October 4, 2004
Conference USA Skinny Posts -- Week 7
Welcome to Conference USA, home of three teams with unbeaten league records (Louisville, Southern Miss, and UAB) and six others with only one loss (Memphis, TCU, South Florida, Cincinnati, Houston, and Tulane). (Click here for complete league standings.) Don't expect the league race to get any clearer this weekend, with five of those nine clubs enjoying a bye.
We do know this: Louisville appears to be the real deal, TCU is struggling, and both Southern Miss and UAB are better than advertised. U of L is very lucky not to have to face either the Golden Eagles or the Blazers this season, but both TCU and Memphis play both of them, the Tigers having already fallen to UAB.
Lets take a quick ride around the league:
Louisville
Dominant is best word to describe the Cards' 2004 campaign to date. Bobby Petrino's squad has yet to win a game by fewer than 28 points. Expect that to change a week from Thursday against Miami (FL), but the Louisville is clearly now the C-USA team to beat.
Southern Miss
The Eagles remain perfect in the league and overall, thanks to a 27-20 road win over a tough South Florida team. As stated above, USM gets a pass against Louisville, making the C-USA slate a little lighter, despite looming road tests at Memphis and TCU. USM's Thursday home tilt with Houston will be televised on ESPN2.
UAB
Watson Brown's Blazers continue to impress, most recently with a 30-27 win at Cincinnati. Are they for real? TCU travels to Legion Field next Saturday to let us know.
Memphis
UM found a Houston solution to their recent struggles, thumping the Cougars 41-14 at the Liberty Bowl. The Tigers get a week off, and then they should roll over Tulane before a very tough league stretch with consecutive games against Cincinnati, Louisville, and Southern Miss.
TCU
The Frogs returned to the win column last week after two consecutive losses. However, a 21-17 win over Army in which they needed a fourth quarter touchdown to win was anything but convincing. TCU needs to find some answers before the tough road trip to Birmingham next Saturday.
South Florida
Contender or spoiler? The jury's still out on Jim Leavitt's Bulls, after last week's loss to Southern Miss.
Cincinnati
The Bearcats are improving, but likely not by enough to contend in their final season in C-USA. UC shouldn't take Army lightly this Saturday. Just ask TCU.
Houston
The Cougars are a lowly 1-4, but only 1-1 in league play. They get the honor (or horror) of facing Southern Miss on national television this Thursday night in Hattiesburg.
Tulane
Thanks to an early bye and Hurricane Ivan, the Wave has only played three games thus far, and stands at 1-2 (0-1 in C-USA). They look to even both records on Saturday at improving East Carolina.
East Carolina
Even a patch-eyed Pirate can see that John Thompson's team looks a little better in 2004, despite the 0-4 start. ECU looks to enter the win column as they host Tulane this weekend in what should be a close game.
Army
The Knights put a real scare into TCU last week. However, it is doubtful the coach Bobby Ross and his winless troops will be shedding any tears when they retreat from Conference USA next fall.
Comments:
posted on October 4, 2004 11:36 PM — 12.214.161.160 — link — abuse?Robert Knodell said:
I wouldn't necessarily say that Southern Miss has totally surprised people with their fast start, but they certainly didn't get the preseason hype or publicity that Louisville, Memphis, and TCU got. Much was made of Louisville's and TCU's jumps to other conferences next year and the returning star players at UM.
Year in, year out, USM just seems to quietly go about the business of winning ballgames. They're tucked away in a tiny media market and nobody pays attention until they knock off a big-name team like Nebraska. I wish they had a shot at playing Louisville this year, because both teams could easily run the table in league play.
Rob McIntire said:
posted on October 7, 2004 11:31 AM — 64.80.98.67 — link — abuse?
This is Conference USA's finest hour. It is a shame that UofL is leaving for the Big East. Conference USA might really get some well-deserved props if the league finishes strong. If UofL really beats Miami next Thursday, they are BCS bound (unless they start thinking they are good).
Louisville had no choice but to follow the money to the Big East. Conference USA's loss is the failing Big East's (in football) gain.
-Remeber where you come from!
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Ben Prather said:
posted on October 4, 2004 11:18 PM — 69.73.43.133 — link — abuse?I think S. Mississippi should not really suprise anyone. They did win the conference last year and were the ones to first knock off TCU last year. To think they would not compete for the league title this year would have been cutting them short.