Conference USA Football Betting Online
There are no longer any original members of Conference USA left after the most recent round of realignment in college football. With UAB, UTSA, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Charlotte, and Rice on their way to the AAC, the oldest current member of CUSA is UTEP which joined in 2005. The other members of the “old guard” are Florida International, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State, and Western Kentucky, but they only joined the conference in 2013.
C-USA Current Champion: UTSA Roadrunners
C-USA Championship Game: W 48-27 vs. North Texas
Cure Bowl: L 12-18 vs. Troy
College Football Betting Lines
Western Kentucky +135
Liberty +250
Middle Tennessee State +550
Louisiana Tech +800
UTEP +1400
New Mexico State +3000
Florida International +5000
Newcomers Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State are ineligible for the Conference USA Championship after jumping up from the FCS to the FBS. Expect both teams to be immediately competitive just like we saw with James Madison last year though, as the Gamecocks and Bearkats have been FCS juggernauts for a long time.
Liberty is the only new school that can realistically claim the conference title with JSU and SHSU ineligible. The Flames have been impressive in their short time as an FBS Independent, and they already are in a much better position than New Mexico State. They hired Jamey Chadwell to replace Hugh Freeze this offseason, so they should have one of the most high-powered offenses in the conference.
Western Kentucky is the most recent current member to have won the CUSA title, but that came all the way back in 2016. The Hilltoppers have won nine games in three of the last four seasons though, so it’s hard not to consider them the favorites even though they have heavily leaned on the transfer portal.
Conference USA Football Format
There are no longer any divisions in Conference USA due to the carousel of members we have seen over the last few seasons. The good news is that with nine teams, every team can play every other team to determine the conference champion.
Conference USA has undergone some radical changes in its relatively short existence. The league began play in 1996 with six teams, and none of the original members are still in CUSA. The league had grown to 11 teams by 2004 but was overhauled for the 2005 season. The Big East cherry-picked the league to restock its football playing schools and C-USA was forced to raid other leagues.
The addition of six new teams in 2005 split the league into two six-team divisions and the first C-USA Championship game was played that year. Tulsa and UCF, two of the newest members, played in the inaugural contest with the Golden Hurricanes winning the first of their two C-USA titles.
There was a huge turnover in member schools during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Memphis, Tulane, Houston, East Carolina, UCF, SMU, and Tulsa all left to join the AAC. C-USA was hanging by a thread when those 10 schools decided to jettison from the conference, so the conference brought in Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State, North Texas, UTSA, Old Dominion, and Western Kentucky to remain viable.
Once again, the AAC raided the conference to replenish its ranks ahead of the 2023 season. After the AAC lost UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati to the Big 12, the conference decided to bring in UTSA, UAB, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Charlotte, and Rice from CUSA. Either UTSA, UAB, or Florida Atlantic has won every conference title since 2016, so that will certainly hurt the strength of this conference.
This conference has undergone so many changes that no current member of Conference USA has won more than two conference championships. UAB will leave the conference in the near future too, so Western Kentucky is the only member of this conference that will have multiple conference championships when the Blazers say sayonara.
Log into BookMaker Sportsbook and get the best NCAA Football Betting Odds, NCAA Football Betting Articles and information about this and all other sports betting events!
