southern Miss for those dreams to hold water. The UAB offense did not contribute any points to that cause on Saturday. A safety represented their lone scoring play of the day, effectively ending aspirations of a repeat in Birmingham on a dour note.
North Texas is in trouble
A tough non-conference schedule did North Texas no favors. Onesided losses to SMU, Houston, Southern Miss and now Louisiana Tech didn’t help the situation either. The high-flying offense led by Mason Fine hasn’t faired well against the better defensive units they’ve faced. The preseason C-USA favorites are in jeopardy of missing the postseason.
Week 12 storylines
Waiting on that win
Three unbeaten teams remain in Conference USA: Old Dominion, UTEP and Rice. One of the Owls and Miners are guaranteed at least one win; they play to close out the season. But Rice hopes to have a tally in the win column before then against an up-and-down MTSU team. Can Rice breakthrough while UTEP and Old Dominion are on bye or will the race for win No. 1 continue?
Title game precursor?
With their dominant win over North Texas, Louisiana Tech has opened up a one-game lead in the West with the tiebreaker over second-place Southern Miss. The Bulldogs would have to lose twice to miss out on a title game trip. Marshall hopes to hand them one of those losses. The Herd sit atop the East with the tiebreaker over second-place FAU. There’s a real possibility that Saturday’s tilt between Louisiana Tech and Marshall is reprised in a few weeks.
Time for a break
Six of Conference USA’s 14 teams are off this coming weekend. The Week 12 slate features four games between conference opponents, the latest of which (Southern Miss at UTSA) kicks off at 6:00 p.m. E.T. If that one goes as most project, C-USA football fans will have plenty of time to go out for a movie or a late dinner on Saturday night without missing any meaningful football.
