DALLAS – Conference USA will be sending six schools to play in bowl games this holiday season. C-USA Champion UTSA leads the group of six, joined in the postseason by North Texas, Middle Tennessee, Rice, UAB and WKU.
CFP No. 25 UTSA (11-2) heads into postseason play following its second consecutive C-USA title, having knocked off North Texas 48-27 on Friday in the 2022 Ryan C-USA Championship Game. The Roadrunners will face off against Sun Belt Champion and CFP No. 24 Troy (11-2) in the Duluth Trading Cure Bowl on Friday, Dec. 16, at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT on ESPN from Exploria Stadium in Orlando. Troy knocked off Coastal Carolina 45-26 on Saturday in the Sun Belt title game. This will mark the first-ever matchup between the two schools.
North Texas (7-6), who finished 6-2 in league play and ultimately fell to UTSA in the 2022 Ryan C-USA Championship Game, is set to make the Mean Green’s sixth bowl appearance under head coach Seth Littrell in seven years. UNT will take on Mountain West foe Boise State (9-4) in the Frisco Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 17, at 9:15 p.m. ET/8:15 p.m. CT on ESPN from Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The schools have matched up six times in their program histories, with each team winning three. This will be the first matchup between the two since 2000.
Middle Tennessee (7-5), who won three of its last four games, had already previously announced that they will compete in the EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl for the program’s sixth bowl appearance in the past eight seasons, and 10th overall under head coach Rick Stockstill. The Blue Raiders will take on San Diego State (7-5) on Saturday, Dec. 24, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on ESPN at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa campus. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Rice (5-7) will be competing in its first bowl game since 2014, the first under head coach Mike Bloomgren, and achieved eligibility by virtue of leading the nation in Academic Progress Rate (APR) at 994. The Owls will take on Southern Miss (6-6) in the Lendingtree Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 17, at 5:45 p.m. ET/4:45 p.m. CT on ESPN at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The former conference-mates have met 12 times previously, with each team having won six.
UAB (6-6), winners of two of their final three games to reach bowl eligibility, had already previously announced that they will compete in the Hometown Lenders Bahamas Bowl. The Blazers will take on Miami (OH) (6-6) to kick off Bowl Season on Friday, Dec. 16, at 11:30 a.m. ET/10:30 a.m. CT on ESPN at the 15,000-seat Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
WKU (8-5) finished 6-2 in league play and are set to take on Sun Belt foe South Alabama (10-2) in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on ESPN from the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The Hilltoppers boast one of the more explosive offenses in the country and are ready for their seventh bowl appearance in the past eight seasons and eighth in the last 10. This will be only the second-ever matchup between the two programs, and first since 2013.
2022-23 C-USA BOWL SCHEDULE
HOMETOWN LENDERS BAHAMAS BOWL (Nassau, Bahamas)
Friday, December 16
UAB vs. Miami (OH) (ESPN) 10:30 a.m. CT
DULUTH TRADING CURE BOWL (Orlando, Florida)
Friday, December 16
UTSA vs. Troy (ESPN) 2 p.m. CT
LENDINGTREE BOWL (Mobile, Alabama)
Saturday, December 17
Rice vs. Southern Miss (ESPN) 4:45 p.m. CT
FRISCO BOWL (Frisco, Texas)
Saturday, December 17
North Texas vs. Boise State (ESPN) 8:15 p.m. CT
R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Wednesday, December 21
WKU vs. South Alabama (ESPN) 8 p.m. CT
EASYPOST HAWAI’I BOWL (Honolulu, Hawai’i)
Saturday, December 24
Middle Tennessee vs. San Diego State (ESPN) 1:30 p.m. CST-ConferenceUSA.com-
