I’ve always believed Conference-USA to be better than they get credit for. Every single year there are some high-quality teams that come out of this league. The same could be said of the MAC as well, but I just like the overall speed and talent level of C-USA more than the MAC. Just helps when you’re recruiting out of Texas and the whole Gulf Coast area versus picking up the scraps of the Midwest. Sorry, but there it is. The scraps of Texas are still better than all but the top handful of players in every other state in the heart of the country.
So with that being said, check out my predictions for C-USA this year. You might be surprised to see where I’ve got the Southern Miss Golden Eagles finishing… They are perennially one of my secret favorite teams, and I’m not exactly sure why, but I’m really liking them this year. Read on.
C-USA East
1. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (13-0, 8-0)
2. East Carolina Pirates (6-6, 6-2)
3. UCF Knights (6-6, 4-4)
4. Marshall Thundering Herd (3-9, 3-5)
5. UAB Blazers (3-9, 2-6)
6. Memphis Tigers (2-10, 1-7)
C-USA West
1. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (8-5, 7-1)
2. Houston Cougars (10-2, 7-1)
3. SMU Mustangs (8-4, 6-2)
4. Rice Owls (3-9, 3-5)
5. Tulane Green Wave (2-11, 1-7)
6. UTEP Miners (2-10, 0-8)
C-USA Championship Game
Southern Miss over Tulsa
C-USA Bowl Games
Southern Miss Golden Eagles → Liberty Bowl (Dec. 31, 3:30pm — Memphis, TN)
Houston Cougars → Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 30, 12pm — Dallas, TX)
Tulsa Golden Hurricane → St. Petersburg Bowl (Dec. 20, 8pm — St. Petersburg, FL)
SMU Mustangs → TicketCity Bowl (Jan 2, 12pm — Dallas, TX)
East Carolina Pirates → Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 24, 8pm — Honolulu, HI)
UCF Knights → New Orleans Bowl (Dec. 17, 9pm — New Orleans, LA)
Clearly, I’m riding extremely high on Southern Miss this year. They have a very talented team and an extremely favorable schedule. I think Houston will have the best offense in the conference, and might even prove to be the best overall team, but until they prove that they have solved their defensive issues, I’m not sure they can win a shootout against Tulsa and that’s why I have the Golden Hurricane in the championship game against the Golden Eagles.
