|
|
Conference USA is now the only league in the country with a leader and a last place team (ECU and Tulsa, respectively), thanks to the Sunday showdown between the two. That game was a great showcase for the league in an otherwise dismal weekend- the conference has yet to beat a FBS team outside of their own.
UCF 38, South Dakota 7- UCF was the only team in Conference USA to hold a team- any division- under 10 points. Next Week: North Carolina State at UCF
Texas 34, Rice 17- Rice gave the Longhorns all they could handle through most of the first half, but Texas pulled away at the end of Q2 and never looked back. (Predicted Texas to win by more than 30.5. 0-1.) Next Week: Rice at North Texas
Mississippi State 49, Memphis 7- Memphis looked as bad as we feared as the Bulldogs ran all over them (Prediction: Mississippi State to cover the 21.5. 1-1). Next Week: Memphis at East Carolina
Read Post
We continue working our way across the country looking at games lined up for Saturday & Sunday. CUSA got off to a bad start Thursday night and will be looking to get things stabilized over the weekend. There are a bunch of FCS games lined up, but also a couple more games that could get ugly. All games are on Saturday except the last two, all times eastern, you get the picture by now.
3:30 PM, ESPN- #4 Texas at Rice (Reliant Stadium): Look out, this could get ugly. Rice should be better than last year’s 2-10 team, but this won’t be the time or place to figure out if they are or not. Line: Texas by 30.5. The question with lines like this one is not ‘can’ Texas win by that much, but ‘will they?’ Looking to last year, they won their first two games by 39 and 31, then won their other two C-USA games by 32 and 57. So yes, I’d say Texas will probably cover that line, let’s say 49-10. And that’s way more than I planned to write on this game.
Read Post
Conference USA has been featured in dozens of realignment rumors this summer, yet nothing has come to fruition. First was a rumor that Memphis and/or UCF and/or East Carolina were off to the Big East and it was a done deal. Nothing there. Then, with the MWC/WAC fallout was the rumor that Houston was gone to the Mountain West- nothing so far. There’s word that Louisiana Tech wants to join the league, but no indication that the league has any need for them. So, as of now, Conference USA looks exactly like it has since 2005.
Last year’s conference champs, East Carolina, have a new coach and lost a lot of their team over the offseason and look to be a dark horse at best in 2010. Meanwhile Houston, West division champs a year ago, is fully loaded and looks like they could make a splash nationally, and they assume the mantle of conference favorites. There will be no shortage of teams looking to take the Cougars down a notch, with UCF, Southern Miss, and SMU looking like the prime candidates to take their shot.
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
We come to our fourth consecutive, and final, Conference USA team in the 2010 previews. The first sign that all was not well at Tulsa in 2009 would have been the Oklahoma game, where the Golden Hurricane got wiped off the field to the tune of 45-0, by an Oklahoma squad that wasn’t that good. They bounced back after a 1-AA win and beat Rice, then gave Boise State one of their best games of the year, falling 28-21. That game tipped off a shocking six game losing streak, broken only by beating Memphis in overtime to end the season.
2010 would be a great year to bounce back, because Tulsa’s going to get another chance in the national spotlight. And they should be primed to do just that, with nine starters back on offense, including QB GJ Kinne. If not for that Keenum fella down in Houston, Tulsa might be back as the favorite in the West. They do have to replace six defensive starters, but this is Conference USA, and defense is but an afterthought.
Read Post
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers came up a little short of some expectations last year, after climbing to 5-5 but failing to reach bowl eligibility with late season losses to division powers. A tough non-conference schedule ultimately did them in, taking losses from the Big 12, SEC, and Sun Belt Champs Troy.
The Blazers come back loaded in 2010, with one key exception- the #6 player in total offense in the country from last year, quarterback Joe Webb (now with the Minnesota Vikings, behind some other quarterback). But if the new quarterbacks can get the job done, they have eight returning offense starters alongside, and nine others on the defense.
Read Post
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
For several years, Memphis has been stuck in a place of mediocre football, but had never been so bad that they could quite justify finding a new coach. In 2009, the dam burst, as the Tigers wobbled through a 2-10 season (beating only UTEP from 1-A, who you may recall handed Houston their first loss), and Tommy West was relieved of his duties.
After the season, Memphis tabbed alumnus Larry Porter to head up the program, and Porter will get a mixed selection of returning players. 7 players on each side have starting experience, but some of that is limited- QB Tyler Bass has started a few games but missed most of two consecutive seasons due to injury, and has competition from four others for the starting job. As for other positions, we will watch to see how helpful experience is when it comes from being on a team that isn’t very good.
Read Post
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
First, a disclaimer: UCF is my Alma Mater, I live four miles from the campus, and attend as many games as I can each year. I am undoubtedly biased, although often in the too-negative direction on account of being too close. So there.
Now then, the University of Central Florida Knights followed a win-then-lose pattern for the first half of the season until they broke the pattern with a last second win over Marshall. Texas stomped them, but recovered by shocking then #12 Houston, who had lost only once to that point. The Knights finished second in Conference USA East, and went on to lose to Rutgers in the St. Petersburg Bowl.
2010 is a year of promise for UCF, but, as usual, a question mark hangs over the quarterback position. Junior QB Rob Calabrese is hoping it’s finally his time in the spotlight, but freshman Jeffrey Godfrey is considered perhaps UCF’s most promising recruit- ever- and the position is still up for grabs. Otherwise, 8 offensive starters join 7 returnees on the defensive side for a team that should be ready to compete in the division. Read Post
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
At 21st, ECU is my lowest rated defending conference champion. The Pirates had an outstanding 2009 season, running through C-USA at 7-1 and taking Arkansas to overtime in the Liberty Bowl. But 2010 has too many question marks to expect the same performance again.
Head Coach Skip Holtz left for the USF job, and most of their defense is gone too. The offense loses the starting QB and RB, with a 3 way fight for the new quarterback job underway between two freshmen and a sophomore. ECU has always outperformed expectations, but this year may be their biggest challenge in a while. Read Post
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
UTEP (University of Texas – El Paso) had a 2009 season that made no sense whatsoever. After a 1-4 start, they handed Houston (#12 at the time) their first loss of the season in convincing fashion, 58-41. They grabbed other wins against quality opponents in Tulsa and Marshall, but had inexplicable losses to Tulane and Rice along the way.
Only 11 starters return for 2010, but they’re good ones. Trevor Vittatoe is among C-USA’s many prolific passers and returns for his senior season, while senior Donald Buckram finished second in the country in rushing yards last year among players returning for 2010. Even without some of the starters back, the two-deep is loaded with juniors and seniors, and the Miners could be ready to finally make a move.
Read Post
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
The Rice Owls were inexplicably bad in 2009, coming off a 2008 campaign that featured 10 wins including the Texas Bowl. They came back to earth hard, going just 2-10- losing their first nine before knocking off Tulane and UTEP at the end of the year.
The question then becomes, just which Rice team is going to show up this year? No team in Conference USA has as many starters coming back (9 on offense including QB Nick Fanuzzi, and 8 on defense) as the Owls do, and their schedule is not an insurmountable one.
Read Post
|
|