C-USA has 14 teams in their league, with seven (7) teams in the East Division (UNC Charlotte, Old Dominion, Marshall, Florida Atlantic [FAU], Florida International [FIU], Middle Tennessee, & Western Kentucky) & seven (7) teams in the West Division (University of Alabama @ Birmingham [UAB], Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, Rice, North Texas, University of Texas @ El Paso [UTEP] & University of Texas @ San Antonia {UTSA)
The Conference will/may have a different look for / in the 2022 season! Southern Miss, Marshall, & Old Dominion all announced, in November, that they would be leaving C-USA to join the the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) and doing so for the 2022 season. A legal battle is brewing because of the November timeline in sharing their intent to leave the conference.
C-USA’s Bi-Laws require schools’ to give conference officials, a fourteen month notice of their intent to leave the league. The November notification falls short of the fourteen (14) month requirement and as a result, C-USA has scheduled these three (3) universities into their 2022 schedule. The SBC schedule is set to be released on March 1 and according to some reports (Southern Miss, Old Dominion, & Marshall) have been integrated into the SBC schedule as well!
To make matter more complicated for C-USA, six (6) other league teams (North Texas, Rice, UTSA, UNC Charlotte, UAB, & FAU) will be leaving the league for the American Athletic Conference (AAC) at the start of the 2023-24 season. These departures are compliant with the fourteen month notification window.
The sad reality is that when the dust settles in 2023, these desertions will leave a conference that had 14 teams in the 2021, with five (5) teams (Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, FIU, Louisiana Tech, & UTEP) for the 2023 FB Season!
C-USA will be adding: Liberty, New Mexico State and two (2) FCS programs, Sam Houston & Jacksonville State! This will leave with C-USA as a nine (9) team football conference for the 2023 season!
If you have read early blogs, the information provided below will be redundant, I always place this data on/in the blog for 1st time readers!
On Sully’s College Football Page, we use a system of color coding to make the reading of a particular team’s strength of schedule, easily recognized and understood!
The color Red is used to identify conference games, Yellow, for Power Five (P5) opponents, Green, to signify Group of Five (G5) teams, and finally, we use Light Blue for the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The FCS can offer up to 63 scholarship (not more than 63, yet can offer fewer), while the Football Bowl Subdivision ( P5 & G5) must provide 85 scholarships or lose their status as an FBS program!
In should be noted, the terms P5 & G5 are not NCAA language, but rather the constructs of five conferences (ACC, B-10, B-12, PAC 12, & SEC) and Notre Dame! No one is quiet sure of the origin of these terms, Power Five & Group of Five, they seem to have evolved over time, suffice to say, they are not NCAA Terms!
The link provided below will take you to Sully’s College Football Page (SCFP) featuring Conference-USA (C-USA) 2022 schedule information!
https://sullyscollegefootballpage.com/Football_Stats/Conference_Listings.cfm?MCID=2&DVID=8
C-USA plays an eight (8) game conference schedule and each team schedules four (4) Non-Conference (NC) contests to reach the allowed 12 game ceiling. Please note, if a team travels to the Islands, to take on Hawaii, they are allowed to schedule a 13th game to off-set expenses.
This year, Western Kentucky flies out to Honolulu, to take on the Rainbow Warriors, and as a result, they are playing five (5) NC games!
As stated, C-USA has 14 teams (for now) and plays 8 conference games for a total of 112 games (14 X 8= 112) with-in the league. The Conference pays 4 NC games for a total of 56 tilts (14 X 4 = 56)! However, in 2022, because of Western Kentucky’s trip to Hawaii, C-USA will compete in 57 NC games!
The League takes on 17 Power 5 programs (ACC, 5 games, SEC 4, Big Ten 3, Big 12 two games, PAC 12 one game, & Independents 2). C-USA plays fifteen (15) of the seventeen (17) games on the road and only 2 @ Home! UNC Charlotte hosts Maryland & Old Dominion welcomes fellow Virginian, Virginia Tech to S.B. Ballard Stadium in Norfolk!
C-USA lines-it-up 27 times vs Group of Five (G5) teams in 2022! They get-it-on against the American Athletic Conference (AAC) & Sun Belt Conference (SBC) in fourteen (14) games, seven (7) apiece! They take on Independents (IND) programs in six (6) battles and the Mountain West Conference (MWC) in five (5) engagements. Finally, they will kick-it-off vs the Mid-American Conference (MAC) twice (2) in 2022!
C-USA will play 13 games with 63 scholarship programs (FCS / Football Championship Subdivision) FCS programs are often confused with G5 programs, the true facts are that G5 programs (AAC, C-USA, MWC, MAC, & SBC) award 85 scholarships, the exact number that the Southeastern and Big Ten Conferences provide in their respective conferences! All of these games will be played in C-USA stadiums, except for one (1) … Middle Tennessee will travel to Virginia, to-take-on James Madison, currently playing in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)!
In 2022, C-USA will play 17 Power 5 programs, 27 Group of 5 teams, & 13 games with FCS opponents, 63 scholarship conferences! (17 + 27 + 13 = 57 NC games). Remember, for a FBS team to become Bowl Eligible they must win a minimum of six (6) games and only one vs an FCS team counts toward the six wins!
and as always … Enjoy the Games!
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