| 2016 Conference USA football season | |
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| League: | NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision |
| Sport: | Football |
| Pixels: | 250px |
| Duration: | September 1, 2016 through December 27, 2016 |
| No Of Teams: | 13 |
| Tv: | ESPN, CBS Sports Network, American Sports Network, beIN Sports, Campus Insiders, CUSA.tv |
| Draft: | 2017 NFL Draft |
| Draft Link: | 2017 NFL Draft |
| Top Pick: | G Forrest Lamp, WKU |
| Picked By: | Los Angeles Chargers, 38th overall |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champ Name: | Champions |
| Mvp: | QB Ryan Higgins, La. Tech |
| Conf1: | East |
| Conf1 Champ: | Western Kentucky & Old Dominion (co-champions) |
| Conf2: | West |
| Conf2 Champ: | Louisiana Tech |
| Finals: | Championship Game |
| Finals Link: | 2016 Conference USA Football Championship Game |
| Finals Champ: | Western Kentucky |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Louisiana Tech |
| Finals Mvp: | RB Anthony Wales, WKU |
| Seasonslistnames: | Football |
| Prevseason Year: | 2015 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2017 |
The 2016 Conference USA football season was the 21st season of Conference USA football and part of the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on September 1 with Charlotte facing Louisville.[1] This season was the second season for the C-USA under realignment that took place in 2014, which added the 14th member Charlotte from the Atlantic 10 Conference. The C-USA is a "Group of Five" conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the American Athletic Conference, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference.
C-USA consists of 14 members: Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Old Dominion, Rice, Southern Miss, UAB, UTEP, UTSA, and Western Kentucky; and is split up into the East and West divisions. West champion Louisiana Tech played at East champion Western Kentucky's Houchens Industries-L. T. Smith Stadium for the Conference USA Championship on December 3, which Western Kentucky won 58–44. UAB continued to undergo reinstatement of its football program during the 2016 season and will begin play for the 2017 season.[2]
Western Kentucky entered the season as defending Conference USA champions, defeating Southern Miss in the previous year's championship game. The Hilltoppers would then go on to defeat South Florida in the Miami Beach Bowl 45–35.[3]
The 2016 preseason media predictions were released on July 21, 2016 with the vote conducted by media members that cover the conference schools. Middle Tennessee was picked to win the East division for the first time in school history. After coming second in the East last year, which resulted a trip to the Bahamas Bowl, the Blue Raiders returned 13 starters for the upcoming season. In the West division, the media predicted Southern Miss to overcome the other 5 teams in the division. Southern Miss has been in the C-USA championship more than any team in the conference, with 3 appearances including an appearance last season against Western Kentucky. The Golden Eagles brought back seven starters on offense and six starters on defense. Western Kentucky, defending C-USA champion, was predicted to finish second in the East division, instead of returning to the title game.
The twelve annual championship game will be held on December 3, 2016, which is predicted to pit Southern Miss and Middle Tennessee.
West Division
East Division
References:[4]
Three Conference USA teams hired new head coaches for the 2016 season. All three were in the West Division, and all three were replacing coaches who had spent at least 3 seasons at their respective schools.
Note: All stats shown are before the beginning of the season.
| Team | Head coach | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | CUSA record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | Brad Lambert | 4 | 12–22 | 12–22 | 0–8 | |
| FIU | Ron Turner | 4 | 55–82 | 10–26 | 7–17 | |
| Florida Atlantic | Charlie Partridge | 3 | 6–18 | 6–18 | 5–11 | |
| Louisiana Tech | Skip Holtz | 4 | 110–88 | 22–17 | 16–8 | |
| Marshall | Doc Holliday | 7 | 50–28 | 50–28 | 33–15 | |
| Middle Tennessee | Rick Stockstill | 11 | 64–61 | 64–61 | 17–7 | |
| North Texas | Seth Littrell | 1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | |
| Old Dominion | Bobby Wilder | 8 | 57–27 | 57–27 | 7–9 | |
| Rice | David Bailiff | 10 | 74–75 | 53–60 | 37–35 | |
| Southern Miss | Jay Hopson | 1 | 32–17 | 0–0 | 0–0 | |
| UTEP | Sean Kugler | 4 | 14–23 | 14–23 | 9–15 | |
| UTSA | Frank Wilson | 1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | |
| Western Kentucky | Jeff Brohm | 3 | 20–7 | 20–7 | 12–4 |
| Index to colors and formatting | |
|---|---|
| Conference USA member won | |
| Conference USA member lost | |
| Conference USA teams in bold |
This is a list of the power conference teams (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) C-USA plays in non-conference (Rankings from the AP Poll):
| Date | Visitor | Home | Site | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1 | Charlotte | 14–70 | |||
| September 1 | FIU | 34–13 | |||
| September 3 | Louisiana Tech | 20–21 | |||
| September 3 | Southern Miss | 44–35 | |||
| September 9 | FIU | FIU Stadium • Miami, Florida | 41–14 | ||
| September 10 | Florida Atlantic | 10–38 | |||
| September 10 | Middle Tennessee | 24–47 | |||
| September 10 | UTEP | 7–41 | |||
| September 10 | WKU | 10–38 | |||
| September 16 | Rice | 38–10 | |||
| September 16 | UTSA | 32–28 | |||
| September 17 | Florida Atlantic | 7–63 | |||
| September 17 | Louisiana Tech | 45–59 | |||
| September 17 | North Texas | 0–32 | |||
| September 17 | Old Dominion | 22–49 | |||
| September 24 | WKU | 31–30 OT | |||
| September 24 | Marshall | 59–28 | |||
| October 1 | Marshall | 27–43 | |||
| October 15 | Southern Miss | 10–45 | |||
| October 22 | Middle Tennessee | 51–45 | |||
| November 19 | UTSA | 10–23 | |||
| November 26 | Rice | 17–41 |
Regular season
| Power 5 conferences | Record | |
|---|---|---|
| ACC | 0–5 | |
| Big Ten | 0–2 | |
| Big 12 | 0–4 | |
| Pac-12 | 0–2 | |
| SEC | 2–7 | |
| Power 5 Total | 2–20 | |
| Other FBS conferences | Record | |
| American | 0–3 | |
| Independents | 3–3 | |
| MAC | 2–3 | |
| Mountain West | 0–1 | |
| Sun Belt | 1–2 | |
| Other FBS Total | 6–12 | |
| FCS Opponents | Record | |
| Football Championship Subdivision | 11–0 | |
| Total non-conference record | 19–32 | |
Post season
| Other FBS conferences | Record | |
|---|---|---|
| American | 2–0 | |
| Independents | 0–1 | |
| MAC | 1–0 | |
| Mountain West | 0–2 | |
| Sun Belt | 1–0 | |
| Total bowl record | 4–2 | |
See also: 2016–17 NCAA football bowl games. Per conference regulations, all teams with seven or more wins shall be placed into conference bowls prior to any other bowl eligible teams without a winning record (i.e. 6–6 record). The rankings are from final CFP Poll and all game times are in Eastern. Old Dominion was the first team to accept a bowl bid on November 28.[10]
| Date | Time | Bowl Game | Site | TV | CUSA Team | Opponent | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 27, 2016 | 12:00 p.m. | ESPN | North Texas | Army 38, North Texas 31 OT | ||||
| December 24, 2016 | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN | Middle Tennessee | Hawaii 52, Middle Tennessee 35 | ||||
| December 23, 2016 | 3:30 p.m. | Armed Forces Bowl | ESPN | Louisiana Tech | Louisiana Tech 48, Navy 45 | |||
| December 23, 2016 | 1:00 p.m. | ESPN | Old Dominion | Old Dominion 24, Eastern Michigan 20 | ||||
| December 20, 2016 | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN | Western Kentucky | Western Kentucky 51 Memphis 31 | ||||
| December 17, 2016 | 9:00 p.m. | ESPN | Southern Miss. | Southern Miss 28 UL Lafayette 21 | ||||
| December 17, 2016 | 2:00 p.m. | ESPN | UTSA | New Mexico 23 UTSA 20 |
All C-USA[13]
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Total | Average | % of Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | Jerry Richardson Stadium | 15,314 | 15,807† | 15,080 | 12,589 | 13,939 | 14,306 | 13,433 | 85,154 | 14,192 | 92.67% | |
| FIU | FIU Stadium | 20,000 | 16,089 | 17,084 | 18,524† | 16,164 | 17,061 | 14,413 | 15,054 | 114,389 | 16,341 | 81.70% |
| Florida Atlantic | FAU Stadium | 29,419 | 14,887† | 13,846 | 7,401 | 9,338 | 9,122 | 5,843 | 60,437 | 10,072 | 34.24% | |
| Louisiana Tech | Joe Aillet Stadium | 28,019 | 16,910 | 22,101 | 17,978 | 22,058 | 23,012† | 102,059 | 20,411 | 73.64% | ||
| Marshall | Joan C. Edwards Stadium | 38,227 | 26,488 | 24,258 | 40,592† | 22,839 | 20,904 | 20,841 | 17,397 | 172,319 | 24,759 | 64.77% |
| Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium | 30,788 | 19,967 | 20,105 | 22,411† | 13,505 | 10,227 | 86,215 | 17,243 | 56.00% | |||
| North Texas | Apogee Stadium | 30,850 | 24,718† | 15,609 | 19,823 | 18,216 | 21,643 | 19,120 | 119,129 | 19,854 | 64.36% | |
| Old Dominion | Foreman Field | 20,118 | 20,118 | 20,118 | 20,118 | 20,118 | 20,118 | 20,118 | 120,708 | 20,118 | 100.00% | |
| Rice | Rice Stadium | 47,000 | 27,047† | 20,792 | 20,134 | 21,538 | 19,892 | 19,148 | 121,151 | 20,258 | 43.10% | |
| Southern Miss | M. M. Roberts Stadium | 36,000 | 29,509 | 27,905 | 28,325 | 31,275† | 28,347 | 26,164 | 171,525 | 28,587 | 79.41% | |
| UTEP | Sun Bowl Stadium | 51,500 | 30,119 | 37,893† | 21,419 | 17,751 | 19,254 | 15,977 | 18,591 | 161,004 | 23,000 | 44.66% |
| UTSA | Alamodome | 65,000 | 22,380 | 29,035† | 19,818 | 23,633 | 19,553 | 23,807 | 138,226 | 23,037 | 35.44% | |
| WKU | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium | 22,113 | 19,286 | 23,674† | 17,331 | 18,676 | 15,516 | 16,239 | 110,722 | 18,453 | 83.45% | |