That never came to fruition as the Thundering Herd had to cancel the game due to a lack of players at key positions due to injury and COVID-19 complications. Due to Conference USA’s rules concerning teams with one loss being tied, Marshall was deemed as the East Division champion, which left many around the league questioning the methodology.
Florida Atlantic, whose lone league loss was to Marshall, could have won on Thursday night and achieved a better in-league record than the Herd, finishing at 5-1 in league play, compared to the Herd’s 4-1 mark. The hypothetical scenarios and those who were upset about Conference USA’s ruling went silent on Thursday evening when Florida Atlantic was upset by Southern Miss in a 45-31 loss in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
The upset by the Golden Eagles gave Marshall the outright win in Conference USA’s East Division. The upset by the Golden Eagles gave Marshall the outright win in Conference USA’s East Division. It was also the final oddity in an East Division year full of them.
