2014 Conference USA football season

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Conference USA football added two new members in 2014 (Old Dominion (transitioning from FCS) and Western Kentucky (from the Sun Belt Conference)) and lost three from the previous season (East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa) to the American Athletic Conference.^[1][2]

In preseason polls, Marshall was favored to win the East Division and the 2014 conference title followed by North Texas to win the West Division.^[3] Marshall was also the only team in the conference to have received votes from the AP and Coaches' Poll Preseason Rankings before the season.^[4]

In the first East Division game of the season, Middle Tennessee defeated Western Kentucky 50–47 in triple overtime, bringing the Blue Raiders to the top of the division and the Hilltoppers to the bottom. A week later after the Blue Raiders defeated the Hilltoppers, newcomers Old Dominion defeated the last year conference champions Rice, putting the Monarchs to first in the east division surpassing Middle Tennessee. In the following week, Old Dominion received its first conference loss against Middle Tennessee, bringing the undefeated Blue Raiders back on top on the East Division standings. After winning 3 conference games, Middle Tennessee then lost for the first time in conference play to the undefeated Marshall Thundering Herd, the projected winner of the conference. Marshall would go on to become East Division champions after defeating the defending conference champions, Rice, and after FIU defeated Middle Tennessee to put the Thundering Herd into the conference championship for the second time in back to back seasons.

In the first conference game of the season, the projected division winner, North Texas lost 21–42 to Louisiana Tech, bringing the Bulldogs to the top of the division and the Mean Green to the bottom. Louisiana Tech would go on to win the West Division 7–1, with wins over North Texas, Southern Miss, UTEP, UTSA, Southern Miss, Western Kentucky, UAB, and Rice and with a loss to Old Dominion.

At the conclusion of the 2014 regular season the tenth C-USA championship game was played at Marshall on December 6, 2014 where the East Division Champs, Marshall, defeated the West Division Champs, Louisiana Tech, 26-23 to claim the conference championship.

On December 2, 2014, UAB announced that the school will be cutting their football program after the 2014 season.^[5] Following public outcry and a fundraising push, UAB reinstated their football program, with the program being relaunched for the 2017 season.^[6]

• Louisiana Tech
• Marshall
• Middle Tennessee
• Rice
• UAB
• UTEP
• Western Kentucky

• Florida Atlantic
• Florida International
• North Texas
• Old Dominion
• Southern Miss
• UTSA

^[7]

Conference USA bowl games for the 2014 season are:

Bowl Game	Date	Site	Television	Time (EST)	C-USA Team	Opponent	Score	Attendance
New Mexico Bowl	December 20	University Stadium • Albuquerque, New Mexico	ESPN	2:20 p.m.	UTEP	Utah State	L 6–21	28,725
Boca Raton Bowl	December 23	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, Florida	ESPN	6:00 p.m.	Marshall	Northern Illinois	W 52–23	29,419
Bahamas Bowl	December 24	Thomas Robinson Stadium • Nassau, Bahamas	ESPN	12:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Central Michigan	W 49–48	13,667
Hawaii Bowl	December 24	Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, HI	ESPN	8:00 p.m.	Rice	Fresno State	W 30–6	25,365
Heart of Dallas Bowl	December 26	Cotton Bowl • Dallas	ESPN	1:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech	Illinois	W 35–18	31,297

All times Eastern Time Zone.

2014 Conference Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards^[8][9]

Award	Player	School
Most Valuable Player	Brandon Doughty	WKU
Offensive Player of the Year	Rakeem Cato	Marshall
Defensive Player of the Year	Neville Hewitt	Marshall
Special Teams Player of the Year	J.J. Nelson	UAB
Freshman of the Year	Ray Lawry	Old Dominion
Newcomer of the Year	Cody Sokol	Louisiana Tech
Coach of the Year	Doc Holliday	Marshall

Summarize Fact Check

Coaches All-Conference Selections^[10]