Conference USA Football Championship Game
The Conference USA Football Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the season champion of Conference USA (C-USA) since 2005. The championship game pits the C-USA East Division regular season champion against the West Division regular season champion. It is typically played on the first Saturday of December. The 2018 edition of the game, sponsored by Globe Life, was played on December 1, 2018, and televised by CBSSN. Ryan LLC currently holds sponsorship rights to the game.[1]
| Conference USA Football Championship Game | |
|---|---|
| Conference Football Championship | |
 | |
| Sport | College football |
| Conference | Conference USA |
| Current stadium | Hosted at school site by team with best conference winning percentage |
| Played | 2005–present |
| Last contest | 2020 |
| Current champion | UAB |
| Most championships | East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Tulsa, UAB, UCF, Western Kentucky (2) |
| TV partner(s) | CBSSN |
| Official website | ConferenceUSA.com |
| Sponsors | |
| Dynacraft BSC (2016–17) Globe Life (2018) Ryan LLC (2019–present) | |
Nine of the fourteen current C-USA members have played in the Conference USA Football Championship Game. The overall series between both divisions is led by the East Division, 10–6.
While nine C-USA members have played in the game, only six have won: Florida Atlantic, Marshall and Western Kentucky of the current East Division members, and Southern Miss, Rice, and UAB of the current West Division members.
The C-USA Football Championship Game had been aired on ESPN or its affiliates since 2005, but the 2018 Championship Game was aired on CBSSN.[2]
 – East division – West division |
Results
Conference USA champions (1996–2004)
Before 2005, each member of the conference played in a round-robin scheduling to determine the champion of the conference. In this time period, Southern Miss won the most titles with four. During this time frame, the winner of the C-USA Championship customarily received a berth to play in the Liberty Bowl against a member of the SEC.
| Season | Champion(s) | Conf. record |
Overall record |
Bowl result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Houston | 4–1 | 7–5 | lost Liberty Bowl |
| Southern Miss | 4–1 | 8–3 | ||
| 1997 | #19 Southern Miss | 6–0 | 9–3 | won Liberty Bowl |
| 1998 | #7 Tulane | 6–0 | 12–0 | won Liberty Bowl |
| 1999 | #14 Southern Miss | 6–0 | 9–3 | won Liberty Bowl |
| 2000 | Louisville | 6–1 | 9–3 | lost Liberty Bowl |
| 2001 | #17 Louisville | 6–1 | 11–2 | won Liberty Bowl |
| 2002 | #23 TCU | 6–2 | 11–2 | won Liberty Bowl |
| Cincinnati | 6–2 | 7–7 | lost New Orleans Bowl | |
| 2003 | Southern Miss | 8–0 | 9–4 | lost Liberty Bowl |
| 2004 | #6 Louisville | 8–0 | 11–1 | won Liberty Bowl |
Final rankings from AP Poll shown.
Conference USA Championship Game (2005–present)
Below are the results from all Conference USA Football Championship Games played. The winning team appears in bold font, on a background of their primary team color. Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game.
Current members
| Appearances | School | W | L | Pct | Titles | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | UAB Blazers | 2 | 1 | .666 | 2018, 2020 | 2019 |
| 3 | Marshall Thundering Herd | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2014 | 2013, 2020 |
| 3 | Southern Miss Golden Eagles | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2011 | 2006, 2015 |
| 2 | Florida Atlantic Owls | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 2017, 2019 | |
| 2 | WKU Hilltoppers | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 2015, 2016 | |
| 2 | Louisiana Tech Bulldogs | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2014, 2016 | |
| 1 | Rice Owls | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 2013 | |
| 1 | Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2018 | |
| 1 | North Texas Mean Green | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2017 |
- Charlotte, FIU, Old Dominion, UTEP and UTSA, have yet to make an appearance in a Conference USA Championship Game.
Former members
| Appearances | School | W | L | Pct | Titles | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Tulsa Golden Hurricane | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2005, 2012 | 2007, 2008 |
| 4 | UCF Knights | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2007, 2010 | 2005, 2012 |
| 3 | Houston Cougars | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2006 | 2009, 2011 |
| 2 | East Carolina Pirates | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 2008, 2009 | |
| 1 | SMU Mustangs | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2010 |
- Memphis and Tulane did not make an appearance in a Conference USA Championship Game while members of the conference.
- As of 2019, all of the above noted former members of C-USA are members of the American Athletic Conference ("The American").
Game location
The team with the best overall conference win percentage will be the team that hosts the championship game. Five venues have hosted two title games—Houston's Robertson Stadium (since demolished, with TDECU Stadium standing at its former site), UCF's Spectrum Stadium (both under its former name of Bright House Networks Stadium), Tulsa's Chapman Stadium, WKU's Houchens Stadium, and Florida Atlantic's FAU Stadium.
In most recent years, Marshall and Rice both finished with 7–1 records in conference play in 2013, and did not play one another in the regular season, the site was chosen based on the BCS rankings at that time on December 1. Although only 25 teams were explicitly ranked, the ranking formula could be used to determine the relative rankings of any two teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Since 2014, when the BCS was replaced with the College Football Playoff rankings (CFP), national rankings have been removed from the tiebreaker process.
As of the 2020 contest, the home team is 11–5 overall in C-USA football championship games.
Selection criteria
Division standings are based on each team's overall conference record. Often, two or more teams tie for the best record in their division and each team is recognized as a divisional co-champion. However, tiebreakers are used to determine who will represent the division in the championship game.
Two-team tie-breaker procedure
- Highest regular season winning percentage based on overall Conference USA play.
- If tied, head to head between tied teams.
- If still tied, team with highest CFP ranking.
NOTE: Although all division rivals meet during the season and NCAA overtime is played in case of a tie game, the CUSA has provisions in case a game ends in a tie under NCAA Rule 3-3-3 (c) and (d), Suspending the Game, or if the two tied teams did not play an official game because of weather. As such, CUSA rules still contain the remaining procedures if those circumstances were to happen.
Three or more-team procedure
(Once the tie has been reduced to two teams, go to the two-team tie-breaker format.)
- Highest regular season winning percentage based on overall CUSA play.
- If tied, head to head between tied teams.
- If still tied, highest winning percentage within division.
- If still tied, compare records against divisional opponents in descending order of finish.
- If still tied, compare records with common cross-divisional opponents.
- If still tied, compare records against cross-divisional opponents in descending order of finish.
- If still tied, team with highest CFP ranking.
- If still tied, the representative will be the team that has not participated in the championship game most recently.
- If at any point the tie is broken in a multiple team tie, the remaining teams will begin the process again at #2.
References
- "Ryan Named Football Championship Title Sponsor". Conference USA. October 10, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- CBS SPORTS NETWORK ANNOUNCES 2018 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE FEATURING SERVICE ACADEMIES AND TOP SCHOOLS FROM NINE CONFERENCES