Conference USA Football Championship

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The Conference USA Football Championship game is an annual postseason college football game played to determine the champion of Conference USA. From 1996-2004, the champion of Conference USA was determined by regular season record. In 2005, following the division of the conference into East and West Divisions, the conference began holding a championship game between the two division winners. The team with the better regular season record serves as the host team. This makes C-USA the only current FBS conference not to have their championship game at a neutral site. The first such game was played on December 3, 2005, between Tulsa and UCF. Tulsa won the first C-USA championship game 44-27. It was held at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

Each year, the game has been televised live on ESPN. For 2006, the game was moved from Saturday afternoon to Friday night.

The winner of the C-USA Championship traditionally receives a berth to play in the Liberty Bowl (though the Liberty Bowl is not contractually obligated to choose the game's winner). The loser of the C-USA championship game receives a bid in one of C-USA's five other bowl berths, typically the GMAC or Hawaiʻi Bowl.

Contents

[edit] Past winners

A view of the kickoff of the 2005 game
A view of the kickoff of the 2005 game

[edit] Conference USA Champions (1996-2004)

  • AP final rankings shown, following bowl games
Season Champion(s) Conf.
record		 Overall
record		 Bowl result
1996 Houston 4-1 7-5 lost Liberty Bowl
Southern Miss 4-1 8-3
1997 #22 Southern Miss 6-0 9-3 won Liberty Bowl
1998 #7 Tulane 6-0 12-0 won Liberty Bowl
1999 #14 Southern Miss 6-0 9-3 won Liberty Bowl
2000 Louisville 6-1 9-3 lost Liberty Bowl
2001 #17 Louisville 6-1 11-2 won Liberty Bowl
2002 #23 TCU 6-1 11-2 won Liberty Bowl
Cincinnati 6-2 7-7 lost New Orleans Bowl
2003 Southern Miss 8-0 9-4 lost Liberty Bowl
2004 #6 Louisville 8-0 11-1 won Liberty Bowl

[edit] Conference USA Championship Game (Since 2005)

Season Date Winner Score Runner-Up Site Attendance
2005 December 3, 2005 Tulsa 44-27 UCF Citrus Bowl (Orlando) 51,978
2006 December 1, 2006 Houston 34-20 Southern Miss Robertson Stadium (Houston) 31,818
2007 December 1, 2007 UCF 44-25 Tulsa Bright House Networks Stadium (Orlando) 44,128

[edit] Game Notes

  • The 2005 game was advertised as Conference USA Championship Presented by Xbox 360. Following the victory, Tulsa received 3 votes in the AP Poll, but did not reach the top 25. Following a victory in the Liberty Bowl, Tulsa received 34 votes in the AP Poll, but still did not reach the top 25, ranking 27th overall.
  • The 2006 game was advertised as Conference USA Championship Presented by Aeropostale. Following the victory, Houston received 21 votes in the AP Poll, but did not reach the top 25, ranking 29th. Houston did not receive any votes in the final poll.
  • The 2007 game was advertised as the Bright House Networks Conference USA Championship. UCF's Kevin Smith rushed for 284 yards, bringing his season total to 2,448, which stands as the second-most single season rushing yards in NCAA history. Following the victory, UCF received 35 votes in the AP Poll, but did not reach the top 25, ranking 27th.
  • Through 2007, no team entered or left the game ranked in any major poll.

[edit] Results by team

Appearances School W L Pct Notes
2 Tulsa 1 1 .5000
2 UCF 1 1 .5000
1 Houston 1 0 1.000
1 Southern Mississippi 0 1 .000
0 East Carolina 0 0 N/A
0 Marshall 0 0 N/A
0 Memphis 0 0 N/A
0 Rice 0 0 N/A
0 SMU 0 0 N/A
0 Tulane 0 0 N/A
0 UAB 0 0 N/A
0 UTEP 0 0 N/A

[edit] MVPs

Season MVP Team Position
2005 Garrett Mills Tulsa TE
2006 Vincent Marshall Houston WR
2007 Kevin Smith UCF RB

[edit] External links