Conference USA Bowl Projections Roundup: 10 Teams are eligible but not all will get in

UPDATE: Looks like UAB is off to the tropical islands

10 Teams are bowl eligible. But after a few upsets down the stretch occurring elsewhere, the likelihood of all 10 getting in are slim as there will be zero 5-7 teams bowling this year. What that means is that there will be a few 6-6 teams staying home come bowl season.

FAU, North Texas, UAB, Southern Miss, FIU, and Marshall are safe. Each team finished the 2017 season with a record of 7-5 or better. Teams who have seven wins are going to get in before those that finished 6-6.

WKU, Middle Tennessee, and Louisiana Tech all finished 6-6, with UTSA finishing with a 6-5 record due to the Houston game being postponed. UTSA has the worst conference record as they finished 3-5. Everyone else finished 4-4.

I think it’s guaranteed we’ll see at least eight teams get in and my guess is those two teams are La Tech and WKU. My reasoning is that they each beat UTSA and Middle. But we all know bowl games often opt for who will travel and provide the most intriguing matchup, rather than fair logic. Either way, fans of WKU, Middle, La Tech, and UTSA will be sweating come next Sunday.

A look at Conference USA’s bowl tie-ins before we get to the bowl projections.

1. New Orleans Bowl vs Sun Belt Saturday, December 16 (New Orleans, Louisiana)
2. New Mexico Bowl vs MWC Saturday, December 16 (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
3. Boca Raton Bowl vs MAC Tuesday, December 19 (Boca Raton, Florida)
4. St. Petersburg Bowl vs American Thursday, December 21 (St. Petersburg, Florida)
5. Bahamas Bowl vs MAC Friday, December 22 (Nassau, Bahamas)
6. Armed Forces Bowl vs Army Saturday, December 23 (Fort Worth, Texas)
7. Independence Bowl vs ACC/SEC Monday, December 27 (Shreveport, Louisiana)

Note: These tie-ins are from Conference USA. However, there are loopholes that may send a C-USA team elsewhere. Whoever wins the Conference USA Championship gets first dibs out of the tie-ins then everyone falls in line after. C-USA is on pace to have more than seven bowl eligible teams.

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SB Nation: 10 Teams

New Orleans: Louisiana Tech

New Mexico: North Texas

Boca Raton: FAU

Frisco: Marshall

St. Petersburg: UAB

Bahamas: FIU

Birmingham: Middle Tennessee

Armed Forces: UTSA

Hawaii: WKU

Independence: Southern Miss

Analysis: All 10 are projected to get in. I think you can bank on La Tech appearing in either New Orleans or in Shreveport for the Independence Bowl.

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CBS Sports: 8 Teams

New Orleans: Louisiana Tech

Cure: Marshall

New Mexico: North Texas

Boca Raton: FIU

St. Petersburg: FAU

Bahamas: Southern Miss

Armed Forces: UTSA

Independence: UAB

Analysis: 100 Miles of Hate will really be livid if both WKU and MTSU miss the postseason. UTSA could be a sure thing due to the amount of Texas bowl games but I’m not sure how they will be viewed with a 6-5 record in comparison to other 6-6 teams.

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Sports Illustrated: 9 Teams

New Orleans: Southern Miss

Cure: Middle Tennessee

New Mexico: UTSA

Boca Raton: FIU

Frisco: Marshall

St. Petersburg: UAB

Bahamas: FAU

Armed Forces: WKU

Heart of Dallas: North Texas

Analysis: No La Tech is interesting. They have Boston College and UCLA squaring off in the Independence Bowl. A few repeat trips but I doubt anyone will be complaining. in this bowl climate. UNT getting Texas Tech in Dallas would be a great matchup.