Our last wrapup stop in the east before swinging west, and Conference USA is the least-decided league so far. Four teams are still alive in the title chase, although the SMU Mustangs chances are greatly diminished compared to the other three. Houston only needs to beat Rice, while the winner of ECU vs. Southern Miss will settle the eastern division. Championship scenarios down below.
Conference USA Standings
| East | ||
| Conf | Overall | |
| East Carolina | 6-1 | 7-4 |
| Southern Miss | 5-2 | 7-4 |
| UCF | 5-2 | 7-4 |
| Marshall | 4-3 | 6-5 |
| UAB | 4-3 | 5-6 |
| Memphis | 1-6 | 2-9 |
| West | ||
| Conf | Overall | |
| Houston | 5-2 | 9-2 |
| Southern Methodist | 5-2 | 6-5 |
| Tulsa | 2-5 | 4-7 |
| UTEP | 2-5 | 3-8 |
| Rice | 2-5 | 2-9 |
| Tulane | 1-6 | 3-8 |
This Week
Houston 55, Memphis 14- Houston bounces back from their loss to UCF with a beatdown, and is rewarded for it later in the day.
UCF 49, Tulane 0- UCF avoids any sort of trap by stomping the Green Wave, but despite their 5 game league win streak, their early season losses to USM and ECU have haunted them all along and UCF is out of the division title race.
East Carolina 37, UAB 21- When ECU picked up their 6th league win, all they needed was for Tulsa to upset Southern Miss later in the day to clinch the division.
Rice 30, UTEP 29- Rice has a longer win streak than Houston right now.
Marshall 34, Southern Methodist 31- I saw a stat this weekend that Marshall is something like 10-2 against CUSA West at home, and it held up this week, severely damaging SMU’s chances of winning the division. Houston has the head-to-head tiebreaker with SMU, so if both teams win or lose their final games, Houston will win the West.
Southern Miss 44, Tulsa 34- This one was back and forth through the first half, but Southern Miss took control in the third quarter and put the game away with their season on the line. Tulsa is now 4-7 and out of the bowl mix, as are the other three teams in the West.
Week 12 Power Rankings
- East Carolina
- Southern Miss
- UCF
- Houston
- Marshall
- SMU
- UAB
- Rice
- Tulsa
- Tulane
- Memphis
- UTEP
Conference Championship Outlook
CUSA plays their conference championship at the site of the team with the best league record, but if Southern Miss beats ECU, then both division winners will be 6-2. After that, it comes down to head-to-head, which not every team in the mix has, so its on to BCS standing. Here’s how it might all play out:
- ECU beats USM, Houston wins (or UH & SMU both lose): Houston at ECU on league record.
- ECU beats USM, Houston loses and SMU wins: SMU at ECU on league record.
- USM beats ECU, Houston wins: USM at Houston on head-to-head.
- USM beats ECU, Houston loses and SMU wins: SMU at Southern Miss based on, as of right now, USM having a better BCS computer average, since neither team is likely to be receiving any votes at the time. But since neither will be in the official BCS poll, I’m not 100% sure that’s how it’ll break down.
- USM beats ECU, UH & SMU both lose: Houston at USM on league record.