2012 Conference USA football season

The 2012 Conference USA football season was an NCAA football season that was from August 2012 through January 2013. Conference USA consists of 12 football members separated into 2 divisions: East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB, UCF make up the eastern division, while Houston, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, and UTEP comprise the western division.

2012 Conference USA football season
LeagueNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
SportFootball
DurationAugust 30, 2012
through December 31, 2012
Number of teams12
TV partner(s)Fox Sports, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, CSS, CST
2013 NFL Draft
Top draft pickCB D. J. Hayden, Houston
Picked byOakland Raiders, 12th overall
Regular Season
Season MVPQB Rakeem Cato, Marshall
East championsUCF & East Carolina (co-champions)
West championsTulsa
Championship Game
ChampionsTulsa
  Runners-upUCF
Finals MVPRB Trey Watts, Tulsa
Football seasons
← 2011
2013 →
2012 Conference USA football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
UCF xy   7 1     10 4  
East Carolina x   7 1     8 5  
Marshall   4 4     5 7  
Memphis   4 4     4 8  
UAB   2 6     3 9  
Southern Miss   0 8     0 12  
West Division
Tulsa xy$   7 1     11 3  
SMU   5 3     7 6  
Rice   4 4     7 6  
Houston   4 4     5 7  
UTEP   2 6     3 9  
Tulane   2 6     2 10  
Championship: Tulsa 33, UCF 27
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2012 football season marks the 18th season of the conference's existence and 17th of football competition; although C-USA was established in 1995, it did not begin football competition until 1996. In addition, the season will be the last to feature participation from Houston, Memphis, SMU and UCF, as the four schools intend to leave the conference for the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2013.

UCF will be eligible to compete for both the Conference USA championship and a bowl game this season with its appeal of a one-year football postseason ban not scheduled to be heard until next year. The NCAA has set the hearing for late January. Should UCF lose its appeal, it would serve its football ban in 2013 when it enters the Big East.[1]

Previous season

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Southern Miss won the conference championship for the first time, defeating the Houston Cougars 49–28.

Regular season

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Index to colors and formatting
Conference USA member won
Conference USA member lost
Conference USA teams in bold

Week One

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
August 30 6:30 pm UCLA Rice Rice StadiumHouston, TX CBSSN L UCLA 49-24   23,105
August 30 7:00 pm UCF Akron InfoCision Stadium – Summa FieldAkron, OH ESPN3 W UCF 56-14   12,616
September 1 11:00 am UAB Troy Legion FieldBirmingham, AL FCS L Troy 39-29   28,612
September 1 12:00 pm Appalachian State East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC FSN W ECU 35-13   49,203 [2]
September 1 12:00 pm Marshall No. 11 West Virginia Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV FX L WV 69-34   59,120
September 1 2:30 pm Southern Miss No. 16 Nebraska Memorial StadiumLincoln, Nebraska ABC L UN 49-20   85,425
September 1 2:30 pm Tulsa Iowa State Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA FSN L ISU 38-23   54,931
September 1 6:00 pm Tennessee–Martin Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN L UTM 20-17   39,076
September 1 7:00 pm Texas State Houston Robertson StadiumHouston, TX CSS L TSU 30-13   32,207 [3]
September 1 7:00 pm Rutgers Tulane Mercedes-Benz SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA CBSSN L RU 24-12   26,059
September 1 8:30 pm No. 4 Oklahoma UTEP Sun Bowl StadiumEl Paso, TX FSN L OU 24-7   40,137
September 2 5:30 pm SMU Baylor Floyd Casey StadiumWaco, TX FSN L UB 59-24   43,514
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Two

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
September 8 12:21 pm Louisiana Tech Houston Robertson Stadium • Houston, TX CBSSN L LT 56-49   29,142 [4]
September 8 7:00 pm East Carolina South Carolina Williams–Brice StadiumColumbia, SC SECN L SCAR 48-10   77,006 [5]
September 8 7:00 pm Marshall Western Carolina Joan C. Edwards StadiumHuntington, WV FCS W MU 52-24   25,317
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Three

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
September 15 3:30 pm East Carolina Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, MS CBSSN  ECU 24-14   34,140 [6]
September 15 3:30 pm Houston UCLA Rose BowlPasadena, CA Pac-12 Network L UCLA 6-37   53,723
September 15 6:30 pm Ohio Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV L Ohio 27-24   33,436
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Four

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
September 22 3:30 pm East Carolina North Carolina Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC ESPNU L NC 27-6   59,500 [7]
September 22 3:30 pm Marshall Rice Rice Stadium • Houston, TX] CSS  MU 54-21   14,204
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Five

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
September 29 3:15 pm Marshall Purdue Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, LA BTN L PU 51-41   45,481
September 29 7:00 pm UTEP East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC WITN  ECU 28-18   47,817 [8]
September 29 7:00 pm Houston Rice Reliant Stadium • Houston, TX (rivalry) FSN  UH 35-14   32,718
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Six

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
October 4 8:00 pm East Carolina UCF Bright House Networks StadiumOrlando, FL CBSSN  UCF 40-20   32,181 [9]
October 6 3:30 pm Tulsa Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV CBSSN  TU 45-38   27,189
October 6 6:00 pm North Texas Houston Robertson Stadium • Houston, TX FSN  UH 44-21   25,476 [10]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Seven

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
October 13 11:00 AM UAB Houston Robertson Stadium • Houston, TX CSNH  UH 39-17   25,242 [11]
October 13 4:30 pm Memphis East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC WITN  ECU 41-7   45,137 [12]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Eight

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
October 18 7:00 pm Houston SMU Gerald J. Ford StadiumUniversity Park, TX (rivalry) FSN  SMU 72-42   16,459 [13]
October 20 7:00 pm East Carolina UAB Legion FieldBirmingham, AL FCS  ECU 42-35   12,403 [14]
October 20 7:00 pm Marshall Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, MS CBSSN  MU 59-24   24,093
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Nine

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
October 27 11:00 AM UTEP Houston Robertson Stadium • Houston, TX CSS/CSNH  UH 45-35   27,433 [15]
October 27 3:30 pm Navy East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC FSN  Navy 56-28   48,327 [16]
October 27 3:30 pm UCF Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV CBSSN  UCF 54-17   22,563
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Ten

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
November 3 12:00 pm Houston East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC FSN  ECU 48-28   45,455 [17]
November 3 2:00 pm Memphis Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV  MU 38-28   22,041
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Eleven

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
November 10 4:00 pm Tulsa Houston Robertson Stadium • Houston, TX CBSSN  UT 41-7   25,827 [18]
November 10 4:30 Marshall UAB Legion Field] • Birmingham, AL CSS/CSNH  UAB 38-31   11,981
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Twelve

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
November 17 3:30 pm East Carolina Tulane Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA WITN  ECU 28-23   14,041 [19]
November 17 11:00 pm Houston Mashall Joan C. Edwards StadiumHuntington, WV CSS/CSNH  MU 44-41   18,831 [20]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Thirteen

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Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
November 23 2:00 pm Marshall East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC CBSSN  ECU 65-59   46,317 [21]
November 24 2:30 pm Tulane Houston Robertson Stadium • Houston, TX FSN  UH 40-17   - [22]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Players of the week

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Week Offensive Defensive Special teams
Player Team Player Team Player Team
1 – Sep. 3 Nathan Jeffery, RB UTEP Jeremy Grove, LB East Carolina Cameron Nwosu, LB Rice
2 – Sep. 10 David Piland, QB Houston Kenneth Acker,DB SMU Chris Boswell, K Rice
3 – Sep. 17 Nick Lamaison, QB UTEP Montese Overton, LB East Carolina Trent Tignor, P East Carolina
4 – Sep. 24 Taylor McHargue, QB Rice Dexter McCoil, DB Tulsa Tyler Williams, P Marshall
5 – Oct. 1 Tommy Shuler, WR Marshall Chip Thompson,S East Carolina Autrey Golden, KR UTEP
6 – Oct. 8 Charles Sims, RB Houston Randall Joyner, LB SMU Quincy McDuffie, KR UCF
7 – Oct. 15 Shane Carden, QB East Carolina DeAundre Brown, LB Tulsa Matt Hogan, K Houston
8 – Oct. 22 Latavius Murray, RB UCF A. J. Bouye, DB UCF Kevin Pope, LB, SMU
9 – Oct. 29 Ryan Griffin, QB Tulane D. J. Hayden, DB Houston Quincy McDuffie, KR UCF
10 – Nov. 5 Shane Carden, QB

Rakeem Cato, QB

East Carolina

Marshall

Troy Davis, LB UCF Cairo Santos, K Tulane
11 – Nov. 12 Darrin Reaves, RB UAB Cory Dorris, DE Tulsa Jackie Williams, PR UAB
12 – Nov. 19 Keyarris Garrett, WR Tulsa DeAundre Brown, LB Tulsa Chris Boswell, K Rice

Rankings

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Legend
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
Ranking Movement
  Pre Wk
1
Wk
2
Wk
3
Wk
4
Wk
5
Wk
6
Wk
7
Wk
8
Wk
9
Wk
10
Wk
11
Wk
12
Wk
13
Wk
14
Final
East Carolina
Pirates
AP
C
HAR Not released
BCS Not released
Houston
Cougars
AP RV
C RV
HAR Not released
BCS Not released
Marshall
Thundering Herd
AP
C
HAR Not released
BCS Not released
Memphis
Tigers
AP
C
HAR Not released
BCS Not released
Rice
Owls
AP
C
HAR Not released
BCS Not released
Southern Miss
Golden Eagles
AP
C RV
HAR Not released
BCS Not released
SMU
Mustangs
AP
C
HAR Not released
BCS Not released
Tulane
Green Wave
AP
C
HAR Not released
BCS Not released
Tulsa
Golden Hurricane
AP RV
C RV
HAR Not released
BCS Not released
UAB
Blazers
AP
C
HAR Not released
BCS Not released
UCF
Knights
AP RV RV RV RV
C RV RV RV RV
HAR Not released RV
BCS Not released
UTEP
Miners
AP
C
HAR Not released
BCS Not released

Records against other conferences

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Conference Wins Losses
ACC 0 2
Big 12 1 5
Big East 0 2
Big Ten 0 5
Independents 0 1
MAC 1 1
Mountain West 1 1
Pac-12 0 2
SEC 0 7
Sun Belt 2 6
WAC 2 3
All FCS 5 1
Overall 12 36

Bowl games

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(C-USA teams in bold)

Bowl Game Date Stadium City Television Time (EST) Away Team Home Team Score Attendance Payout (US$)
St. Petersburg Bowl December 21, 2012 Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL ESPN 7:30 P.M. Ball State UCF W 17–38
New Orleans Bowl December 22, 2012 Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA ESPN 12:00 P.M. East Carolina Louisiana–Lafayette L 34–43
Hawai'i Bowl December 24, 2012 Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI ESPN 8:00 P.M. SMU Fresno State W 43–10
Armed Forces Bowl December 29, 2012 Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX ESPN 11:45 A.M. Rice Air Force W 33–14
Liberty Bowl December 31, 2012 Liberty Bowl Memphis, TN ESPN 3:30 P.M. Iowa State Tulsa W 17–31

[23]

Attendance

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Team Stadium Capacity Gm 1 Gm 2 Gm 3 Gm 4 Gm 5 Gm 6 Gm 7 Total Average % of Capacity
East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium 50,000 49,023 47,817 45,137 48,327 45,455 46,317 282,076 47,013 94.03%
Houston Robertson Stadium 32,000 32,207 29,142 25,476 25,242 27,433 25,827 25,402 190,729 27,247 85.1%
Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium 38,016 25,317 33,436 27,189 22,563 22,041 18,831 149,377 24,896 65.5%
Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium 61,000 39,076 27,112 17,831 22,106 18,796 21,305 146,226 24,371 39.9%
Rice Rice Stadium 47,000 23,105 14,204 28,677 14,927 20,710 101,623 20,325 43.2%
Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium 36,000 34,140 23,492 25,337 24,093 22,874 23,757 153,693 25,987 71.2%
SMU Gerald J. Ford Stadium 32,000 20,122 32,016 28,436 16,459 20,330 16,343 15,336 149,042 21,292 66.5%
Tulane Mercedes-Benz Superdome 76,468 26,059 28,913 18,063 12,531 15,467 11,519 14,041 126,593 18,085 23.7%
Tulsa H. A. Chapman Stadium 30,000 17,880 19,139 24,236 18,961 22,567 19,725 122,508 20,418 68.1%
UAB Legion Field 71,594 28,612 13,196 16,212 12,403 11,981 9,219 91,623 15,271 21.3%
UCF Bright House Networks Stadium 45,323 40,478 35,835 32,181 34,514 36,036 28,602 207,646 34,608 76.4%
UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium 51,500 40,137 32,933 34,073 23,234 25,483 20,384 176,244 29,374 57.04%

Bowl eligibility

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Bowl eligible (5)

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  • Tulsa (9–3) became bowl eligible on October 11 after defeating UTEP.
  • UCF (9–3) became bowl eligible on October 27 after defeating Marshall.
  • East Carolina (8–4) became bowl eligible on November 3 after defeating Houston.
  • SMU (6–6) became bowl eligible on November 24 after defeating Tulsa.
  • Rice (6–6) became bowl eligible on November 24 after defeating UTEP.

Bowl ineligible (7)

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  • Southern Miss (0–12) lost the ability to become bowl eligible on October 20 after losing to Marshall.
  • Memphis (4–8) lost the ability to become bowl eligible on October 27 after losing to SMU.
  • UAB (3–9) lost the ability to become bowl eligible on October 27 after losing to Tulane.
  • UTEP (3–9) lost the ability to become bowl eligible on October 27 after losing to Houston.
  • Tulane (2–10) lost the ability to become bowl eligible on November 3 after losing to Rice.
  • Houston (5–7) lost the ability to become bowl eligible on November 17 after losing to Marshall.
  • Marshall (5–7) lost the ability to become bowl eligible on November 23 after losing to East Carolina.

References

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  1. ^ "O'Leary: UCF eligible for postseason competition". Associated Press. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  2. ^ "Football vs Appalachian State".
  3. ^ "Texas State vs Houston".
  4. ^ "Louisiana Tech vs Houston".
  5. ^ "Football vs South Carolina".
  6. ^ "Football vs Southern Miss".
  7. ^ "Football vs North Carolina".
  8. ^ "football vs UTEP".
  9. ^ "East Carolina vs UCF". ESPN.
  10. ^ "North Texas vs Houston".
  11. ^ "UAB vs Houston".
  12. ^ "Football vs Memphis".
  13. ^ "Houston vs SMU".
  14. ^ "Football vs UAB".
  15. ^ "UTEP vs Houston".
  16. ^ "Football vs Navy".
  17. ^ "Football vs Houston".
  18. ^ "Tulsa vs Houston".
  19. ^ "Football vs Tulane".
  20. ^ "Houston vs Marshall".
  21. ^ "Football vs Marshall".
  22. ^ "Tulane vs Houston".
  23. ^ "2012–13 FBS Bowl Schedule". Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.