Conference USA
East
UAB
|
UCF
|
East Carolina
|
Marshall
|
Memphis
|
Southern Miss
West
Houston
|
Rice
|
SMU
|
Tulane
|
Tulsa
|
UTEP
Past C-USA Picks:
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Week 2 |
Week
3 |
Week 4 |
Week 5
Week 6 |
Week 7 |
Week 8 |
Week
9
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Week
10
C-USA Fearless Predictions. Part 2 | Get
Tickets for These Games
How'd we do so far? Straight up
53-19
... ATS 34-29-2 ATS
Conference USA Game of the Week
UAB (3-5) at
SMU
(4-4), 7:30 EST, ESPN2, Tuesday, October
31
Why to watch: While you’re
trick-or-treating Tuesday night, SMU
will be playing one of its most
significant games since getting whacked
with the NCAA death penalty more than
two decades ago. The Mustangs, who are
making strides under Phil Bennett and
vying for a bowl berth, get a rare
national TV audience to show how far
along they’ve come in 2006. Although
he’s only a freshman, QB Justin Willis
has left no doubt this fall that he’s
the future of the program. Reeling from
back-to-back losses to one-win teams,
UAB needs an upset in Dallas to stop the
bleeding and temporarily silence the
critics. Watson Brown doesn’t accept
any excuses, but the Blazers have been
buried all season by the weight of their
own injuries.
Why UAB might win: The Blazers
have taken hits on both sides of the
ball, but are as healthy as they’ve been
since mid-September and have been able
to develop some talented reserves at the
skill positions. UAB has been peaking
the last three games on offense,
averaging over 30 points, a trend that
won’t be curtailed by a Mustang pass
defense that’s 117th-nationally
and fresh off its worst effort of the
year.
Why SMU might win: While the
Blazer offense has been sizzling, the
defense has been a no-show, allowing an
average of more than 400 yards over the
last three weeks. In the loss to
Marshall ten days ago, UAB was ripped
for 317 yards on the ground. Those will
be frightening omens for this week’s
trip to Ford Stadium. Behind Willis,
who has accounted for 20 touchdowns over
his last five games, the Mustangs have
climbed to fourth in the conference in
scoring and have yet to lose a game at
home.
Who to watch: DT Adrian Haywood
is one of the key reasons SMU leads
Conference USA in run defense. The
senior, who’s tops in the league with
11½ tackles for loss, will penetrate a
gimpy UAB offensive line, forcing Blazer
QBs Chris Williams and Sam Hunt to move
the chains exclusively through the air.
What will happen: SMU players
realize this is a special night in the
evolution of their program, and it’ll
show in their level of intensity. Both
teams will move the ball at will, but
Willis will exit the game with three
touchdowns, MVP honors and a tad less
anonymity than he had before ESPN
arrived.
CFN Prediction:
SMU 34 ... UAB 27 ...
Line: SMU -4
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Running
with Scissors) ...
2
Tulsa (7-1) at
Houston (6-3), 3:30 EST, CSTV, Saturday, November 4
Why to watch: First place in the
Western Division and the prohibitive
favorite role for the Conference USA
title will be at stake when the league’s
top-scoring offenses meet at Robertson
Stadium. Tulsa improved to 7-1 with a
comeback win over UTEP last week,
knocking the Miners out of the division
race, while showing it can persevere
when faced with a rare deficit. Kickoff
isn’t until Saturday afternoon, but the
Golden Hurricane has already had a huge
win this week, getting a verbal
statement from head coach Steve
Kragthorpe that he has no interest in
the North Carolina opening and hopes to
finish his career at Tulsa. Houston has
rebounded from a three-game, mid-season
slump to win back-to-back games against
UTEP and UCF by wide margins. The
battle between Cougar Kevin Kolb and
Hurricane Paul Smith will go a long way
to determining this year’s
all-conference quarterback.
Why Tulsa might win: The
Hurricane’s balance on offense will be a
handful for a Cougar defense that
allowed 530 yards to UCF last week and
has surrendered 31 points in three of
the last four games. While Tulsa’s
power running game can wear a defense
out, Smith can pick it apart with his
precision, underneath passes.
Defensively, the fourth-ranked Hurricane
pass defense is one of the few units in
the nation capable of containing Kolb
and his wave of gifted receivers.
Why Houston might win: The last
time Tulsa faced an offense as diverse
and explosive as Houston’s, it gave up
seven touchdowns and 467 yards in a
49-24 loss to BYU. The Hurricane is
experienced and fundamentally sound on
defense, however, it lacks the athletes
to shut down all of the weapons in the
Cougar arsenal. Art Briles is going to
spread the field, allowing playmakers,
such as RB Anthony Alridge and receivers
Jeron Harvey and Vincent Marshall, to
make plays in space.
Who to watch: While Houston likes
to get Alridge outside the tackles,
where he can make plays with his speed,
Jackie Battle is a linebacker-sized
complement, which will be used to soften
the Tulsa interior and move the chains
in short yardage. He’s tied for third
in the conference with ten touchdowns,
most of which come when the Cougars are
on the doorstep.
What will happen: In a signature
moment of an already stellar career,
Kolb will hoist the Cougars on his
shoulders with a late rally, carrying
the program to its biggest win in years.
CFN Prediction:
Houston 31 … Tulsa 27 ... Line:
Houston -2.5
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Running
with Scissors) ... 3
East Carolina
(4-4) at
UCF (2-6), 4:00 EST, Saturday, November 4
Why to watch: In the muddled and
tightly-packed Eastern Division, East
Carolina has surprisingly emerged as the
front-runner with one month left in the
season. By upsetting Southern Miss in
overtime last weekend, the Pirates’ goal
for 2006 was upgraded from qualifying
for the postseason to winning a
conference title for the first time in
three decades. Four teams are within a
loss of ECU, so every game will have a
playoff feel for the Pirates. UCF is
reeling from its third straight
one-sided loss, 51-31 to Houston,
forcing George O’Leary to consider
wholesale changes on his depth chart,
particularly on the defensive side of
the ball.
Why East Carolina might win:
Learning to win on the road last week
was a gigantic step for a program that
was winless away from Greenville before
that breakthrough game in Hattiesburg.
Against a skidding Golden Knight team
that’s last in scoring offense and near
the basement in scoring defense, the
Pirates will keep the momentum
cranking. UCF, which has been shredded
for an average of 48 points and 465
yards over the last three games, isn’t
capable of stopping anyone at this stage
of the season.
Why UCF might win: Ever since QB
Kyle Israel got inserted into the
starting lineup, the UCF offense has
been uncommonly potent, scoring 60
points the last two games and tallying a
season-high 530 yards in the loss to
Houston. The Israel-to-Mike Walker hook
up, combined with the running of Kevin
Smith, gives the Golden Knights a
balanced look to offset the submissive
nature of its sketchy defense.
Who to watch: An ankle injury and
inconsistent play at quarterback have
kept Pirate WR Aundrae Allison from
having the monster senior year everyone
anticipated. He showed signs he was
ready to explode against SMU two weeks,
but could really go nuts this weekend
versus a UCF defense that allowed nine
touchdown passes in October, had only
three sacks and could be without its
best cover corner, Joe Burnett.
What will happen: Against a UCF
team that’s trying to work through a
bunch of issues, East Carolina will
avoid the letdown, getting its best
offensive showing of the year.
CFN Prediction: East Carolina 34
… UCF 24...
Line: East Carolina -7
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Running
with Scissors) ... 2
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Week
10
C-USA Fearless Predictions. Part 2 | Get
Tickets for These Games