Ahead of the 2024 season, Conference USA (CUSA) revised its tiebreaking procedures with the arrival of Kennesaw State and with the impending arrival of both Delaware and Missouri State the following season. The new CUSA tiebreakers aligned reasonably closely with the procedures for The American and Mountain West conferences.
The Conference USA standings are first determined based on record against opponents within the conference. No games against non-conference opponents are considered when initially setting the standings for who plays in the CUSA Championship Game. In the event of a tie when it comes to conference winning percentage, the CUSA tiebreakers are used.
To find out how PFSN’s analytics see the current CUSA season playing out, visit our College FPM table to see every team’s percentage chance of making the Conference USA Conference Championship Game. If you want to test out different scenarios of your own, then be sure to check out the PFSN College Football Playoff Predictor.
Conference USA Two-Team Tiebreakers
If two teams are tied for first place in the standings, they will both participate in the Championship Game. However, the tiebreaking procedure outlined below will be used to determine which team is considered the home team and which is considered the road team. In the event of a tie for second place in the standings, the following process will be used to determine who will advance to the CUSA Championship Game.
1) The winner of any head-to-head matchup between the two teams (if applicable).
2) The highest-ranked team in the College Football Playoff Selection Committee rankings entering the final week of the regular season that does not lose its final regular-season game.
3) If either all ranked teams lose or no teams are ranked, then teams will be ranked based on the average ranking across Connelly SP+, SportSource, ESPN’s SOR, and KPI Rankings.
4) If still tied, then teams are ranked based on their composite score from SportSource and KPI Rankings.
5) The team with the highest multi-year football Academic Progress Rate (APR) in the most recent publication. If still tied, the most recent year’s APR is used, and then the process is worked backward through the years to find a winner.
6) A draw.
CUSA Three (or More) Team Tiebreakers
If, after any step in the following procedure, one or two teams are either superior or inferior to the others, they are removed from the tiebreaking procedure, and the remaining teams either go to the two-team tiebreaker or return to the start of the three-team tiebreaking procedure.
1) If all teams played each other, then the records for those teams in those games would be compared.
2) If all the teams did not play each other, but one team either defeated or was defeated by ALL the other teams, they shall be removed from the tiebreaking procedure.
3) The highest-ranked team in the College Football Playoff Selection Committee rankings entering the final week of the regular season that does not lose its final regular-season game.
4) If either all ranked teams lose or no teams are ranked, then teams will be ranked based on the average ranking across Connelly SP+, SportSource, ESPN’s SOR, and KPI Rankings.
5) If still tied, then teams are ranked based on their composite score from SportSource and KPI Rankings.
6) The team with the highest multi-year football Academic Progress Rate (APR) in the most recent publication. If still tied, the most recent year’s APR is used, and then the process is worked backward through the years to find a winner.
7) A draw.
If multiple teams are tied for top spot in the CUSA standings, and two teams emerge as superior after any step, those two teams shall contest the CUSA Championship Game. A two-team tiebreaker will be applied to determine the home and road designation.
