The 2022 Conference USA football season was the 27th season of college football play for Conference USA (C-USA). The season started on August 27, 2022, and ended on January 31, 2023. The conference consisted of 11 members and was part of the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
Conference realignment Prior to the 2022 season, Conference USA shrank to 11 schools, as previous members Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss all departed to join the Sun Belt Conference as full members. The move was first announced with the release of the Sun Belt's football schedule on March 1, and confirmed on March 29 when C-USA and the three departing schools reached a settlement of a legal dispute over their departure date.
The 2022 season is the last for six schools in the conference. Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA all left the Conference USA in July 2023 to join the American Athletic Conference. Liberty, New Mexico State, Jacksonville State, and Sam Houston joined the Conference USA in 2023 to replace departing members.
Preseason
Recruiting classes + Rankings Team ESPN Rivals 24/7Charlotte 107Florida Atlantic 124FIU 101Louisiana Tech 88Middle Tennessee 120North Texas 118Rice 119UTEP 129UTSA 72 61 73UAB 79 86Western Kentucky 90 95
Conference USA media day The 2022 Conference USA is scheduled for July 27, 2022, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Preseason poll The preseason poll was released on July 25, 2022.
Media poll 1 UTSA 14 2 UAB 8 3 WKU 4 Florida Atlantic 5 North Texas 6 UTEP 7 Charlotte 8 Middle Tennessee 9 Louisiana Tech 10 Rice 11 FIU
Preseason player awards Preseason player awards were announced on July 26.
Offensive Player of the Year: Frank Harris (Redshirt Senior, UTSA quarterback) Defensive Player of the Year: Rashad Wisdom (Senior, UTSA safety) Special Teams Player of the Year: Brayden Narveson (Redshirt Junior, Western Kentucky kicker)
Preseason awards The following list contains C-USA players who were included on preseason watch lists for national awards.
Lott Trophy none Dodd Trophy noneMaxwell Award Chris Reynolds Charlotte QB DeWayne McBride UAB RB Frank Harris UTSA QB Jarret Doege Western Kentucky QBDavey O'Brien Award Frank Harris UTSA QB Chris Reynolds Charlotte QBDoak Walker Award Ronald Awatt UTEP RB Jermaine Brown UAB RB Deion Haskins UTEP RB DeWayne McBride UAB RBBiletnikoff Award Roderic Burns North Texas WR Tyrese Chambers FIU WR Daewood Davis Western Kentucky WR Grant DuBose Charlotte WR Zakhari Franklin UTSA WRJohn Mackey Award Oscar Cardenas UTSA TE Rivaldo Fairweather FIU TE Joshua Simon Western Kentucky TERimington Trophy Will Rykard UAB C Rusty Staats Western Kentucky CButkus Award KD Davis North Texas LB Tyrice Knight UTEP LBJim Thorpe Award Rashad Wisdom UTSA S
Bronko Nagurski Trophy Praise Amaewhule UTEP DE Grayson Cash UAB CB KD Davis North Texas LB Rashad Wisdom UTSA SOutland Trophy Ikenna Enechukwu Rice DT Quantavious Leslie Western Kentucky OT Ahofitu Maka UTSA C Manase Mose North Texas C Kadeem Telfort UAB OTLou Groza Award Jacob Barnes Louisiana Tech K Brayden Narveson Western Kentucky K Jared Sackett UTSA KRay Guy Award Bernardo Rodriguez North Texas P Jacob Barnes Louisiana Tech P Kyle Greenwell UAB P Kyle Ulbrich Middle Tennessee P Lucas Dean UTSA PPaul Hornung Award Jermaine Brown UAB RB Shadrick Byrd Charlotte RB Jaylin Lane Middle Tennessee WRWuerffel Trophy Kendrick Blake Jr. Charlotte WR Joshua Mote Louisiana Tech OL Jordan Ferguson Middle Tennessee DL Ikenna Enechukwu Rice DL Sidney Wells UAB OL Deion Haskins UTEP RB Frank Harris UTSA QB Juwuan Jones Western Kentucky DL
Walter Camp Award Frank Harris UTSA QBBednarik Award Jordan Ferguson Middle Tennessee DE KD Davis North Texas LB Praise Amaewhule UTEP DE Rashad Wisdom UTSA SRotary Lombardi Award Praise Amaewhule UTEP DE KD Davis North Texas LB Jordan Ferguson Middle Tennessee DE Tyler Grubbs Louisiana Tech LB Ahofitu Maka UTSA CPatrick Mannelly Award noneEarl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Ronald Awatt UTEP RB Roderic Burns North Texas RB Jarret Doege Western Kentucky QB Frank Harris UTSA QB Bradley Rozner Rice WRManning Award Frank Harris UTSA QB Chris Reynolds Charlotte QBPolynesian College Football Player of the Year Award Ahofitu Maka UTSA OL Manase Mose North Texas OLJohnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Chase Cunningham Middle Tennessee QB Dylan Hopkins UAB QB N'Kosi Perry Florida Atlantic QB Chris Reynolds Charlotte QB Ted Hendricks Award
Head coaches On November 10, 2021, Butch Davis announced that he would not return to FIU after the school declined to extend his contract. On December 9, 2021, FIU announced Mike MacIntyre as the school's new head coach. MacIntyre had previously been a coach in various position both at other collegiate schools and at the NFL level, including being head coach for a time at both San Jose State and Colorado. On November 26, 2021, Louisiana Tech announced that they were firing head coach Skip Holtz. Holtz was allowed to coach the final game of the season before being dismissed immediately after. The school announced on November 30, 2021, that Texas Tech offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie would take over as the new head coach. On June 24, UAB head coach Bill Clark announced that he was retiring from his position effective August 1 due to chronic health issues dealing with his back. Offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent took over as the interim head coach.
Note: All stats shown are before the start of the 2022 season. Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school CUSA RecordCharlotte Will Healy 4 27–38 14–17 10–10Florida Atlantic Willie Taggart 3 66–73 10–11 7–7FIU Mike MacIntyre 1 46–65 0–0 0–0Louisiana Tech Sonny Cumbie 1 2–3 0–0 0–0Middle Tennessee Rick Stockstill 16 101–98 101–98 75–49North Texas Seth Littrell 6 37–38 37–38 26–21Rice Mike Bloomgren 5 11–31 11–31 9–20UAB Bryant Vincent 1 0–0 0–0 0–0UTEP Dana Dimel 5 42–72 12–33 5–23UTSA Jeff Traylor 3 19–7 19–7 12–3Western Kentucky Tyson Helton 4 23–16 23–16 17–6
Mid-season changes On October 23, Charlotte fired head coach Will Healy after a 1–7 start to the season. Offensive line coach Peter Rossomando was named the interim replacement at head coach. On November 15, Charlotte announced that Biff Poggi would take over as the permanent head coach beginning in 2023.
Post-season changes On November 26, Florida Atlantic announced that they had fired head coach Willie Taggart. Taggart had posted a record of 15–18 over three years at the school. On December 1, Florida Atlantic announced that former Texas head coach Tom Herman would take over as head coach at FAU for the 2023 season. On November 30, UAB announced that they had hired Trent Dilfer as the new permanent head coach, replacing interim coach Bryant Vincent. Dilfer would begin coaching the team on December 2. On December 4. North Texas announced that they had fired head coach Seth Littrell. Littrell had posted a 44–44 record with the school in seven years at the school. Defensive coordinator Phil Bennett took over as interim head coach for the Frisco Bowl. On December 13 North Texas announced that Washington State offensive coordinator Eric Morris would take over as head coach.
Rankings
Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Final Charlotte AP C CFP Not released Florida Atlantic AP C CFP Not released FIU AP C CFP Not released Louisiana Tech AP C CFP Not released Middle Tennessee AP C CFP Not released North Texas AP C CFP Not released Rice AP C CFP Not released UAB AP C CFP Not released UTEP AP C CFP Not released UTSA AP RV RV RV RV RV 23 22 RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 24 22 RV CFP Not released 25 Western Kentucky AP C CFP Not released
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week No change in ranking from previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol
Schedule Index to colors and formattingC-USA member wonC-USA member lostC-USA teams in bold All times Eastern time.
Week 0
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Conference USA Championship Game
Postseason
Bowl Games
Legend C-USA Win C-USA Loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (EST)C-USA teamOpponentScoreAttendance Bahamas Bowl December 16 Thomas Robinson Stadium • Nassau, Bahamas ESPN 11:30 a.m. UAB Miami (OH) W 24–20 12,172 Cure Bowl December 16 Exploria Stadium • Orlando, FL ESPN 3:00 p.m. UTSA Troy L 12–18 11,911 LendingTree Bowl December 17 Hancock Whitney Stadium • Mobile, AL ESPN 5:45 p.m. Rice Southern Miss L 24–38 20,512 Frisco Bowl December 17 Toyota Stadium • Frisco, TX ESPN 9:15 p.m. North Texas Boise State L 32–35 12,211 New Orleans Bowl December 21 Caesars Superdome • New Orleans, LA ESPN 9:00 p.m. Western Kentucky South Alabama W 44–23 13,456 Hawaii Bowl December 24 Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex • Honolulu, HI ESPN 8:00 p.m Middle Tennessee San Diego State W 25–23 6,605 Rankings are from AP Poll • All times Eastern Time Zone.
Selection of teams Bowl eligible (6): Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Rice, UAB, UTSA, Western Kentucky Bowl-ineligible (5): Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, UTEP
Conference USA records vs other conferences
2022–2023 records against non-conference foes:
Power Conferences 5RecordACC1–1Big Ten0–3Big 120–2Pac-120–1BYU/Notre Dame0–0SEC0–4Power 5 Total1–11Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican0–5Independents (Excluding Notre Dame and BYU)3–2MAC0–1Mountain West3–1Sun Belt3–4Other FBS Total9–13FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision9–1Total Non-Conference Record19–23
Conference USA vs Power 5 matchups This is a list of games C-USA has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, BYU, Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score September 1 SEC Louisiana Tech Missouri Faurot Field • Columbia, MO L 24–52 September 3 Big 12 UTEP No. 9 Oklahoma Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK L 13–45 September 3 Pac-12 Rice No. 14 USC Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA L 14–66 September 10 Big Ten Maryland Charlotte Jerry Richardson Stadium • Charlotte, NC L 21–56 September 17 Big Ten Western Kentucky Indiana Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN L 30–33 OT September 17 ACC Louisiana Tech No. 5 Clemson Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC L 20–48 September 17 Big 12 UTSA No. 21 Texas Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX L 20–41 September 24 Big Ten Florida Atlantic Purdue Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN L 26–28 September 24 SEC Charlotte South Carolina Williams–Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC L 20–56 September 24 ACC Middle Tennessee No. 25 Miami (FL) Hard Rock Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL W 45–31 November 19 SEC UAB LSU Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA L 10-41 November 19 SEC Western Kentucky Auburn Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL L 17-41
Conference USA vs Group of Five matchups The following games include C-USA teams competing against teams from the American, MAC, Mountain West, or Sun Belt.