The 2024 Conference USA football season was the 29th season of college football play for Conference USA (CUSA). The season began on August 31, 2024, and concluded with the conference championship game on December 6, 2024. CUSA consisted of 10 members, and conference play was part of the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
Conference realignment For the 2024 season, Kennesaw State joined CUSA, moving up from NCAA Division I FCS to Division I FBS. Due to NCAA rules regarding transitioning from FCS to FBS, the school was ineligible for post-season play for the 2024 season.
The conference was set to expand further in 2025, with Delaware and Missouri State confirming that they would join CUSA for the 2025–26 academic year. The 2025 football season would be the second year of transition from FCS to FBS for both teams.
Preseason Preseason poll The Conference USA preseason media poll was released on July 19. Liberty was named the favorite to win the conference.
Media poll 1 Liberty 197 (18) 2 Western Kentucky 173 (2) 3 Jacksonville State 166 4 Middle Tennessee 98 t5 New Mexico State 97 t5 Sam Houston 97 7 Louisiana Tech 88 8 FIU 81 9 UTEP 76 10 Kennesaw State 27
Preseason player awards Preseason player awards were announced on July 22.
Offensive Player of the Year: Kaidon Salter (Junior, Liberty quarterback) Defensive Player of the Year: CJ Bazile Jr. (Junior, Liberty defensive end) Special Teams Player of the Year: Lucas Carneiro (Sophomore, Western Kentucky kicker)
Head coaches On November 26, 2023, UTEP announced that it had fired head coach Dana Dimel after 6 seasons with the school. Dimel had posted a 20–49 record in his tenure. On December 4, 2023, 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, 2023, 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, 2023, 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, 2023, 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.
Note: All stats shown are before the start of the 2024 season. Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school CUSA recordFIU Mike MacIntyre 3 54–81 8–16 3–13Jacksonville State Rich Rodriguez 3 181–125–2 18–6 6–2Kennesaw State Brian Bohannon 10 71–30 71–30 0–0Liberty Jamey Chadwell 2 112–58 13–1 8–0Louisiana Tech Sonny Cumbie 3 8–21 6–18 4–12Middle Tennessee Derek Mason 1 27–55 0–0 0–0New Mexico State Tony Sanchez 1 20–40 0–0 0–0Sam Houston K. C. Keeler 11 262–109–1 88–36 2–6UTEP Scotty Walden 1 34–20 0–0 0–0Western Kentucky Tyson Helton 6 40–26 40–26 28–11
Mid-season changes On November 10, Kennesaw State head coach Brian Bohannon announced that he was stepping down from the position, effective immediately. Kennesaw State named Co-offesnive coordinator Chandler Burks the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. On December 1, Kennesaw State announced Jerry Mack as the new head coach. Mack had previously been the running backs coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL. On December 1, K. C. Keeler was announced as the new head coach of Temple in the American Athletic Conference. Offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen was named Sam Houston's interim head coach for Sam Houston's bowl game. On December 12, Rich Rodriguez was named as the new head coach of West Virginia in the Big 12 Conference. Jacksonville State's offensive coordinator Rod Smith was named the interim head coach for the team's bowl game.
Post-season changes On December 1, FIU announced they had fired head coach Mike MacIntyre. On December 7, FIU named Willie Simmons as their new head coach for the 2025 season. Simmons had previously been the running backs coach at Duke.
Rankings
Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Final FIU AP C CFP Not released Jacksonville State AP C RV CFP Not released Kennesaw State AP C CFP Not released Liberty AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Louisiana Tech AP C CFP Not released Middle Tennessee AP C CFP Not released New Mexico State AP C CFP Not released Sam Houston AP C RV CFP Not released UTEP AP C CFP Not released Western Kentucky AP C CFP Not released
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week No change in ranking from previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol
Schedule Index to colors and formattingCUSA member wonCUSA member lostCUSA teams in bold The 2024 schedule was released on February 1, 2024.
All times Eastern time.
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
Week 14
Conference USA Championship Game
Postseason
Bowl Games
Legend CUSA win CUSA loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (EST)CUSA teamOpponentScoreAttendance Boca Raton Bowl December 18 FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL ESPN 5:30 p.m. Western Kentucky James Madison L 17–27 15,808 New Orleans Bowl December 19 Caesars Superdome • New Orleans, LA ESPN2 7:00 p.m. Sam Houston Georgia Southern W 31–26 13,151 Cure Bowl December 20 Camping World Stadium • Orlando, FL ESPN 12:00 p.m. Jacksonville State Ohio L 27–30 10,518 Independence Bowl December 28 Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LA ESPN 9:15 p.m. Louisiana Tech No. 22 Army L 6–27 34,283 Bahamas Bowl January 4, 2025 Thomas Robinson Stadium • Nassau, The Bahamas ESPN2 11:00 a.m. Liberty Buffalo L 7–26 4,610
Louisiana Tech was bowl ineligible with a 5–7 record, but was selected to compete in the Independence Bowl after Marshall withdrew.
Conference USA records vs other conferences
2024–2025 records against non-conference foes:
Power conferences 5RecordACC0–4Big Ten0–2Big 120–1Notre Dame0–0Pac-120–0SEC0–5Power 5 Total0–10Other FBS conferencesRecordAmerican2–4Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)1–0MAC2–1Mountain West1–4Sun Belt2–2Other FBS total8–11FCS opponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision5–3Total non-conference record11–24
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.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 31 Big Ten FIU Indiana Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN L 7–31 August 31 Big Ten UTEP Nebraska Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE L 7–40 August 31 SEC Western Kentucky No. 5 Alabama Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL L 0–63 September 7 ACC Jacksonville State No. 22 Louisville L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium • Louisville, KY L 14–49 September 7 SEC Middle Tennessee No. 6 Ole Miss Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS L 3–52 September 7 Big 12 Sam Houston UCF FBC Mortgage Stadium • Orlando, FL L 14–45 September 14 ACC Louisiana Tech NC State Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC L 20–30 September 21 ACC Duke Middle Tennessee Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN L 17–45 September 28 ACC Western Kentucky Boston College Alumni Stadium • Chestnut Hill, MA L 20–21 November 16 SEC New Mexico State Texas A&M Kyle Field • College Station, TX L 3–38 November 23 SEC Louisiana Tech Arkansas Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR L 14–35 November 23 SEC UTEP Tennessee Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN L 0–56
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.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 31 Sun Belt Coastal Carolina Jacksonville State AmFirst Stadium • Jacksonville, AL L 27–55 August 31 American Kennesaw State UTSA Alamodome • San Antonio, TX L 16–28 August 31 American Sam Houston Rice Rice Stadium • Houston, TX W 34–14 September 7 MAC Central Michigan FIU Pitbull Stadium • Miami, FL W 52–16 September 7 Sun Belt Louisiana Kennesaw State Fifth Third Stadium • Kennesaw, GA L 10–34 September 14 American FIU Florida Atlantic FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL L 20–38 September 14 MAC Jacksonville State Eastern Michigan Rynearson Stadium • Ypsilanti, MI L 34–37 OT September 14 Mountain West Kennesaw State San Jose State CEFCU Stadium • San Jose, CA L 10–31 September 14 Mountain West New Mexico State Fresno State Valley Children's Stadium • Fresno, CA L 0–48 September 14 Mountain West Hawaii Sam Houston Bowers Stadium • Huntsville, TX W 31–14 September 21 Sun Belt Southern Miss Jacksonville State AmFirst Stadium • Jacksonville, AL W 44–7 September 21 American East Carolina Liberty Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA W 35–24 September 21 American Tulsa Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA L 20–23 OT September 21 Mountain West UTEP Colorado State Canvas Stadium • Fort Collins, CO L 17–27 September 21 MAC Toledo Western Kentucky Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY W 26–21 September 28 Sun Belt Liberty Appalachian State Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC Canceled September 28 Mountain West New Mexico New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM L 40–50 September 28 American Middle Tennessee Memphis Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium • Memphis, TN L 7–24 September 28 Sun Belt Texas State Sam Houston NRG Stadium • Houston, TX W 40–39
Conference USA vs FBS independents matchups The following games include CUSA teams competing against FBS independents, which includes UConn or UMass.
Date Visitor Home Site Score November 16 Liberty UMass McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Hadley, MA W 35–34 OT
Conference USA vs FCS matchups
Date Visitor Home Site Score August 31 Campbell Liberty Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA W 41–24 August 31 No. 23 (FCS) Nicholls Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA W 25–17 August 31 Tennessee Tech Middle Tennessee Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN W 32–25 August 31 Southeast Missouri State New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM W 23–16 September 7 Southern Utah UTEP Sun Bowl • El Paso, TX L 24–27 September 7 Eastern Kentucky Western Kentucky Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY W 31–0 September 21 Monmouth FIU Pitbull Stadium • Miami, FL L 42–45 September 28 UT Martin Kennesaw State Fifth Third Stadium • Kennesaw, GA L 13–24
Awards and honors CUSA individual awards On December 16, 2024, CUSA released their individual award winners and all-conference honors for the 2024 season.
AwardHonoreeSchoolMost Valuable PlayerTyler HuffJacksonville StateOffensive Player of the YearCaden VeltkampWestern KentuckyDefensive Player of the YearTravion BarnesFIUSpecial Teams Player of the YearLucas CarneiroWestern KentuckyFreshman of the YearDJ McKinneySam HoustonNewcomer of the YearTyler HuffJacksonville StateCoach of the YearRich RodriguezJacksonville State +First-team all-conference offensePlayerSchoolTyler HuffJacksonville StateTre StewartWestern KentuckyQuinton CooleyLibertyEric RiversFIUOmari KellyMiddle TennesseeTru EdwardsLouisiana TechHolden WillisMiddle TennesseeJordan WhiteLibertyClay WebbJacksonville StateXavior GrayLibertyAaron FenimoreLibertyWill O'SteenJacksonville State +First-team all-conference defensePlayerSchoolMaurice WestmorelandUTEPDavid BlayLouisiana TechHosea WheelerWestern KentuckyChris MurraySam HoustonTravion BarnesFIUReginald HughesJacksonville StateKavian GaitherSam HoustonFred PerryJacksonville StateCaleb WeaverSam HoustonUpton StoutWestern KentuckyJoJo EvansFIU +First-team all-conference special teamsPlayerSchoolLucas CarneiroWestern KentuckyJacob UlrichKennesaw StateQua AshleyKennesaw StateKam ThomasUTEPBrody ButlerMiddle Tennessee