C-USA Bowl Projections: As many as 8 teams could be postseason-bound
Conference USA features six bowl tie-ins, but there’s a good chance that the league may have as many as eight bowl-eligible teams at the end of the regular season.
Louisiana Tech (8-1), Florida Atlantic (7-3), Marshall (6-3), Southern Miss (6-3), Western Kentucky (6-4) and UAB (6-3) have already cleared the six-win threshold.
Charlotte (5-5) has two games left to join that group with a home contest this week against Marshall and a trip to Old Dominion (1-9) set for the regular season finale.
North Texas (4-6) could also reach bowl eligibility, but it will be tough for the Mean Green if senior quarterback Mason Fine is unable to play over the couple of games. He left Saturday’s 52-17 loss at Louisiana Tech with an apparent concussion. The Mean Green travel to Rice (0-9) before hosting a UAB team that landed with a thud in Hattiesburg last week, falling 37-2 to Southern Miss.
UTSA (4-5), FIU (5-5) and Middle Tennessee (3-6) are also technically in the hunt, but their remaining schedules will make it difficult to get to six wins. MTSU may have the best shot of that group with Rice, ODU and WKU left on the slate.
Teams will likely have to reach seven wins to assure themselves of a bid.
C-USA features six primary bowl tie-ins: the Bahamas Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, New Orleans Bowl, Gasparilla Bowl, the First Responder Bowl and either the Hawaii Bowl or the Frisco Bowl.
The Independence Bowl and Boca Raton Bowl could also come into play once bids are handed out in December as secondary tie-ins.
Here’s a look at my C-USA bowl projections with three weeks remaining in the regular season:
BAHAMAS BOWL (DEC. 20) — NASSAU
FAU (7-3) vs. Miami-Ohio (5-4)
The Owls are a sure thing for the postseason after thrashing FIU 37-7 in the Shula Bowl. As long as Marshall wins the East, I expect the Thundering Herd to go bowling in Florida, possibly denying the Owls a bid in the Sunshine State.
FRISCO BOWL (DEC. 20) — FRISCO, TEXAS
Tulane (6-3) vs. UAB (6-3)
The Blazers badly need a win over UTEP this week before closing out the season with tough games against Louisiana Tech and North Texas.
NEW MEXICO BOWL (DEC. 21) — ALBUQUERQUE
Charlotte (5-5) vs. Nevada (6-4)
Charlotte should reach six wins with a win over Old Dominion in the regular season finale. This bowl isn’t one of the more popular destinations for C-USA, but Charlotte would be happy to accept the program’s first bowl bid.
NEW ORLEANS BOWL (DEC. 21) — NEW ORLEANS
Southern Miss (6-3) vs. Appalachian State (8-1)
With Louisiana Tech’s first preference being a Dallas-area game, Southern Miss seems destined for New Orleans.
GASPARILLA BOWL (DEC. 23) — TAMPA
Marshall (6-3) vs. Navy (7-1)
Marshall always prefer a Florida bowl, and an East Division title likely lands them in Tampa.
INDEPENDENCE BOWL (Dec. 26) — SHREVEPORT, LA.
WKU (6-4) vs. North Carolina (4-5)
The Hilltoppers became bowl-eligible and ended Chad Morris’ brief time as head coach at Arkansas in the process.
FIRST RESPONDER BOWL (DEC. 30) — DALLAS
La. Tech (8-1) vs. TCU (4-5)
The Bulldogs are worthy of an AP Top 25 ranking, but they’re currently five spots out.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 2:48 PM.
