2023 College Football Predictions: Conference USA

Photo by Eric Christian Smith from Texas Sport Nation

While people mourn the loss of the PAC 12, it has been forgotten that Conference USA has gone through insane amounts of losses the past couple of years as well.

But they’re still trucking! And they’ve added two new former FCS members to join the fray for their first year in FBS.

It won’t be a very good conference, but you should still watch it.

These will likely be the games that are a ton of fun.

Here’s how C-USA will pan out this year.

1. Liberty Flames

Head coach Hugh Freeze left Liberty for Auburn, but there is no reason for doom and gloom at Liberty.

Former Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell has joined the Flames, and he brings along not only team success, but offensive success as well.

He’s filled in the squad through the transfer portal, and should hit the ground running in Lynchburg.

2. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

News of the Toppers demise from the Bailey Zappe exit a few years ago were greatly exaggerated, as WKU went 9-5 last year.

Even if they aren’t as good as previous years, they’ll still be a solid team that will rack up a good amount of conference wins.

3. Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders

With constant changes to the college football landscape, it’s good to have some consistency.

MTSU has that, with Rick Stockstill being the head coach for the Blue Raiders since 2006.

MTSU knows what Stockstill expects from his squad, and while there may be down years, that’s going to be crucial against some lesser opponents in conference.

4. UTEP Miners

Someone’s got to finish 4th!

And I like UTEP, with a returning quarterback Gavin Haradison having great weapons around him.

UTEP’s secondary is also not very good, which means you can expect lots of shootouts in El Paso.

Which is my kind of football.

5. New Mexico State Aggies

Jerry Kill has done a great job turning a team who had nothing but pain and misery into a squad that has made a bowl game year one of his tenure.

Not shabby!

They won’t be a top tier team in the conference, but they should be decent again!

6. Sam Houston State Bearkats

One of the two new FCS arrivals finds themselves at number 6 in the C-USA year one, despite the paper numbers saying they may struggle year one.

But how many times do we have to see well coached, good FCS programs make the jump to division one and immediately hit the ground running?

Sam Houston State has a great defense and excellent structure.

They’ll be fine.

7. Jacksonville State Gamecocks

Rich Rod is back in the FBS!

And he’s back after a great final FCS season with J-State, going 9-2.

Rich Rod is a smart offensive guy, but that’ll be a little harder year one now that he’s in FBS and is facing some tougher defenses.

But they’re playing the long game here, as they should.

8. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

I know that the transfer portal era can change a teams fortune in one offseason.

We’ve seen it happen a lot!

But teams that find that success are usually well coached.

Maybe LA Tech is, now with new head coach Sonny Cumbrie.

But until I see it, I can only go with what I know, which is that this team really, really struggled last year.

9. Florida International Panthers

This team was bad last year, lost it’s good players to the portal or to injury, and they’ll be bad again this year because of it.

It ain’t going to be easy for any coach to get out of the mess FIU is currently in.

Conference USA Championship Game: Liberty vs Western Kentucky

Defense will be optional this game, as it’ll be dominated by the high powered offenses both squads have.

I’ve seen Jamey Chadwell succeed, and I can’t bet against that in a one off game.

But also, C-USA has 9 teams. What the hell do they need a championship game for?

Whatever, I guess.

Liberty wins the Conference USA Championship