No other way to slice it. This was a rough weekend for me as a sports fan. After the shellacking that the Pittsburgh Steelers endured at the hands of the Patriots today, that would be bad enough alone to ruin my sports weekend. However, after a 34-17 meltdown in Boca Raton yesterday, things are pretty rough right now.
That said, the sky hasn't fallen on Tulane yet, as disappointing as Saturday turned out to be. Tulane is still off to its best start in-conference since the otherworldly 1998 season at 4-1. Moreover, they have two great opportunities coming up in UT San Antonio and UTEP before the final dance with the Rice Owls.
Here are the Power Rankings for Conference USA: Week 11. I'll attach last week's rank, in addition to each team's record, for you reference. Weigh in below in the comments or on Twitter @fearthewaveblog.
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14. Southern Mississippi (0-8 Record // 0-4 in CUSA // L to Marshall) [14th]
Notes: Dumpster fire. It shouldn't count as a win unless you put up 50+ on the Golden Eagles this season.
13. Florida International (1-7 Record // 0-3 in CUSA // L to ECU) [12th]
12. UTEP (1-6 Record // 0-4 in CUSA // L to Texas A&M) [13th]
Notes: Moving UTEP up one spot because the Miners played a first quarter of competitive football against a vastly superior team, before Johnny Manziel decided to shift into gear. That was the end of that.
11. UAB (2-6 Record // 1-3 in CUSA // L to MTSU) [11th]
Notes: Played a close game against Middle Tennessee State University, but a good loss won't be good enough to jumpstart their season.
10. Tulsa (2-6 Record // 1-3 in CUSA // L to UTSA) [9th]
Notes: Tulsa's stock continues to freefall. The Golden Hurricanes, one year removed from playing the conference championship, took a beating at the hands of UT San Antonio. This officially is a lost year for the Oklahoma squad.
9. Louisiana Tech (3-5 Record // 2-2 in CUSA // Bye) [8th]
8. Middle Tennessee State (5-4 Record // 3-2 in Conference // W against UAB) [6th]
Notes: Downgrading MTSU after a win doesn't make a lot of sense. However, they showed their vulnerability against UAB, and a couple of other squads produced more firepower in Week 10.
7. Florida Atlantic University (3-6 Record // 2-4 in CUSA // W against Tulane) [10th]
Notes: Bumping FAU after taking down conference-leader Tulane in a convincing fashion. After facing national humiliation at the hands of their coaching staff, this team found a way to get fired up and protect their Homecoming. The FAU Owls could still claw their way into bowl eligibility, especially with a weak schedule in front of them.
6. UT San Antonio (4-5 Record // 3-2 in CUSA // W against Tulsa) [7th]
Notes: UTSA's stock continues to rise. This week, they laid a smackdown on Tulsa's home field that effectively ended the Golden Hurricanes' season. UTSA is working their way into bowl eligibility, and you can expect that they will be fired up for a home matchup against Tulane this weekend.
5. Marshall (5-3 Record // 3-1 in CUSA // W against USM) [5th]
4. Tulane (6-3 Record // 4-1 in CUSA // L against FAU) [2nd]
Notes: At this level, the top five teams are very tightly bunched, reflecting the final five in both divisions. Here's the deal. The Green Wave is absolutely still in position to control its own destiny over the next three games. The key variable will be Coach CJ's ability to figure out this offense and produce a stable passing game. Without that, UTSA will be a trap game, and Rice could become very challenging as well.
3. Rice (6-3 Record // 4-1 in CUSA // L against UNT) [1st]
Notes: Rice is still ahead of the Green Wave because, simply put, they played better ball on the road against UNT. The Owls still have a great shot to win the conference, as victories against Louisiana Tech and UAB will 100% give Rice a "win-and-you're-in" scenario in the final week of the regular season.
2. UNT (6-3 Record // 4-1 in CUSA // W against Rice) [4th]
Notes: The Mean Green look hungry. The biggest factor working against them is that they would lose the tiebreaker with Tulane due to a head-to-head loss earlier this year. So for that reason, expect the fans in Denton to be pulling hard for the Green Wave's opponents in this final stretch.
1. ECU (6-2 Record // 4-1 in CUSA // W against FIU) [3rd]
Notes: Remember that outlive, outlast, outplay slogan that "Survivor" used to use? That pretty much describes the Pirates' placement this week. They are continuing to take care of business, and they control their own destiny to win the East Division. A final matchup with Marshall could determine the divisional champion if the Thundering Herd remain error free over the next two weeks.
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