DALLAS – Conference USA will be sending eight schools to play in bowl games this holiday season. C-USA Champion UTSA leads the group of eight, joined in the postseason by East Division Champion WKU, Middle Tennessee, Marshall, North Texas, Old Dominion, UAB and UTEP.
UTSA (12-1) heads into postseason play fresh off a thrilling C-USA Championship Game win over WKU, the Roadrunners’ first conference crown in program history. The Roadrunners will play in the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 21, at 7:30 p.m. EST/6:30 p.m. CST on ESPN. UTSA will face Mountain West foe and CFP No. 24 San Diego State (11-2) in the first meeting between the two schools.
WKU (8-5) will make its seventh bowl appearance in the last eight seasons when it plays in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. The Hilltoppers, winners of seven of their past eight games, will face Sun Belt runner-up Appalachian State (10-3) on Saturday, Dec. 18, at 11 a.m. EST/10 a.m. CST on ESPN. This will be WKU’s second-ever trip to the Boca Raton Bowl, after the Hilltoppers knocked off Memphis, 51-31, in 2016.
Marshall (7-5), who finished second in the East Division in first-year head coach Charles Huff’s debut season in Huntington, will play in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. The Thundering Herd will take on Sun Belt champion Louisiana (12-1) on Saturday, Dec. 18, at 2:15 p.m. EST/1:15 p.m. CST in the program’s first trip to the New Orleans Bowl. This marks Marshall’s 18th bowl appearance in program history, and the Herd’s fifth-straight dating back to 2017. It also marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Middle Tennessee (6-6), who won two of their last three games to achieve bowl eligibility, had already previously announced that they will compete in the Bahamas Bowl for the program’s eighth bowl appearance in the past 13 seasons. The Bahamas Bowl opens the bowl season on Friday, Dec. 17, at 12 p.m. EST/11 a.m. CST in Nassau, Bahamas, on ESPN. The Blue Raiders will face Toledo, which went 7-5 this season, with a 5-3 mark in the Mid-American Conference and it is the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
North Texas (6-6) won its last five games, including a 45-23 win over then-No. 22 UTSA, after a 1-6 start to appear in the program’s fifth bowl in six seasons under head coach Seth Littrell. The Mean Green will take on Miami (Ohio) (6-6) in the newest bowl game in the 42-game lineup, the Frisco Football Classic, on Thursday, Dec. 23, at 3:30 p.m. EST/2:30 p.m. CST on ESPN. This marks the first meeting between the two programs.
Old Dominion (6-6), like North Texas, enters bowl season on a five-game winning streak after starting 1-6 to earn bowl eligibility under new head coach Ricky Rahne. The Monarchs will participate in the Myrtle Beach Bowl on Monday, Dec. 20, against Tulsa (6-6) on ESPN at 2:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m. CST. This marks Old Dominion’s second-ever bowl appearance, after a successful trip to the Bahamas Bowl in 2016. The Monarchs and Golden Hurricane will meet for the first time ever in Myrtle Beach.
UAB (8-4), who missed their bowl game in 2020 due to a cancellation related to COVID concerns, have qualified for a bowl game for the fifth-straight season and will take on CFP No. 13 BYU (10-2) in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 3:30 p.m. EST/2:30 p.m. CST on ABC. The Blazers will make their first trip to the Independence Bowl in program history, and will meet the Cougars for the first time.
The UTEP Miners (7-5) are back in bowl season for the first time since 2014 and are one of college football’s best turnaround stories. UTEP is set to participate in the PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 18, at 2:15 p.m. EST/1:15 p.m. CST against Fresno State (9-3). This is the third trip to Albuquerque for the New Mexico Bowl in Miners’ history (2010 and 2014). UTEP and Fresno State have met on 12 occasions, with the Bulldogs holding an 8-3-1 advantage. This will be the first meeting between the two since 2004, a UTEP win, 24-21, in Fresno.
2021-22 C-USA BOWL SCHEDULE
BAHAMAS BOWL (Nassau, Bahamas)
Friday, December 17
Middle Tennessee vs. Toledo (ESPN) 11 a.m. CST
ROOFCLAIM.COM BOCA RATON BOWL (Boca Raton, Florida)
Saturday, December 18
WKU vs. Appalachian State (ESPN) 10 a.m. CST
PUBG MOBILE NEW MEXICO BOWL (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Saturday, December 18
UTEP vs. Fresno State (ESPN) 1:15 p.m. CST
RADIANCE TECHNOLOGIES INDEPENDENCE BOWL (Shreveport, Louisiana)
Saturday, December 18
UAB vs. BYU (ABC) 2:30 p.m. CST
R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Saturday, December 18
Marshall vs. Louisiana (ESPN) 8:15 p.m. CST
MYRTLE BEACH BOWL (Conway, South Carolina)
Monday, December 20
Old Dominion vs. Tulsa (ESPN) 1:30 p.m. CST
TROPICAL SMOOTHIE CAFE FRISCO BOWL (Frisco, Texas)
Tuesday, December 21
UTSA vs. San Diego State (ESPN) 6:30 p.m. CST
FRISCO FOOTBALL CLASSIC (Frisco, Texas)
Thursday, December 23
North Texas vs. Miami (OH) (ESPN) 2:30 p.m. CST
-ConferenceUSA.com-
