Conference USA Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron in Week 14.
| Team | Week 14 | Result | Week 15 |
| Charlotte | vs WKU | W,27-19 | at Marshall |
| FAU | at Georgia Southern | L, 20-3 | at Southern Miss |
| FIU | — OFF — | — | — OFF — |
| LA Tech | at North Texas | W, 42-31 | at TCU |
| Marshall | vs Rice | L, 20-0 | vs Charlotte |
| MTSU | — OFF — | — | — OFF — |
| North Texas | vs Louisiana Tech | L, 42-31 | at UTEP |
| Rice | at Marshall | W, 20-0 | vs UAB |
| Southern Miss | at UTEP | PPD | vs FAU |
| UAB | — OFF — | — | at Rice |
| UTEP | vs Southern Miss | PPD | vs North Texas |
| UTSA | — OFF — | — | — OFF — |
| WKU | at Charlotte | L, 37-19 | — OFF — |
Notable Week 14 results – Standings
Rice, Rice Baby
The Rice Owls made the biggest waves on Saturday, stunning unbeaten Marshall at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in shutout fashion. The win was the Owls’ first win over a ranked team since 1997 and the first shutout of a ranked team since 1960. Mike Bloomgren & Co. made quite the statement.
Third time’s the charm
Western Kentucky at Charlotte were supposed to play last week, on a typical college football Saturday. Then the game was bumped back to Tuesday morning. And then further back to Sunday. Finally, on the third attempt, the teams actually played with Western Kentucky finishing up on top, 37-19.
Conference USA dropped the ball with scheduling
Southern Miss and UAB were both free this past weekend. Neither team had played each other yet and but both had done prep work for each other – with a previous game postponed already this year. Most importantly, neither team had announced any COVID-19 issues. UAB needs as many games as possible to prevent a messy Conference USA West Divisional Title debate. This was an easy fix and the conference just whiffed. View the entire list of C-USA postponements here.
Week 15 storylines
Who’s playing next weekend?
Per Conference USA, “A final determination of the matchups for the last weekend of the regular season (Dec. 10-12) will be made no later than Sunday, Dec. 6.” There have already been adjustments made to next week’s schedule. As of now, there are nine C-USA teams in action next weekend, with these teams open: UTSA, WKU, FIU and Middle Tennessee.
Barnstorming
While the rest of the conference was working to schedule postponed or canceled Conference USA games, Louisiana Tech went rogue and added a nonconference game with TCU. With the West likely out of reach and no clear directives issued by the conference, you can’t really blame the Bulldogs for locking up the best opponent available.
And now we wait…
The West looks like it will come down to next Saturday game between Rice and UAB. The high count of cancelations among C-USA teams makes this game the tipping point for Blazers in overall conference winning percentage, the determining factor in this year’s divisional race. If UAB wins, the Blazers’ 3-1 record would trump UTSA’s 5-2 finish and UAB would win the West Division. If Rice beats UAB, UTSA would represent the West in the championship game. The East will come down to Marshall or FAU.
Rice Football Opponent Scouting Report
A weekly update on who the Owls will be playing this season including updates on key storylines, injuries and more.
