The 2023 Conference USA Football Championship Game was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

game played on December 1, 2023, at

Williams Stadium Arthur L. Williams Stadium is a 25,000-seat football stadium located on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA. The stadium was built in 1989 and plays host to Liberty Flames football, which is a part of the NCAA Division I - ...

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

. It was the 19th edition of the

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. History The championship game from 2005–2021, showcased the C-USA East Division regul ...

and determined the champion of

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

(C–USA) for the 2023 season. The game begun at 7:00 pm and aired on

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

. The game featured the

Liberty Flames The Liberty Flames and Lady Flames are the athletics teams of Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. They are a member of the NCAA Division I level in 20 sports. LU is a member of the ASUN Conference for most sports. Two spor ...

, the team with the best conference record, against the

New Mexico State Aggies The New Mexico State University teams are called the Aggies, a nickname derived from the university's agricultural beginnings. The mascot is known as " Pistol Pete". NMSU's colors are crimson and white. Since 2005 the Aggies have competed in the ...

, with the second best conference record. By virtue of having the best record, Liberty hosted the game.

Teams

This season was the first for both Liberty and New Mexico State in Conference USA. Both had been Independents prior to the 2023 season. It is also the first conference championship game appearance for both schools.

New Mexico State

The Aggies clinched their spot in the Championship game following its defeat of

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

on November 11. New Mexico State was attempting to win its first conference championship since winning the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

in 1978. 2023 was the Aggies' first season as a member of Conference USA, having previously competed as an FBS independent from 2012 to 2022.

Liberty

The Flames clinched their spot in the championship game following their defeat of

on October 24. Liberty clinched home field in the championship game following its defeat of

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

on November 4. Liberty was seeking to win its first conference title since winning the FCS

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

in 2016.

Scoring summary

References

{{New Mexico State Aggies football navbox 2023 Conference USA football season Conference USA Football Championship Game Liberty Flames football games New Mexico State Aggies football games

21st century in Virginia