2023 Conference USA Football Season

The 2023 Conference USA football season was the 28th season of college football play for Conference USA (CUSA). The season began on August 26, 2023 and ended with the Conference Championship Game on December 2, 2023. The conference consisted of nine members and was part of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season.

Previous season

During the 2022 season, the UTSA Roadrunners posted the best record in the regular season. UTSA and North Texas advanced to the championship game, where UTSA won by a score of 48–27.

Conference realignment

Prior to the 2023 season, Conference USA saw substantial realignment, with six schools leaving the conference to join the American Athletic Conference: UTSA, North Texas, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, Rice, and UAB. Conference USA then invited four schools to join: Liberty and New Mexico State, who were both previously FBS independents; Jacksonville State, who were previously in the ASUN Conference at the Division I FCS level; and Sam Houston, who were previously in the Western Athletic Conference also at the Division I FCS level. The realignment left CUSA with nine football members for the 2023 season. CUSA further announced that Kennesaw State, another member of the ASUN Conference, would move up beginning in 2024.

On the same day the membership changes took effect (July 1, 2023), the conference unveiled a "brand refresh". The former abbreviation of "C-USA" was retired in favor of "CUSA", and the logo was slightly updated.

Both Jacksonville State and Sam Houston were initially ineligible for both the conference championship and for bowl games due to their transition from the FCS level to FBS level. However, Jacksonville State received a berth in the New Orleans Bowl after only 79 non-transitional teams were eligible to fill the 82 bowl slots this season.

Preseason

Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on July 21, 2023.

Preseason player awards

Preseason player awards were announced on July 24.

*Offensive Player of the Year: Austin Reed (Redshirt Senior, Western Kentucky quarterback)
*Defensive Player of the Year: JaQues Evans (Junior, Western Kentucky linebacker)
*Special Teams Player of the Year: Smoke Harris (Redshirt Senior, Louisiana Tech kick returner/punt returner)

Head Coaches

*On December 4, 2022, Jamey Chadwell was announced as the new head coach of Liberty after previous head coach Hugh Freeze left to take the head coaching position at Auburn. Chadwell had previously been head coach of Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt Conference.

''Note:'' All stats shown are before the start of the 2023 season.

Post-season changes

*On November 26, UTEP announced that it had fired head coach Dana Dimel after 6 season with the school. Dimel had posted a 20–49 record in his tenure. On December 4, UTEP announced Scotty Walden as the new head coach for the 2024 season. Walden had previously been head coach at Austin Peay.
* On November 27, Middle Tennessee announced that it had fired head coach Rick Stockstill after 18 seasons with the school. Stockstill had a 113–111 record during his tenure at the school. On December 6, Middle Tennessee announced Derek Mason as the new head coach for the 2024 season. Mason had previously been head coach at Vanderbilt.
* On December 23, New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill announced that he was stepping down from the position. The school announced that wide receivers coach Tony Sanchez would be promoted to the head coach position for 2024.

Rankings

Schedule

The 2023 schedule was released on January 10, 2023.

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

Rankings are from Final CFP rankings. All times Eastern Time Zone.

Selection of teams

*Bowl eligible (4): Liberty, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State, Western Kentucky
*Bowl ineligible (5): FIU, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Sam Houston, UTEP

Conference USA records vs other conferences

2023–2024 records against non-conference foes:

Postseason

Conference USA vs Power 5 matchups

This is a list of games CUSA teams scheduled against power conference teams ( ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.

Conference USA vs Group of Five matchups

The following games include CUSA teams competing against teams from the American, MAC, Mountain West, or Sun Belt.

Conference USA vs FBS independents matchups

The following games include CUSA teams competing against FBS Independents, which includes Army, UConn, or UMass.

Conference USA vs FCS matchups

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Conference USA Individual Awards

The following individuals received postseason honors as chosen by the league's head coaches.

All-Conference Teams

The following list contains players selected as members of the 2023 All-Conference Teams.

All-Americans

Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. College Football All-American consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, ''TSN'', and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.

Notes

References

{{2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season navbox

2023 Conference USA football season