C-USA

[kyyote]

The conference teams have played 14 games so far.  Overall, the teams have played two games within conference.  JSU beat UTEP and LA Tech beat FIU.  The conference has played 10 non-conference games, going 6-4.  This is the important part, right now.  Credibility is what we want.  JSU out of the gate was able to establish that they could hang, beating UTEP.  Both teams really had no idea of what that meant.  But they followed it up with a mugging of ETSU.  LA Tech beat FIU but stepped out oof conference and lost to SMU.  Liberty got a nice ooc win against Bowling Green State University. Western Kentucky got a nice win over UCF.  NMSU played two ooc games, losing to UMass but whupping WIU.  MTU lost, but it was to Alabama.  Sam Houston took on Big12 member and national power BYU  and while losing the game, they held BYU to a 14-0 win. You can bet money on Sam not being kept scoreless and win money on Sam being able to hold BYU to 14 points.  Even FIU went out of conference and wrestled a win from Maine's black bears.  Our beloved Miners lost a close game that we could have won against a fired up Jacksonville State team but got back to work and grabbed the win we should have against Incarnate Word. 

So far, Conference USA deserves at least a B.  Against power5 top powers the losses were far from embarrassing.  Against perhaps a level of teams equal or a tad higher than C-USA our teams more than held their own, and for the others we did what was needed.

Coming up, UTEP v Northwestern, FIU v UNT, JSU v Coastal Carolina, Northwestern St. v LA Tech, MTU v Missouri, Houston Christian v WKU, Sam plays AFA.  I think JSU has a good chance of winning, as does LA Tech, WKU, and think Sam may win theirs.

[kyyote]

How does the new C-USA look, so far.

WKU  70  ^9
Liberty 95  ^3
Jacksonville St. 104  ^20
MTU  106 -
LA Tech  117  ^4
Sam Houston  118 ^5
NMSU  119  ^9
UTEP  120  ^5
FIU  133  -

That is an average gain of 6 points per team.  Sam and Jacksonville showed that they not only could hang, they moved up 5 places and 20 places, respectively. 
The average fpi football power index for the conference is -8.8667
For comparison, the MAC is -10.6
The MWC  -8.1
Sun Belt  -7.5
AAC  -5.06
ACC  +6.2

The previous c-usa was always higher ranked than the MAC and SB but today, the big12 taking of teams from the aac and the aac reloading with our C-USA teams again was supposed to have left us swinging in the breeze.  Not so.  The conference is higher ranked than the MAC, is chomping at the heels of the MWC, and has the ability to catch the Sun Belt.  With that in mind, the game with Northwestern is huge for the conference! 

Liberty plays NMSU.  This one is kind of a push.  A NMSU win would be a statement because Liberty is known to be real.  But t would probably hurt Liberty a bit, too.  FIU plays UNT.  Expectations will be low, but the rewards for an FIU win would be huge.  Jacksonville State is playing Coastal Carolina and are big underdogs.  This is another very possible win for JSU and it would come over a Sun Belt team helping rankings for C-USA and getting us closer to overtaking the SB conference.  LA Tech plays Northwestern State.  A win will be expected.  Middle Tennessee takes on Missouri and they have to play tough, but with no expectation of a win.  MTU will do that, and if Missouri isn't careful, the Blue Raiders will leave them wondering what happened.  WKU will use Houston Christian to showcase their offense.  The Air Force Falcons are expected to drop a MOAB on old Sam.  BYU tried to whup the boys from Huntsville and had all they wanted, although they escaped with a 14-0 win.  You can bet your ass  that the flyboys will find the turbulence the Bearkats create makes for a bumpy flight.  AFA is expected to win, but a Sam Houston win would be a statement win for both Sam Houston State and the conference.

I look forward to some postitive results this week with our ooc chances.

[kyyote]

After 3 games;

WKU  73  v3
Liberty 87  ^8
Jacksonville St. 103  ^1
MTU  99 ^7
LA Tech  110  ^7
Sam Houston  120 v2
NMSU  123  v4
UTEP  125  v5
FIU  130  ^3

Up 12 points or 1.3 points average per team.

[SisyphusMiner]

This is just horrifyingly awful.  The top team in CUSA whose shoelaces we aren't worthy to tie is #73.  There are only three teams in the top 100 and one of them just barely.  What a horrible football conference.

To misquote Groucho:  I wouldn't want to belong to a conference that would have us as a member

[kyyote]

Actually. we are surprisingly good, so far.  We are better than the MAC and right with the MWC.  The AAC after the b12raid and the raid of the aac from the cusa teams to replenish the loss has left the aac looking good but some of the teams have looked good and some not so good.  FIU beat UNT the past weekend.  But, Rice beat Houston. 

Figure that the big 5 if you average team at 12 teams per conference, they almost claim the first 60 places by default.  that leaves numbers 60-133 for the other 73 teams.  Of our 9 teams we have 3 in the 60-100 range and 6 in the 100-133 range.  The MWC has 6  in the 60-100 and 6 in the 100-133 range.  The MAC has 3 and 9.  The Sun Belt has 10 and 4 and the AAC has 2 in the 50's  6 in the 60-100 range and 5 in the 100-133 range.  Since the early 1980's that I know of, the Miners have been the anchor around the conferences necks.  We are like the special kid that really doesn't understand how to play the game.  The serious players...are serious.  The first time was the MWC ditching us in the wac.   Then. Price teams got us into cusa.  You remember when we could actually play with the Houston, SMU, USF teams?  Tulsa!  But, instead of advancing and building on the life, the pulse Price had given UTEP Stuhl rewarded his buddy.  That meant we didn't have to spend a bunch of money on a proven coach.  And conference usa ditched us to form the AAC.  So, we got and set more records for losing.  So much that the c-usa ditched us a second time leaving the teams that nobody wanted and a few teams looking to step up and then move on.  So, the conference is bad, but it is our fault-as it always is.  I am so tired of the being a horrible stink coming from our conference the past 40 years and it being us.  FUCFUCKINGK!

[kyyote]

Ohio State beat WKU and Arizona beat UTEP.  Money made.

Liberty continues to roll, beating Buffalo.
NMSU beat rival UNM.
FIU won again, beating UConn.
MTU beat Murry State.
LA Tech lost a close one to UNT.

We have an average of 106.8 on ESPN's Power Index.

MWC  95.2
AAC  89.4
SB  89.8
MAC  96.2
CUSA 106.9

On the 5th we were an average of 109.1  So, we are moving up the ladder-not down!  This week the conference will have a chance to make more progress.  WHU plays Troy.  LA Tech plays Nebraska.  This could actually be a tussle.  Liberty plays FIU.  Sam Houston plays Houston.  That's a challenge.  Middle Tennessee gets Colorado State.  This could be a real barn burner and a very good win for the conference.  UTEP plays UNLV, also a real chance to get a good win for the conference.  Nmsu plays Hawaii, also a chance for a good win.

[Minermojo]

Ohio State beat WKU and Arizona beat UTEP.  Money made.

Liberty continues to roll, beating Buffalo.
NMSU beat rival UNM.
FIU won again, beating UConn.
MTU beat Murry State.
LA Tech lost a close one to UNT.

We have an average of 106.8 on ESPN's Power Index.

MWC  95.2
AAC  89.4
SB  89.8
MAC  96.2
CUSA 106.9

On the 5th we were an average of 109.1  So, we are moving up the ladder-not down!  This week the conference will have a chance to make more progress.  WHU plays Troy.  LA Tech plays Nebraska.  This could actually be a tussle.  Liberty plays FIU.  Sam Houston plays Houston.  That's a challenge.  Middle Tennessee gets Colorado State.  This could be a real barn burner and a very good win for the conference.  UTEP plays UNLV, also a real chance to get a good win for the conference.  Nmsu plays Hawaii, also a chance for a good win.

The game of the week should be Fiu vs Liberty. Fiu surprisingly is playing very well, as is Liberty. Utep doesn't have a chance against Unlv after watching them play against Vanderbilt. They almost lost it at the end but the Vandy kicker muffed it with about 45 (?) seconds left to play. That freshman QB for Unlv has a lot of potential as he threw a very accurate pass to set up the winning kick by Pizano. Utep didn't have a chance even after many here thought that Utep had a chance. Yep, a chance to come home with a load of money that's about it. Face it folks, as much as we love our Miner we have a terrible team coupled that with a terrible coach and QB. I don't think we'll even get close to .500. I've seen some of the teams in Cusa and they are much better than us. The only one that is almost comparable is La Tech but still I think they hold the upper hand. Fiu squeezed out a win against Uconn and was exciting to the end. Buffalo almost came back to surprise Liberty and I'm glad the Flames were able to hold out. My question is why do they call themselves the Flames. I thought they were a Christian school and the only flames I know of are the ones in hell. LOL

Enemas U. is beginning to look like a capable team above Utep. The Miners are gonna have a game in their hands and I still believe they won't beat the Ugglies. Fiu beat the Schiff out of No.Texas and yet LT got beaten by the Eagles, AT, La Tech. I think LaTech should be down there with the Miners in Cusa standings. I recorded the Empty U. game so I still don't know how good or bad they are. We. Shall. See.