Ranking Conference USA Bowl Performances In 2023

College football’s postseason has come and gone and NFL Draft excitement is already building. For Conference USA, it was a historic bowl season marked by the league’s first appearance in a New Year’s Six game.

With four teams in the postseason, here is G5 Football Daily’s ranking of each CUSA bowl team’s performance.

RELATED: Ranking Sun Belt Football Bowl Performances In 2023

4 - New Mexico State

Despite being at full strength and close to home in the New Mexico Bowl, the Aggies had no answers for a Fresno State club that struggled with consistency all season. However, it takes little away from how far NMSU has come as a program in just two years.

3 - Liberty

The Flames had the toughest task in the league facing #8 Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. The league champs took their only loss of the season, finding difficulty in contending with a Heisman finalist on the Ducks’ offense as well as one of the best run defenses in the nation. 

2 - Jacksonville State

The Gamecocks played well in their first ever FBS bowl, overcoming some huge early offensive mistakes to grab an OT win over Louisiana in the New Orleans Bowl. Zion Webb led a game-tying drive in his final college appearance. Then, freshman kicker Garrison Rippa nailed the 27-yarder to pick up the win.

1 - Western Kentucky

The Tops made one of the largest comebacks in bowl season history behind backup QB Caden Veltkamp. It was arguably the best team performance of Bowl season, outside of the College Football Playoff. 2023 definitely was not the year that WKU was hoping it would be, but ending on a high note has to help momentum heading into 2024.