(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
In a conference that is well known for its offensive firepower, the upcoming 2009-2010 college football season will not disappoint in Conference USA.
The 2008 season separated the pretenders from the contenders and this season should be much of the same with East Carolina, Southern Miss, Houston and Tulsa being at the top of the East and West divisions, respectively. Here are last year's standings.
2008 Standings
East Division West Division
East Carolina 9-4 (6-2) Tulsa 10-3 (7-1)
Memphis 6-6 (4-4) Rice 9-3 (7-1)
Southern Miss 6-6 (4-4) Houston 8-5 (6-2)
UAB 4-8 (3-5) UTEP 5-7 (4-4)
UCF 4-8 (3-5) Tulane 2-10 (1-7)
Marshall 4-8 (3-5) Southern Methodist 1-11 (0-8)
Games That Will Decide the Conference
October 21st—Tulsa @ UTEP This is my shocker pick here, but I think UTEP could be a trap game for Tulsa. I say Tulsa goes down 49-44 in a shootout, making Houston the winner of the West division.
November 7th—Houston @ Tulsa Tulsa will have a new quarterback in junior Jacob Bower, but he will still put up big numbers in the no-huddle spread offense. It's all about revenge in this one; Tulsa wins another high scoring matchup between these two teams, 56-52.
November 28th—Southern Miss @ ECU The East will easily come down to these two teams and I see ECU taking care of business in a hard fought game 28-24.
*Notable Games: 10/31 Southern Miss @ Houston, 11/15 ECU @ Tulsa and 11/28 Tulsa @ USM. I say Tulsa could easily wind up losing one or both of these games, making it a smoother cruise for my pick.
Conference USA Title Game
December 5th ECU @ Houston—In my U of H Predictions article I said Houston would go either 11-1 or 10-2, so I see them having the home field in this contest.
Due to ECU's ability to play solid defense I see this being a somewhat lower scoring affair, in Conference USA standards, but Houston wins a close one 31-28 and takes home their first conference title since 2006 under Art Briles.
Players to Watch For
Conference USA is filled with stat sheet-filling studs this year. Here are some of the key names to be aware of and their stats from 2008.
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