Conference USA Team Season Grades: West
Louisiana Tech 2020 Season Grade: B-
2020 Record: 5-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 89
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 103
2019 Final Grade: A-
It was a 5-5 season with a bowl appearance, and the Bulldogs beat eventual Conference USA champion UAB, but it was a disappointing year coming off a strong 2019. The offense didn’t do enough, the defense had issues, and … 5-5. This year, that’s fine.
North Texas 2020 Season Grade: C-
2020 Record: 4-6
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 108
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 118
2019 Final Grade: D
The Mean Green couldn’t play a lick of defense, and it proved costly in a rough finish and embarrassing bowl loss to Appalachian State. There weren’t any impressive wins, there were awful losses to Southern Miss and Charlotte, and there were way too many blowouts.
Rice 2020 Season Grade: B-
2020 Record: 2-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 116
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 106
2019 Final Grade: C-
The Owls had no luck whatsoever trying to find any consistent games, but they managed to battle in losses to UAB and Middle Tennessee, and they won twice including one of the shockers of 2020 with a 20-0 win over an unbeaten Marshall.
Southern Miss 2020 Season Grade: C-
2020 Record: 3-7
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 98
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 117
2019 Final Grade: B-
It started with an 0-3 start, there was an early coaching firing, there were more losses, and it all finished up with a stunning 45-31 win over Florida Atlantic. Give credit to the team to keep fighting through the adversity.
UAB 2020 Season Grade: B+
2020 Record: 6-3
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 82
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 62
2019 Final Grade: A-
There weren’t a whole lot of great wins, but they got the one win that mattered. The Blazers weren’t that fantastic, and they got hosed out of playing in a bowl game – the bowl was canceled – but they won the Conference USA Championship with a great win over Marshall.
UTEP 2020 Season Grade: C
2020 Record: 3-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 127
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 121
2019 Final Grade: D
Look, it’s UTEP. Any win is a good win for a starting program that hasn’t been able to be on the right side of anything over the last several years. However, two of the three wins came against FCS teams and the other was over a ULM squad that went winless. However, the Miners were far, far more competitive than they’ve been in a while.
UTSA 2020 Season Grade: B+
2020 Record: 7-5
CFN 2020 Preseason Ranking: 119
CFN 2020 Final Rankings: 102
2019 Final Grade: C-
There was a loss to a mediocre Florida Atlantic team, but that was on the road. That was the only one of the five defeats against a team that wasn’t strong. Winning seven games and going to a bowl game is special for a program that’s just getting used to having a little success.
2020 Team Season Grades
ACC | American | Big Ten East | West
Big 12 | C-USA East | West
Independents | MAC East | West
Mountain West | Pac-12 North | South
SEC East | West | Sun Belt East | West