College Football kicks off on Saturday, with the annual Week 0 games, spotlighting both FCS and FBS Group of 5 programs

Saturday, August 25th
Duquesne at UMass	4:30 pm	ELVN / NESN+
#6 Jacksonville State vs. #14 North Carolina A&T	6:00 pm	ESPN
Prairie View at Rice	6:00 pm	$espn+ Video
Hawaii at Colorado State	6:30 pm	CBSSN
Wyoming at New Mexico State	9:00 pm	ESPN2

Four Group of 5 programs and two FBS Independents kick off the 2018 College Football season on Saturday, including the MWC opener between Hawaii (3-9, 1-7 MWC West in '17) and Colorado State (7-6, 5-3 MWC Mountain in '17) from Fort Collins, CO.

Power 5 programs will be eyeing several of these openers, since UMASS (4-8 in '17) is Boston College's season home opener on 9/1. Boston College (7-6 in '17) is coming off a 27-20 loss in the Pinstripe Bowl to the Iowa Hawkeyes (8-5). Other Power 5 programs with an eye on Week 0:

• Washington State (9-4) will be Wyoming (8-5), who host the Cougars on 9/1 in Laramie
• Minnesota (5-7) will be eyeing New Mexico State (7-6), since the Golden Gophers will host the Aggies on Thursday night in TCF Bank Stadium for the season opener
• Colorado (5-7) will be eyeing Colorado State, as they kickoff the state rivalry game in Denver

This first Saturday in College Football has become popular for a Top 25 FCS showdown, as #6 Jacksonville State (10-3 in '17) and #14 North Carolina A&T (12-0 in '17) kickoff the season.

Looking at the Mountain West Conference heading into 2018. Stassen Composite has the West and Mountain divisions trending as follows:

• West Division break down for 2018

1. San Diego State
2. Fresno State - the defending champs in the West, after Aztecs took 2015 and 2016 division!
3. UNLV
4. Nevada
5. Hawaii
6. San Jose State

• Mountain Division break down for 2018

1. Boise State - the defending champions are projected #21 by Stassen in the Top 25!
2. Wyoming
3. Utah State
4. Colorado State
5. Air Force 
6. New Mexico

Happy New Year's Eve - College Football & Basketball

Independence Bowl :
Arizona vs. Boston College at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN (HD)
Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez appears on track at Arizona, unlike his former team, Michigan, and their recent bowl trip to AZ (K-State beat Michigan 31-14 in BWW Bowl)

Sun Bowl:
UCLA vs. Virginia Tech 1:00 p.m. on CBS (HD)
Battle of young and old coach lead programs in El Paso!

Liberty Bowl :
Mississippi State vs. Rice at 3:00 p.m. on ESPN (HD)
SEC vs. C-USA bowl match up on New Year's Eve!

Peach Bowl:
Duke vs. Texas A&M at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN (HD)
Close out 2013 with the final game of 2013!

Of course plenty of Big East and Big Ten conference games in College Basketball to enjoy elsewhere on the dial to celebrate the close out of 2013.

Nebraska at Iowa at 6 p.m. to open Big Ten play ...
Marquette at Creighton at 9 p.m. to open Big East play ...

Bring on the New Year 2014 ...
                                                        including the New Year's Games and final days of BCS!

College Football '09: Let's break down the Conference USA and it's opportunities

Does the Conference USA any BCS noise with a surprise candidate in '09. How does the conference breakdown in '09 for C-USA?

• C-USA is ranked #9 by Jeff Sagarin as a conference in FBS
• The WAC at least has Boise State to carry the torch
• Unlike the C-USA, even the MAC had Ball State last year up to the bowls
• Will a program emerge as a strong Top 25 candidate for C-USA in '09?

Ranked teams in the AP and Coaches' preseason polls:

none

Some magazines do like these C-USA in the Top 25 preseason:

• East Carolina
• Houston

Teams rebuilding in the C-USA in '09

• Tulsa
• Rice

Teams rated below the FBS mark of #120 in 2009?

• Tulane
• SMU

Will the C-USA East Division finish this way in 2009??

1. East Carolina * (6-2 in '08) (5-5 in bowls)
2. Southern Miss (4-4) (9-8)
3. Central Florida (3-5)
4. Memphis (4-4) (3-3)
5. Marshall (3-5) (5-2)
6. UAB (3-5) (0-2)

Will the C-USA West Division finish this way in 2009?

1. Houston (6-2) (8-10-1)
2. Tulsa * (7-1) (7-9)
3. UTEP (4-4) (5-7)
4. Rice (7-1) (5-4)
5. SMU (0-8) (4-6-1)
6. Tulane (1-7) (4-6)

* denotes 2008 C-USA division champs (source for above list)

Last BCS title winner

No C-USA team has ever participated in a BCS bowl.

Kickoff Game of the Season

Friday, Sept 4
Tulsa at Tulane

New Orleans, La. 7:00 PM CT
GameTracker
TV: ESPN

Final Look at the C-USA teams, using the preseason Jeff Sagarin NCAA football ratings:

1. Tulsa (#53 in Sagarin ratings) - Coach Todd Graham is entering his 3rd season and the Golden Hurricane are coming off a 45-13 win in GMAC over Ball State of the MAC (back to back wins in this bowl over the MAC)... 39 letterwinners with 5 OFF and 8 DEF plus punter returing from last year's team that finished 11-3. OOC tests @ New Mexico, @ OU, Sam Houston State and vs. Boise State., so a couple big opportunities OOC for Tulsa.


2. Southern Miss (#65) - Coach Larry Fedora is entering his 2nd season at the helm for the Golden Eagles, who won 30-27 over in the New Orleans over Troy of the Sun Belt. The Golden Eagles (7-6) return 41 letterwinners, with 10 OFF and 9 DEF, but must replace PK/PT Britt Barefoot, but a PK returns with experience. Southern Miss plays Alcorn State, Virginia, @ Kansas and @ Louisville in the OOC. Big home date with UVA in Week 3.


3. Houston (#66) - Coach Kevin Sumlin also is entering his 2nd season at the helm for the Cougars. The Cougars defeated Air Force 34-28 in Armed Forces to finish 8-5. The Cougars return 41 letterwinners, with 8 OFF and 4 DEF plus both kickers for '09. In the OOC, the Cougars face Northwestern State, @ Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and @ Mississippi State. C-USA teams will have some opportunities to pick up some quality wins.


4. East Carolina (#73) - Coach Skip Holtz enters his 5Th season, after making the Top 25 for 3 weeks last year after wins over Virginia Tech, West Virginia, @ Tulane and @ North Carolina State. OOC opponents for '09 are Appalachian State, @ West Virginia, @ North Carolina and vs. Virginia Tech for four very challenging OOC opponents for ECU, who return 51 letterwinners, with 9 OFF and 7 DEF plus both kickers. ECU lost 19-25 in Liberty vs. Kentucky to finish 9-5 last year.


5. Rice (#91) - Coach David Biliff enters his 3rd season at the helm for the Owls, who are coming off a 38-14 win over Western Michigan the Texas to finish 10-3. The Owls return 49 letterwinners, including 4 OFF and 9 DEF plus both kickers. The OOC slate includes @ Texas Tech, @ Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt and Navy for the Owls in '09.


6. Central Florida (#93) - Coach George O'Leary enters his 6Th season leading the Knights. The Knights finished 4-8 last year... 44 letterwinners return, with 9 OFF and 6 DEF plus punter. The OOC schedule begins with Samford, Buffalo, Miami-FL and @ Texas intermixed with C-USA play.


7. Memphis (#100) - Coach Tommy West is entering his 9Th season for the Tigers. The Tigers finished 6-7 last year, but lost 14-41 to USF in the St. Petersburg. The Tigers return 49 letterwinners, with 5 OFF and 7 DEF plus their placekicker. The '09 OOC slate opens with Mississippi as usual, with @ Middle Tennessee, UT-Martin and a later season game at Tennessee after 5/8Ths of C-USA play.


8. UTEP (#101) - Coach Mike Price enters his 6Th season at the helm for the Miners who were 5-7 last year. The Miners return 55 letterwinners, including 8 OFF and 7 DEF plus their punter. The OOC schedule includes Buffalo, Kansas, @ New Mexico State and @ Texas in '09, before opening C-USA play vs. Houston.



9. Marshall (#103) - Coach Mark Snyder is entering his 5Th year at the helm for the Thundering Herd that finished 4-8 last season. The Herd return 46 letterwinners, with 8 OFF and 8 DEF plus both kickers. The OOC slate begins with Southern Illinois, @ Virginia Tech, Bowling Green, then a later game in the middle of C-USA play @ West Virginia.


10. UAB (#118) - Coach Neil Callaway enters his 3Rd season at the helm for the Blazers. The Blazers return 51 letterwinners, with 11 OFF and 7 DEF from a 4-8 team in '08. The Blazers open the '09 season vs. Rice and vs. SMU in C-USA, then play @ Troy and @ Texas A&M and later OOC games @Mississippi and vs. Florida Atlantic.
    
11. Tulane (#134) - Coach Bob Toledo is entering his 3rd season and finished 2-10 last year. The Green Wave return 53 letterwinners, including 7 OFF and 6 DEF plus punter. The Green Wave picked up wins over ULM and SMU in '08. The OOC slate for '09 includes BYU, McNeese State, @ Army and @ LSU.


12. SMU (#135) - Coach June Jones enters his 2Nd season at the helm for the Mustangs, after leaving Hawaii. His first season finished 1-11, with only win against FCS Texas State. The Mustangs return 51 letterwinners, including 8 OFF and 8 DEF but will have to see an newcomer emerge as PK/PT. OOC schedule for Mustangs in '09 is Stephen F. Austin, @ Washington State, @ TCU and Navy.

A look back at last year's statistics in the Conference USA.

peace

Texas Bowl: Rice (9-3) vs. Western Michigan (9-3)

It's on the NFL Channel and I actually forgot to do a write up on this bowl game between two non-BCS teams from the C-USA and the MAC, respectively. The 2008 Texas Bowl has the hometown Rice Owls (9-3, tied for 1ST in the C-USA West Division) vs. the Western Michigan Broncos in Houston.

Cidsports' prediction:

Rice 28
Western Michigan 30

cidsports

peace

Friday Night College Football Today

The first weekend of college football continues tonight with two games on tap...

Friday, August 29th
Temple at Army
6:00 p.m.

ESPN Classic / ESPN 360
SMU at Rice
7:00 p.m.
(ESPN) (HD)

A chance to see some East Coast and Texas college football. Coach Al Gordon is an up and comer for Temple. SMU welcomes the debut of of coach June Jones, who departed Hawaii for SMU this past off season.

peace

It's not basketball, so will the 2008 C-USA season be relevant nationally?

The Conference USA nearly won the basketball crown last season, with the University of Memphis' Tigers falling short vs. the University of Kansas in the NCAA Title Game. But, what about football in 2008 for the Conference USA? Will the Conference USA be relevant on a national level in 2008?

The C-USA has never been relevant in the BCS. Unlike Memphis in basketball, there really isn't a marquee name in the conference at a national level in college football. Tulsa is about the only consensus type team in the conference... the top pick in the C-USA West. One preseason magazine picked a C-USA team in the Top 25, with Gold Sheet picking Eastern Carolina #25. Tulsa is my preseason #25 team, with a strong offense under coach Todd Graham, entering his third season.

Top 20 C-USA OOC games for '08:

1. West Virginia at East Carolina
2. Louisville at Memphis
3. Cincinnati at Marshall
4. East Carolina at Virginia Tech in season opener
5. Marshall at Wisconsin
6. Tulsa at Arkansas
7. Marshall at West Virginia
8. Central Florida at Boston College
9. East Carolina at Virginia
10. Central Florida at Miami-FL
11. East Carolina at North Carolina State
12. SMU at Texas Tech
13. UTEP at Texas
14. Memphis at Mississippi in season opener
15. Southern Mississippi at Auburn
16. Houston at Oklahoma State
17. Rice at Vanderbilt
18. Tulane at Alabama in the Green Wave's season opener
19. Tulane at LSU
20. UAB at Tennessee

Street & Smith's Preview asked: And what does a Conference USA team have to do to sneak into the BCS Party?

"You have to go undefeated and win all your games," (new Southern Miss coach
Larry) Fedora says.

Tulsa appears the best candidate to go undefeated, but they were 3 games short in '07, so they have a lot of ground to cover in '08.

Who are the top teams in '08 for the C-USA in football (my picks):

C-USA East

1. East Carolina ( 6-2 C-USA in '07)
2. Central Florida (7-1 C-USA in '07)
3. Memphis (6-2 C-USA in '07)
4. Marshall (3-5 C-USA in '07)
5. Southern Mississippi (5-3 C-USA in '07)
6. UAB (1-7 C-USA in '07

C-USA West

1. Tulsa (6-2 C-USA in '07)
2. Houston (6-2 C-USA in '07)
3. UTEP (2-6 C-USA in '07)
4. SMU (0-8 C-USA in '07)
5. Rice (3-5 C-USA in '07)
6. Tulane (3-5 C-USA in '07)

• Biggest Game in '08: Oct. 26th - UCF at Tulsa (Sunday game)
• Biggest Game in C-USA East: Nov. 2nd - East Carolina at UCF (Sunday game)
• C-USA Title Game Prediction: Tulsa over East Carolina
• Coach of the Year: Todd Graham, Tulsa

C-USA has a lot of ground to cover to get to the level the WAC and Mountain West. Those other two leagues have crashed the BCS bowl party. It's been four years, since major realignment of the C-USA. Tulsa may sneak into the Top 25, but I see them more like TCU in previous years and coming up short.

peace