2017 UTSA Roadrunners football team

The Marshall Thundering Herd football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Marshall University. The team represents the university as a member of the Sun Belt Conference East Division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, playing at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level.

FIU Panthers football program represents Florida International University (FIU) in the sport of American football. The Panthers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Division of Conference USA (CUSA). The Panthers' head coach is Mike MacIntyre. FIU has produced a Sun Belt Conference co-championship team in 2010, along with 3 postseason bowl appearances. The Panthers play their home games at Riccardo Silva Stadium which has a seating capacity of 20,000.

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team represent Louisiana Tech University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. After 12 seasons in the Western Athletic Conference, Louisiana Tech began competing as a member of Conference USA in 2013. Since 1968, the Bulldogs have played their home games at Joe Aillet Stadium. Since its first season in 1901, Louisiana Tech has compiled an all-time record of 641 wins, 487 losses, and 38 ties. In 122 football seasons, the Bulldogs have won 3 Division II national championships, won 25 conference championships, and played in 28 postseason games, including 13 major college bowl games. The Bulldogs are currently coached by Sonny Cumbie.

The North Texas Mean Green football program is the intercollegiate team that represents the University of North Texas in the sport of American football. The Mean Green compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the American Athletic Conference. They are coached by Eric Morris, who was hired as the new head coach of the Mean Green on December 13, 2022. North Texas has produced 24 conference championship titles, with twelve postseason bowl appearances and four appearances in the former I-AA Playoffs. The Mean Green play their home games at the Apogee Stadium which has a seating capacity of 30,850.

The Baylor Bears football team represents Baylor University in Division I FBS college football. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. After 64 seasons at the off-campus Baylor Stadium, renamed Floyd Casey Stadium in 1989, the Bears opened the new on-campus McLane Stadium for the 2014 season.

The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition. Its 10 members, in the states of Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia, include two private Christian universities and eight public universities. Additionally, the Big 12 has 12 affiliate members — eight for the sport of wrestling, one for women's equestrianism, one for women's gymnastics and two for women's rowing. The Big 12 Conference is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Brett Yormark became the new commissioner on August 1, 2022.

The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH". The UH football program is a member of the Big 12 Conference. Since the 2014 season, the Cougars have played their home games on campus at TDECU Stadium, which was built on the site formerly occupied by Robertson Stadium, where they played home games from 1941 to 1950 and from 1997 to 2012. Over the history of the program, the Cougars have won eleven conference championships and have had several players elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, including a Heisman Trophy winner.

The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as the American, is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, with its football teams competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Member universities represent a range of private and public universities of various enrollment sizes located primarily in urban metropolitan areas in the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States.

Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cyclone on record, inflicting $125 billion in damage, primarily from catastrophic rainfall-triggered flooding in the Houston metropolitan area and Southeast Texas; this made the storm the costliest natural disaster recorded in Texas at the time. It was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005, ending a record 12-year span in which no hurricanes made landfall at the intensity of a major hurricane throughout the country. In a four-day period, many areas received more than 40 inches (1,000 mm) of rain as the system slowly meandered over eastern Texas and adjacent waters, causing unprecedented flooding. With peak accumulations of 60.58 in (1,539 mm), in Nederland, Texas, Harvey was the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the United States. The resulting floods inundated hundreds of thousands of homes, which displaced more than 30,000 people and prompted more than 17,000 rescues.

The Power Five conferences are the five most prominent and highest-earning athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, the highest level of collegiate football in the nation, and are considered the most "elite" conferences within that tier. The Power Five conferences have provided nearly all of the participants in the College Football Playoff since its inception, are guaranteed at least one bid to a New Year's Six bowl game, and have been granted autonomy from certain NCAA rules. The Power Five conferences are the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and Southeastern Conference (SEC).

The 2017 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cougars played their home games at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas, and competed in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by first-year head coach Major Applewhite. They finished the season 7–5, 5–3 in AAC play to finish in second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Hawaii Bowl where they lost to Fresno State.

The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 million.

The 2017 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bears played their home games at the McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas and competed in the Big 12 Conference. They were led by first-year head coach Matt Rhule. They finished the season 1–11 to finish in ninth place in the Big 12.

The 2017 Texas State Bobcats football team represented Texas State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bobcats played their home games at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas, and competed in the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Everett Withers. They finished the season 2–10, 1–7 in Sun Belt play to finish in last place.

The I-35 Rivalry is a college rivalry between the Texas State University Bobcats (TXST) and the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners (UTSA). It is named for the Interstate Highway that connects San Marcos, Texas, and San Antonio, Texas, the respective sites of both universities.

The 2017 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team represented the University of Southern Mississippi in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Eagles played their home games at the M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by second-year head coach Jay Hopson. They finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Independence Bowl where they lost to Florida State.

The 2017 North Texas Mean Green football team represented University of North Texas in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mean Green played their home games at the Apogee Stadium in Denton, Texas, as members of the West Division of Conference USA (C-USA). They were led by second-year head coach Seth Littrell. The Mean Green finished the season 9–5, 7–1 in C-USA play to win the West Division. They lost the C-USA Championship Game to Florida Atlantic. They received an invite to the New Orleans Bowl where they lost to Troy.

The 2017 UTEP Miners football team represented University of Texas at El Paso in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Miners played their home games at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by fifth-year head coach Sean Kugler until his resignation on October 2 and then by interim head coach Mike Price, who had previously served at UTEP's head coach from 2004 to 2012. The Miners finished the season with a record 0–12, 0–8 in conference play to finish in last place in the Conference USA and winless for the first time since the 1973 season. UTEP averaged 19,548 fans per game.

The 2017 FIU Panthers football team represented Florida International University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Panthers played their home games at the Riccardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Florida as members of the East Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by first-year head coach Butch Davis. The Panthers finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in C-USA play to finish in second place in the East Division. They received an invitation to the Gasparilla Bowl where they lost to Temple.

The 2017 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented Marshall University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Thundering Herd played their home games at the Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia, and competed in the East Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by eighth-year head coach Doc Holliday. They finished the season 8–5, 4–4 in C-USA play to finish in a three-way tie for third place in the East Division. They were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they defeated Colorado State.

The 2017 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team represented Louisiana Tech University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs played their home games at the Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, Louisiana and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by fifth-year head coach Skip Holtz. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in C-USA play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. They were invited to the Frisco Bowl where they defeated SMU.