Tulsa wins West, will host ECU

Tarrion Adams ran for 123 yards and three touchdowns to lead Tulsa past host Marshall 38-35 to clinch Conference USA's West Division title on Saturday.

Tulsa (10-2, 7-1 C-USA) will host East Division winner East Carolina (8-4) next Saturday at noon EST. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Adams scored from 1, 1 and 6 yards out, and Tulsa finished with 516 total yards to Marshall's 437.

Tulsa came into the game needing help to reach its second consecutive conference championship game.

The Golden Hurricane benefited from Rice knocking off Houston 56-42 and then defeated Marshall to earn the right to host East Carolina next week.

Tulsa's David Johnson was 21-of-33 for 313 yards and two touchdown passes.

ALSO SATURDAY

RICE 56, HOUSTON 42: Chase Clement threw for 381 yards and five touchdowns for Rice (9-3, 7-1 C-USA) in a win over Houston (7-5, 6-2) to deny the Cougars a chance at the Conference USA championship.

Needing a win to clinch the West in Conference USA, Houston instead quickly fell behind and lost to the Owls for the first time in the series since 2004.

MEMPHIS 45, TULANE 6: Steven Black ran for three touchdowns and host Memphis (6-6, 4-4 C-USA) capped a wild season with a rout of Tulane (2-10, 1-7).

The Tigers' win made them eligible for a fifth bowl trip in six seasons. Tulane finished with eight straight losses.

Memphis started 0-3 this year, and then had to win while weathering midseason injuries to three of its top four quarterbacks to clinch postseason play.

SOUTHERN MISS 28, SMU 12: Austin Davis threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns and Southern Miss (6-6, 4-4 C-USA) won its fourth straight game to earn bowl eligibility with a win over host SMU (1-11, 0-8).

For Mustangs coach June Jones, the loss capped a forgettable debut at SMU.

SMU finished 1-11, same as last season when they fired Phil Bennett and lured Jones from Hawaii with a salary worth about $2 million a year.

UAB 15, UCF 0: Swayze Waters kicked five field goals and Alabama-Birmingham (4-8, 3-5 C-USA) recorded its first shutout in a Conference USA game with a victory over Central Florida (4-8, 3-5).

The Blazers limited UCF to 209 total yards offense in recording their first shutout in a conference game in 10 seasons in Conference USA.