2026 Conference USA betting preview, prediction: Bet on Middle Tennessee State
On paper, Conference USA looked like a walk in the park in 2025.Liberty was a consensus favorite, Western Kentucky was not far behind and then there was everybody else.All the way down the odds was Kennesaw State, which had just racked up 10 losses and was considered one of the worst teams in the country coming into the campaign.Four months later, the Owls defeated Jacksonville State, 19-15, in the C-USA Championship.
Despite the shocker, the odds board looks eerily familiar going into 2026.Liberty is atop the board at +250 odds.Western Kentucky is right behind the Flames at +370 and then there is a pack of teams nipping at their heels.Jacksonville State, Delaware, Kennesaw State and FIU are all between +540 and +780 at DraftKings, and will all be confident that they can take down the lukewarm favorites.Of that bunch, Western Kentucky is the only price that looks appealing, but the Hilltoppers (who haven’t won the CUSA since 2016, believe it or not) are not my favorite value in this conference.Instead, we head to Murfreesboro.I’ll let you in on a little secret: You don’t have to be all that good to win C-USA.
This is the worst conference in FBS by a considerable margin, and that means it’s not all that crazy to expect the unexpected.Kennesaw State drove that point home in 2025.Derek Mason’s tenure at Middle Tennessee State has not gone to plan.
The former Vanderbilt head coach went 6-17 in his first two seasons in charge of the Blue Raiders, and last year opened with a 34-14 loss to Austin Peay.Mason’s seat is hot.It was ugly in Murfreesboro, but shreds of hope were emerging.
Four of MTSU’s nine losses were by one possession, and the Blue Raiders won their last two games.Catch up on The Post’s college football betting predictions and previews for the 2026 seasonMore importantly, Mason could have uncovered a gem under center in Roman Gagliano.Gagliano took over as the starter for MTSU’s last three games and injected some serious life into the of...