October 25, 2004

Conference USA Skinny Posts -- Week 10

Only one week removed from having their respective hopes for a perfect season (and BCS ambitions) dashed, Louisville and Southern Miss remained perfect in league play and saw some of their chief competitors suffer upset losses. Both squads are guaranteed to remain atop the C-USA standings for at least one more week, since each gets the coming weekend off.

After a weekend with upsets and reshuffling in the those league standings, let's take a look around:

Southern Miss (4-0 league , 5-1 overall)
The Eagles bounced back from a blowout loss to Alabama with a 51-10 blowout win at home vs. East Carolina. The road to a possible C-USA title gets tougher from here: USM returns to action a week from Saturday at home against improving Cincinnati. That matchup is followed by road dates at Memphis, at TCU, and a home finale against UAB to close out the league slate. There's no Louisville on the schedule, but there are also no gimmes.

Louisville (3-0, 5-1)
The Cards bounced back from their heartbreaking loss to Miami with a 41-9 trouncing of USF. With the BCS now out of reach, U of L must focus on a league championship and a trip to the Liberty Bowl on December 31. Standing in the way of that goal is a trip to the Liberty Bowl on November 4 to play the Memphis Tigers. Bobby Petrino's squad gets this weekend off to prepare for that game.

UAB (3-1, 5-2)
Tulane 59, UAB 55. No, that's not a basketball score. The Blazers forgot to bring their defense along to New Orleans and got outgunned by Tulane in a thrilling shootout. UAB gained 649 yards of total offense, but yielded 525 and were sunk by big penalties and special teams miscues. Watson Brown and his troops are off this weekend, but hope to get well next Wednesday night at home against USF. The Blazers have yet to lose this season in the friendly confines of Legion Field.

Memphis (2-2, 5-2)
Is there a more up-and-down team in the league than these Tigers? The latest blow (a 49-10 blowout loss to Cincy) may have dashed UM's hopes of a C-USA title in 2004. Following this week's bye, next Thursday night's home tilt with Louisville was supposed to decide the championship. Now, the future role for Memphis looks more like that of spoiler for either USM or Louisville. The Tiger defense has been a major disappointment to date this season.

TCU (2-2, 4-3)
The Frogs held off a furious Houston comeback last Saturday for a 34-27 win. TCU desperately needs to beat Cincinnati on the road this Saturday to preserve their slim hopes for a piece of a C-USA title. With Louisville and Southern Miss coming up, a loss to Cincy might mean a losing record at TCU for the first time since 1997.

Cincinnati (2-2, 3-4)
Most folks (including many Bearcat fans) had given up on this team after losing to Army in embarrassing fashion. The big win over Memphis boosted UC in the standings and served notice that this team could play a major spoiler's role in the weeks ahead (with Southern Miss and Louisville looming). The first order of business, however, is TCU at home this Saturday, a must-win if UC is to keep its slim bowl hopes alive.

Army (2-3, 2-4)
Bobby Ross's troops enjoyed their week off, on the heels of back-to-back victories. The Knights have a real shot this weekend at East Carolina to make it three straight and even the conference record at 3-3. This team is improving quickly.

Tulane (1-3, 2-4)
Just when you're convinced that Tulane is truly horrible, they pull off a thrilling victory over C-USA contender UAB. Perhaps the Wave can make a little noise in its second half of the season. Chris Scelfo's team travels to Houston this Saturday, with the winner getting a ticket out of the league cellar.

USF (1-3, 2-4)
Jim Leavitt's Bulls win the award for most disappointing team in C-USA thus far. USF is reeling after three straight losses, and this week's bye probably comes at the right time. The Bulls need something good to happen next Wednesday night at UAB. The defense is horrible and needs to turn things around quickly if USF doesn't want to end its tenure in C-USA with a whimper.

East Carolina (1-3, 1-5)
If the C-USA's standings went by alphabetical order rather than by wins and losses, the Pirates would be in a solid third place instead of last. (Okay, the humor here is much like the price of an average C-USA game ticket: pretty cheap.) Seriously, ECU's only win came against Army last season. This Saturday, the Pirates can double up their victory total with a win at home against the Knights. The only problem is that Army is surging with two straight wins and ECU is coming off a blowout loss to USM.

Houston (1-3, 1-6)
There is good news for Houston coming into this weekend's home game with Tulane. The Cougars are undefeated at their home field. Of course, the bad news is they've only played one game there all season (a win over Army). The Cougars have gone toe-to-toe with Southern Miss and TCU in recent weeks, but badly needs a win after four consecutive losses.

Please note that all comments are subject to the Fanblogs Comment Policy.