Conference USA Power Rankings: WEEK 1

I have been thinking about ways to expand the coverage on this site. From now on, I plan to do my own power rankings for Conference USA on each Friday of the conference season. Make sure to leave comments if you agree/disagree, but here's my take on the teams' positions so far.

1. UCF - 14-0: The Golden Knights retain their perfect record and open the conference season with a narrow victory over Marshall. Still flawless. Still on top in the conference.

2. Memphis - 11-3: The Tigers haven't faced an opponent in-conference yet, but their position as the second best team is certainly in dispute. For the third time this season, Memphis fell (by 20 points, this time, to in-state rival Tennessee). Short story: the 22nd ranked team is looking overrated and beatable.

3. Southern Mississippi - 12-2: Southern Miss. took down Houston to begin conference play with a win. They have not yet faced a remarkably challenging opponent, but their non-conference schedule included several wins over major conference opponents.

4. Tulane - 11-3: The Green Wave is rolling. Five straight wins mark a true hot streak for Conroy's squad. However, Tulane won't face off against UCF or Memphis until the end of the season, which may dictate whether the Wave is ready to dance.

5. UTEP - 11-3: In spite of a fairly successful record, UTEP suffered a beatdown in its only competitive contest this season: a 21 point loss to BYU. Road games at UAB and Tulane will test the Miners' mettle in the next week.

6. UAB - 10-3: UAB closed out its non-conference season with a tough loss at Duke. They will open the second half the season with a home game against UTEP.

7. Marshall - 10-4: The Thundering Herd was handed their fourth loss of the season after playing a close game against the red hot Golden Knights of UCF. The team hasn't found a signature win yet this season but has looked fairly competitive in most games so far.

8. Southern Methodist - 9-5: The Mustangs have limped through an extremely light non-conference schedule to a 9-5 record. SMU will head to Tulane after a smackdown at the hands of Ole Miss last week.

9. Rice - 8-7: The Owls, though barely above .500, showed their strength in a tight game with the Green Wave this week. Rice looks like it can compete with most teams in the conference but still has room to improve in close games.

10. Houston - 8-6: No victories to write home about yet this season. Worse yet, Houston will likely face another loss when they head to UCF this week.

11. Tulsa - 7-7: Though Tulsa remains at .500, they have shown some spark throughout the season (i.e. beating the Stanford Cardinal away). The team suffered from a tough non-conference schedule but could gain steam over the next two months.

12. East Carolina - 8-6: Their record may be better than Tulsa's, but the Pirates are 1-4 in the last five games. To make matters worse, they head to Memphis for a matchup with the Tigers.

What do you think?