Tulsa won the conference championship for the second time, defeating former members Central Florida Knights 33–27.

[2] In preseason polls, Tulsa was projected to be top of the 2013 season followed by East Carolina.

Tulane became up-top with a conference record of 4–0 after close wins against North Texas, East Carolina, and Tulsa.

Rice defeated Tulane 17–13 and crowned winners of the West Division for the first time and their first appearance in the championship game as well.

(C-USA teams in italic and winning teams in bold) Houston, Memphis, SMU and UCF left Conference USA, and joined the American Athletic Conference, the football-sponsoring offshoot of the original Big East, on July 1, 2013.

Florida Atlantic, FIU, Middle Tennessee, and North Texas joined C-USA from the Sun Belt.