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The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games.
BYU has faced Oklahoma, Florida State, and four non-BCS teams…and none of it matters. Well, it does, but the second half of the season is going to be crucial for the Cougars. If they go 6-0, they may still have a shot at making a BCS game. The league title is still up for grabs as well. But this is about the first six games, not the last six.
- Wins: A-. The Oklahoma upset was amazing, but what on earth happened with that FSU game? The Seminoles have shown to have little to no defense, but something just went wrong that day. Beating MWC competition in Colorado State at UNLV is a good sign for the rest of the year, and an in-state win over Utah State is never a bad thing. Read Post
The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games.
The New Mexico State Aggies are out to a pretty good start, all things considered. They’ve matched their 2008 totals for wins, both overall and in the conference, and really haven’t lost any games that they should have won. The road is going to be tougher in the second half, but for now, they should be fairly pleased to be where they are.
- Wins: C-. 3-3 isn’t bad, but they won those three games by three points each, two of which were over the worst team in each of the western conferences. Their losses were each sound beatings. Read Post
The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games.
The Golden Eagles are in year two of Larry Fedora’s rebuilding program, and are still in search of the dominance they enjoyed in Conference USA before the 2005 realignment. They’re a young team this year, but had high hopes nonetheless, and build a lot of excitement just getting out to a 3-0 start. But much like Colorado State, their schedule beefed up and they couldn’t keep winning.
Sadly, reports are in now that their walk-on punter who passed away this weekend died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. I won’t try to put this into any kind of football sense, but my condolences go out to the inevitably large circle of people affected by this news.
- Wins: C. 3-3, things started well with wins over division rival UCF and Virginia, but after a close loss to Kansas, two more defeats to a UAB team they’ve never lost to before, followed by a blown lead at Louisville, have been disappointing. Read Post
The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games.
Colorado State stormed to a 3-0 start, dispatching Colorado and Nevada along the way. They looked like one of the best non-BCS teams in the country, and might have even challenged for a top 3 slot in the Mountain West. Since then, they’ve fallen away badly, dropping 3 in a row against BYU, Idaho, and Utah. These losses are understandable, as all 3 are excellent teams. Together, they have a combined record of 14-3. Nonetheless, the Rams had hoped to be among those schools at the top, but it appears they are still about one level below.
- Wins: B-. If not for the schedule, it’d be a C, since I like to see 4 wins to start handing out Bs. But beating the Buffalos and Nevada, who is suddenly unstoppable, is worth a slight upgrade. Read Post
The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games.
The Marshall Thundering Herd came into the season with a lot of question marks and fairly low expectations. Coach Mark Snyder is generally considered to be in a hot-seat season, having not led the team to more than 5 wins in his 4 seasons to this point. Things started a bit shaky, barely escaping 1-AA Southern Illinois and then suffering a blowout at the hands of Virginia Tech. Since then, though, Marshall has had a pretty good run, knocking off Bowling Green and launching their C-USA campaign at 2-1.
- Wins: B. I suspect that if you offered Marshall fans 4-2 at midseason, they’d probably take it. They did let a winnable game against ECU slip away, but they’re still in the hunt for the division title. Read Post
The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games.
The Western Michigan Broncos have had a season that is nothing short of schizophrenic so far. They opened the season with some upset buzz going into their game at Michigan, but got blown off the field. They kept it closer but still lost to Indiana, then got things going with wins over Miami OH and Hofstra. The confusing part is in week 5 and 6, when they lost to Northern Illinois 38-3, then came back around and beat Toledo 58-26.
- Wins: C. 3 wins, no major upsets, it’s an average start. Read Post
The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games.
Rice is, in all honesty, mired in a nightmare season. Last year, they contended for the conference title, finishing 2nd in the West, and this year they’re off to a dreadful 0-6 start. The report card, well, it’s not good.
- Wins: F. There are none. That’s bad. And worse yet, they haven’t been close- their best margin of defeat is at 17 points. Read Post
The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games.
The Ohio Bobcats are off to a good start, 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the MAC. They are a half-game behind Temple (3-0) for the MAC East lead. Both losses came to BCS conference opponents. Their schedule sets up favorably, only facing one of the top 4 threats in the West (Northern Illinois). Their grades so far:
- Wins: B. 4-2 is a solid record and one of the best in the MAC. Read Post
The mid-season report card feature is going to actually run for over two weeks, since FAU has two byes in the first six weeks, their midpoint isn’t until October 24. But along the way, we’ll get a chance to look at every team outside the Big 6 conferences, including teams that haven’t gotten much attention even [...]
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