The Marshall Thundering Herd are in town today for a 1 PM matchup against Tulane. The Green Wave will look to seize an opportunity to boost their 4-4 in-conference record above .500 on the year.

Of course, Tulane is coming off of a great home win against the Charlotte 49ers, perhaps the most erratic squad in the conference this season.

Let's put it this way... Charlotte (now 5-4 in CUSA) has wins over Kansas State, UTEP, and the top-10 Michigan Wolverines. The flip side: their losses on the road now include both Tulane and Rice.

The Green Wave definitely established some momentum against a competent opponent in that game, capped off by Jay Hook nailing two go-ahead free throws for the win. Although, it should be noted that the 49ers almost hit a crazy buzzer beater. Check out the fan video below.


So turning to the Marshall Thundering Herd, here is the breakdown.

1. Marshall isn't very good this year. Their record of 8-16 is pretty reflective of the season they have been having. They have only two wins in-conference so far, over the struggling Rice Owls as well as Florida International. We had them ranked 14th coming into this week in our Power Rankings.

2. Senior forward Elijah Pittman is a prolific scorer. His 21.1 points per game makes him the biggest threat on this squad, hands down.

3. Marshall has only won one game on the road this season (a Jan. 23 victory over Rice). Other than that, they have not had success away from West Virginia.

4. That said, the Thundering Herd are coming off perhaps the best game they've played this year... They took the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles to the wire in Hattiesburg, ultimately falling 60-57. As you probably remember, USM mauled Tulane in Devlin last week.

This should be a good opportunity for Coach Conroy to notch another win with several tougher games coming down the road. Roll wave.

It might just be that our Tulane Green Wave suffered a pretty dramatic smackdown on its trip to Hattiesburg this week... but has anyone considered that there are too many teams in this conference?

On the real. Just remembering who is in Conference USA at this point is a feat in itself.

But more importantly, Conference USA has to be one of the more interesting non-major, non-mid major conferences around. Why? Well, it's weird. There are four pretty clearly divided and totally different tiers of teams in this Frankenstein of a league:

Tier Four: The Young and the Hopeless: Rice, ECU, Marshall, and probably North Texas are just getting practice time at this point. Winning 4+ games in conference is probably a goal for these squads.

Tier Three: The Three Win Wonders: Next up, there is a huge group of teams that are almost identically shaky: Tulane, UTSA, Florida International, Florida Atlantic, and UAB. They win against each other and then typically suffer pretty catastrophic drubbings against the next two tiers.

Tier Two: Shoulda Coulda Woulda: Tulsa, Old Dominion, and Charlotte all could be contenders in this type of conference in the future. But not yet. They are a pain in the neck for the better in-conference opponents, but they are all saddled by stupid losses, either out of conference or to lesser squads in the good ol' C-USA.

Tier One: Sure, every conference has this. I truly think this is a three horse race, at best, but you can make the argument that Middle Tennessee could be a Cinderella in the league tourney.

Every conference is going to have a spread of teams; I just find it funky that C-USA has this eclectic bunch of teams either just joining a superior or conference or desperately fleeing it for greener pastures in the AAC.

Here are the rankings. Last week's ranking is next to each.
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16. Rice (6-15 / 1-7 CUSA) [15th] 
Notes: Started from the bottom, now we're here. The Owls are in an all-out fight for last place with the Pirates of East Carolina. The bowl of sadness between the two teams will be on Feb. 22. 

15. East Carolina (12-10 / 1-6 CUSA) [16th]  

14. Marshall (8-15 / 2-6 CUSA) [14th]  
Notes: The Thundering Herd have not been a threat against any competent team so far this year.

13. North Texas (11-10 / 2-5 CUSA) [11th] 
Notes: Two losses this week. Plus, they suffered a 31 point drubbing at the hands of Tulsa. Stock falling.  

12. UT San Antonio (7-13 / CUSA 3-4) [13th] 
Notes: Snapped a 3-game losing streak with a win over Rice. They get to move up one, but at least they have the tough part of their schedule in the books.  

11. Florida International (11-11 / CUSA 3-4) [9th] 

10. Tulane (11-11 / CUSA 3-4) [10th] 
Notes: Probably should defense this, since the Green Wave took a beating from Southern Mississippi this weekend. Like a big one. Very similar to what we saw against Louisiana Tech earlier this year. So why keep them in the same place? None of the teams below in the rankings would have fared better, and FIU took two weaker losses. So hey, we aren't moving backwards.   

9. Florida Atlantic University (8-14 / CUSA 3-4) [12th] 
Notes: Whatever happened with their football coach? I kind of blocked that part of the football season out of my mind immediately afterward. FAU beat Marshall and stuck around a better Charlotte team. Stock rising slightly above the rest of these teams.  

8. UAB (14-7 / CUSA 3-4) [7th]  

7. Tulsa (10-11 / CUSA 5-2) [8th] 
Notes: If you want a deep sleeper pick in this conference, it should be Tulsa. They are using in-conference games to pad their winning column. They even have a win over a tourney team (home vs. Southern Miss). Good start to this half of the season. Let's see if they can keep it up.  

6. Old Dominion (10-12 / CUSA 4-3) [5th] 
Notes: Last week, I said Old Dominion's descent was about to commence. And it did. They suffered double digit losses against both Middle Tennessee and UAB. Their stock is starting to fall.

5. Charlotte (14-7 / CUSA 5-3) [6th] 

4. Middle Tennessee State (15-7 / CUSA 5-2) [4th]  

3. Louisiana Tech (18-5 / CUSA 6-2) [2nd] 
Notes: This is where I draw the line of contenders and pretenders. Louisiana Tech is a quality team, but they had a big test against UTEP, and the Miners finished the job. Only two tough games left are Tulsa and Middle Tennessee. The bigger dogs are all out of the way.  

2. UTEP (16-6 / CUSA 6-1) [3rd] 
Notes: Time to believe in the Miners of UTEP. They are riding a 6 game winning streak with victories of Louisiana Tech, UAB, and Middle Tennessee State. The matchup with Southern Mississippi on Feb. 22 is going to be a great game.  

1. Southern Mississippi (19-3 / 6-1 CUSA)
Notes: The team from Hattiesburg continues to control their own fate. They rocked our Tulane Green Wave by a margin of 31 points. They outrebound you. They outshoot you. They outplay you. One more week of this, and USM should have a chance to cracking the Top 25.

That's all for now. Follow FearTheWave.com on Facebook too.  

Hope everyone back in New Orleans is enjoying the snow day... It's -10 in Michigan right now. Every day is a snow day.

Anyway, we are getting deeper into the Conference USA season, and the contenders and pretenders are starting to separate. The clear surprise of the season so far has been Old Dominion, but the Monarchs are about to come back to earth.

The bigger mover, in my opinion, is the UTEP Miner squad. They are starting to make a case for a "group of three" sitting atop the league.

Here are my power rankings for Week 13 of the college basketball season. You can see last week's rank next to each listing.
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16. East Carolina (11-9 // 0-5 CUSA) [10th] 
Notes: According to Twitter, some World Wrestling event referred to East Carolina as the "Harvard of the South." Sadly for the Pirates, they don't even stack up to Harvard's basketball team this year.

15. Rice Owls (6-13 // 1-5 CUSA) [16th] 

14. Marshall Thundering Herd (7-14 // 1-5 CUSA) [15th] 

13. UT San Antonio (6-12 // 2-3 CUSA) [14th] 
Notes: The Roadrunners are on a three game losing streak. They luckily will place the Rice Owls on Jan. 30 in a bottomfeeder frenzy. Something's gotta give.

12. Florida Atlantic (7-13 // 2-3 CUSA) [13th] 

11. North Texas (11-9 // 2-4 CUSA) [9th] 
Notes: UNT will probably move up a bit, as they are coming off losses to Charlotte and Middle Tennessee, two of the better team in-conference. At 1-5 so far though, the Mean Green will be most irrelevant this year.

10. Tulane (11-10 // 3-3 CUSA) [12th] 
Notes: The good? Tulane picked up some needed momentum with a home win against Rice followed by a road win against ECU. The bad news? They couldn't pull out a comeback over Old Dominion, and they head to Southern Mississippi next. The Green Wave will have to stay strong in their weaker games if they want to reach .500 in-conference.

9. Florida International (11-9 // 3-2) [11th] 

8. Tulsa (9-11 // 4-2 CUSA) [7th] 
Notes: What a crazy team. Their stock fell after a home loss to UAB, but they have wins over Middle Tennessee and Southern Miss... and an overtime loss to Charlotte wasn't bad. Tulsa doesn't have the consistency to go for the title, but they are dangerous when they're on.

7. UAB (13-6 // 2-3 CUSA) [6th] 

6. Charlotte (12-7 // 3-3 CUSA) [3rd] 
Notes: The 49ers are another team that makes no sense this year. They took down a Michigan team that later toppled an extremely talented Michigan State this past weekend. Would they throw down in-conference? Not looking like it. They suffered a loss to a good Louisiana Tech team... but then they inexplicably dropped to the Rice Owls this week. Yikes.

5. Old Dominion (10-10 // 4-1 CUSA) [8th] 
Notes: My prediction is that this will be the highest I rank Old Dominion this year, as they continue to exceed all reasonable expectations. They take care of business against weak teams, and their only loss is to USM. My guess is that they don't have the talent to handle any of the top tier in this league but will pad their record against the bottom two thirds of the conference. No disrespect, but the Monarchs just don't seem to be a contender team right now.

4. Middle Tennessee State (13-7 // 3-2 CUSA) [5th] 

3. UTEP (14-6 // 4-1 CUSA) [4th] 
Notes: The Miners' stock is rising. They have usurped Charlotte as the scrappy dark horse this week with the 49ers various failings. That said, the Miners have done some good in their own right. Four game winning streak? Check. But Louisiana Tech is next for their first big test in-conference.

2. Louisiana Tech (17-4 // 5-1 CUSA) [2nd] 
Notes: Laid a 20 point smackdown on Charlotte. Lousiana Tech basically has a road trip to El Paso followed by a whole lot of nothing after that. If they get past UTEP, it wouldn't be a shocker to see the Bulldogs run the table.

1. Southern Mississippi (18-3 // 5-1 CUSA) [1st] 
Notes: The Golden Eagles are in "don't shoot ourselves in the foot" mode. They already beat Louisiana Tech, so they just need to take care of business this week against Tulane and Marshall. USM is still the clear front runner for the top seed going into the conference tournament.

Follow fearthewave.com on Facebook too. 

Green Wave fans. It's been about a month since the New Orleans Bowl marked the end of Tulane's football season. So I guess it is about time to jump into this exciting Conference USA basketball season...

I kid, but people liked the power rankings throughout football, so I am going to bring them back for the remainder of the in-conference schedule. Let me know what you think on Twitter (@fearthewaveblog) or in the comments, as always.

WEEK 12 - CONFERENCE USA BASKETBALL POWER RANKINGS 

16. RICE OWLS (5-12 / 0-4 CUSA) 
Notes: Rice is real bad this year. An 0-4 start in CUSA is disastrous, and a beatdown by Tulane didn't help matters. Rice will remain a bottomfeeder in this conference, even with some new contenders for that title in the mix this year.

15. MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD (6-13 / 0-4) 
Notes: Marshall and Rice play next to determine who will sink a bit further for next week's edition.

14. UT SAN ANTONIO (6-11 / 2-2 CUSA) 
Notes: Ken Pomeroy actually has this as the worst team in Conference USA. Remember that newly D1-A football team that broke Tulane's season in football, impressive in its youth and potential. Evidently, that narrative doesn't apply at all for the Roadrunners in basketball. The travesty is that the Roadrunners football team and basketball team will have the same postseason hopes in the 2013-2014 seasons...

13. FLORIDA ATLANTIC OWLS (6-12 / 2-2 CUSA) 

12. TULANE GREEN WAVE (10-9 / 2-2 CUSA) 
Notes: What a weird year. First with the exodus of players back in the spring and then the 8 freshmen Coach Ed Conroy had to prepare for college basketball. Tulane just isn't clicking yet. I don't know how to define it, but this week paints a pretty clear picture: the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs held Tulane to the fewest field goals ever for the team... they respond by shellacking an undermanned Rice squad. I expect 2014 to look very similar: win some games against the other scrappy CUSA teams, and get the youth ready for a move to the AAC.

11. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (10-9 / 2-2 CUSA) 
Notes: Notched a nice win against East Carolina, but they put up 36 points against Old Dominion. What?

10. EAST CAROLINA (11-7 / 0-3 CUSA) 

9. NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN (10-8 / 1-3 CUSA) 

8. OLD DOMINION MONARCHS (9-3 / 3-0 CUSA) 
Notes: Did anyone know that they were called the Monarchs? I pride myself on a fair amount of team name trivia, and this came out of nowhere for me. They are 3-0 in conference so far, but this Monarch will prove to be a pretender going forward.

7. TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (8-10 / 3-1 CUSA) 
Notes: Tulsa is trying to keep it weird out in Oklahoma. Their non-conference season was easily forgettable, but they have shown some heart in this early conference season. A smackdown of Tulane was pretty unexpected given both teams' records, but Tulsa looks to be a cut above the rest.

6. UAB DRAGONS (12-5 / 1-2 CUSA) 
Notes: UAB still owns a non-conference win over the UNC Tar Heels, which has to be the strongest win in the conference this year. They took a close loss to UTEP this week. That game kind of was a test for me. I am not betting on the Dragons to emerge as a top dog. They will batter the lesser CUSA talent, but I don't thing they can hang with a Louisiana Tech or Southern Miss to contend for the crown in the end.

5. MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE BLUE RAIDERS (12-6 / 2-1 CUSA) 

4. UTEP MINERS (13-6 / 3-1 CUSA) 
Notes: Took care of Middle Tennessee State and UTEP, two of the stronger threats in the league. Their lone conference loss is to Charlotte.

3. CHARLOTTE 49ERS (12-5 / 3-1 CUSA) 
Notes: I know so little about this new CUSA team, but they are probably peaking too early. They survived an overtime scare on the road against Tulsa, and they even managed to beat a reasonably solid UTEP team. Their conference loss? UT San Antonio... No good.

2. LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS (3-1 / 15-4) 

1. SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES (16-3 / 3-1 CUSA) 
Notes: I had Southern Miss as my top pick in CUSA coming into this season, and they deserve to be near the top. Great overall record, but a loss to Tulsa took some of the wind out of the Hurricane in the early season. They did manage to take care of a very good Louisiana Tech team in a home victory last night. To me, that represents a big momentum shift for this team in a "test" type of game. However, I do think Louisiana Tech is going to end up winning the conference when it's all said and done. The Bulldogs are a much more efficient defense than the Eagles, and their offensive firepower is pretty comparable. They won't meet again until the CUSA Conference Championship.

Let me know what you think. We'll check in again next week. @fearthewaveblog 

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.

Conference USA is beginning to see the contenders and pretenders divide as we move into the late part of the season.

For reference, here is our last set of Power Rankings. Short Story: Rice and Tulane are currently surging, while Marshall and Tulsa saw their stock fall. ECU and Marshall are now tied in the East division heading into the conference race.
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14. Southern Mississippi (0-7 Record // 0-3 in Conference // L to UNT) [14th] 
Notes: USM's 2013 campaign continues to sink deeper and deeper. Last week, they were blown out by an angry East Carolina program, and they followed this week with a stomping at the hands of UNT. The team's only hope to avoid a winless year may be Nov. 16th's home matchup with Florida Atlantic.

13. UTEP (1-6 Record // 0-4 in Conference // L to Rice) [12th]

12. Florida International (1-6 Record // 1-2 in Conference // L to LT) [13th]

11. UAB (2-5 Record // 1-2 in Conference // L to UT-SA) [10th] 
Notes: UAB has been one of those teams that I've been curious about. However, after trailing at halftime 38-10 to UT San Antonio, it became overwhelmingly clear that UAB is headed for a hopeless 2013 season.

10. Florida Atlantic (2-6 Record // 1-4 in Conference // L to Auburn) [12th] 
Notes: Florida Atlantic had the "honor" of playing one of those late season cupcake non-conference games beloved by the SEC. Auburn handed FAU a 45-10 beatdown, not unexpectedly. FAU will look to refocus for an in-conference home game against Tulane.

9. Tulsa (2-5 Record // 1-2 in Conference // L to Tulane) [6th]
Notes: Tulsa had never lost to Tulane in the history of Conference USA. In fact, the last Green Wave victory over the Golden Hurricanes was in 1968. Richard Nixon defeated Humphrey in the Presidential election that fall. It's been a while. Tulsa is now unable to defend its conference championship with a 1-2 record.

8. Louisiana Tech (3-5 Record // 2-2 in Conference // W @ FIU) [7th]

7. UT San Antonio (3-5 Record // 2-2 in Conference // W against UAB) [9th]
Notes: Nothing special to say about San Antonio's Roadrunners. They picked up a big win over a bad UAB team, but they have dropped games to both Marshall and Rice pretty heavily. UTSA doesn't have the strength or the record to contend this year.

6. Middle Tennessee State (4-4 Record // 2-2 in Conference // W against Marshall) [8th] 

5. Marshall (4-3 Record // 2-1 in Conference // L @ MTSU) [1st] 
Notes: Marshall took a damning road loss against Middle Tennessee State, a team that has struggled with consistency throughout 2013. The damage is substantial, as they forfeited their one game lead in the Conference USA East division. East Carolina will have an equal change to duke it out for a trip to the conference championship.

4. North Texas (5-3 Record // 3-1 in Conference // W @ Southern Miss) [5th] 
Notes: UNT took care of business by smoking a terrible Southern Miss team. That said, their 3-1 record in conference leaves the Mean Green on the outside looking in. In the West division, both Tulane and Rice hold 4-0 records at this point without many opportunities to falter ahead.

3. East Carolina (5-2 Record // 3-1 in Conference // Bye) [4th] 

2. Tulane (6-2 Record // 4-0 in Conference // W against Tulsa) [2nd] 
Notes: Objectively the strongest the program has been since 2002. Getting the Tulsa monkey off of the Green Wave's back (wave?) is a huge step in the right direction. That said, the offense is still shaky until the Nick Montana injury is fully resolved. Luckily, Devin Powell continues to put in his best effort, and the team is 2-0 without Montana under center.

1. Rice (6-2 Record // 4-0 in Conference // W against UTEP [3rd] 
Notes: Rice's season has equaled Tulane's thus far. The deciding factor in this week's ranking? Rice throttled UTEP 45-7, playing lockdown defense and firing on all cylinders on offense. At this stage of the season, the West division is a two horse race, and all signs point to the regular season finale between Rice and Tulane as a can't miss game.

Thoughts on the Week 10 Power Rankings? Sound off on Twitter @fearthewaveblog.

Here are your Conference USA Power Rankings going into Week 8 of the college football season.

For reference, here is last week's rankings. I have listed each team's record, conference record, result, and last week's position in brackets.

Sound off in the comments or to @fearthewaveblog on Twitter.
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Week 8 Power Rankings: 

14. Southern Mississippi (0-6 Record // 0-1 in Conference // Bye) [14th]

13. Florida International (1-5 Record // 1-1 in Conference // L to UAB) [13th]

Notes: Florida International didn't show a sign of life this week against UAB, another Conference USA bottom feeder this year. That dropped their in-conference record to 1-1, and they likely will continue to fall going into the tougher conference matchups.

12. UTEP (1-5 Record // 0-3 in Conference // L to Tulsa) [12th]

11. Florida Atlantic (2-5 Record // 1-4 in Conference // L against Marshall) [10th]

Notes: You have to hand it to Florida Atlantic. They have a drubbing next week when they head to #24 Auburn, and the early season has not been good to FAU. That said, they almost slipped by a much stronger Marshall team in a 24-23 loss this weekend. FAU is ahead of the bottom of the pack, but not by much. They have already dug themselves into a deep conference hole, and the squad is effectively eliminated from contending this year.

10. UAB (2-4 Record // 1-1 in Conference // W against FIU) [11th]

Notes: UAB picked up a Conference USA victory against Florida International, but that won't do enough to move the Dragons in front of the the middle of the conference pack. They will continue to lag toward the bottom unless the team picks up the pace in the late season.

9. UT San Antonio (2-4 Record // 1-1 in Conference // L against Rice) [9th] 

8. Middle Tennessee State (3-4 Record // 1-2 in Conference // L against UNT) [5th]

Notes: In a week without a lot of movement, MTSU is the biggest stock dropping. They were slammed last weekend on a road trip to Denton, TX. A UNT team reeling from a Tulane loss took care of business. MTSU has not competed against any solid competition and continues to falter against the middle and bottom of the conference.

7.  Louisiana Tech (2-4 Record // 1-1 in Conference // W against UTEP) [8th]

6. Tulsa (2-4 Record // 1-1 in Conference // Bye) [7th]

5. North Texas (3-3 Record // 1-1 in Conference // W against MTSU) [6th]

Notes: UNT came back from a loss to Tulane in the fourth quarter by taking care of business against MTSU. The bad news is that Rice and Tulane are both undefeated in conference, so the Mean Green cannot afford another loss.

4. East Carolina (4-2 Record // 1-1 in Conference // L against Tulane) [2nd] 

Notes: ECU has churned out conference championship-level competition over the years, but a triple overtime thriller pushed the Pirates a game back in their division. Marshall is the key barrier for ECU to return to the conference title game. Fortunately, they will have a matchup with bottom dweller USM next week to recover from their New Orleans trip.

3. Rice (4-2 Record // 3-0 in Conference // W against UTSA) [3rd] 

Notes: Rice is 3-0 and tied for the division of Tulane. Comparing their schedules, the final game of the regular season could very well determine the division champion when the Owls face off against the Green Wave. That game will be in Houston this season.

2. Tulane (5-2 Record // 3-0 in Conference // W against ECU) [4th]

Notes: Coach Curtis Johnson picked up his first signature win on Saturday when Tulane held on to win an enormous game in three overtimes. The game was the longest in Green Wave history, and it was highlighted by Lou Groza award-winner Cairo Santos' five field goals (including the game winner). Tulane heads into the bye week in the driver's seat for their division.

1. Marshall (4-2 Record // 2-0 in Conference // W against FAU) [1st] 

Notes: The Thundering Herd retain their top spot after sneaking past a much weaker Florida Atlantic team. That said, they have taken care of business so far in the conference. More importantly, they have the strongest-looking game on the schedule, having taken ranked Virginia Tech to three overtimes before ultimately losing. Marshall has ability, and, thanks to Tulane, a one game lead over perennial power ECU.

Week 6 of the NCAA football season is in the books. The remaining Conference USA squads are putting enough in-conference games in the books for us to get a sense of where the teams really sit. Here's my breakdown of Week 6.

Also, let me know what you think about this. I always enjoyed the power rankings for basketball, so hopefully football will be equally as fun to do.

14. Southern Mississippi (0-5 Record // 0-1 CUSA // Loss against FIU) 

Notes: The glory days for the Golden Eagles are way behind them. An 0-5 start to this season is disastrous to begin with. However, a home loss to a bad Florida International team in Week 6 will not bode well for USM. Dumpster fire at its worst.

13. Florida International (1-4 Record // 1-0 CUSA // Win @ Southern Miss) 

12. UTEP (1-4 Record // 0-2 CUSA // Loss against Louisiana Tech) 

11. UAB (1-4 Record // 0-1 CUSA // Loss against FAU) 

Notes: UAB has not won against a Division 1-A program yet this year. They will hope to change that if they want to push toward the middle of their division in the conference.

10. Florida Atlantic (2-4 Record // 1-3 CUSA // Win @ UAB) 

Notes: Florida Atlantic has a victory against a major conference opponent --- they smacked down the University of South Florida earlier this season. That's a rare feather for this conference. Nonetheless, the Bulls are truly terrible, and Florida Atlantic won't look to contend this season. Dropping their first three C-USA games has set FAU back already.

9. UT-San Antonio (2-4 Record // 1-1 CUSA // Loss against Marshall) 

8. Louisiana Tech (2-4 Record // 1-1 CUSA // Win @ UTEP) 

Notes: Took a bad home loss to Tulane a few weeks back. They came back by picking up a road win against UTEP. Unfortunately, the Miners are a substandard team this season, and Louisiana Tech hasn't impressed yet.

7. Tulsa (1-4 Record // 0-1 CUSA // Loss in OT against Rice) 

Notes: Their record is atrocious. However, they played a tougher non-conference schedule than most C-USA teams. On top of that, they challenged Rice en route to an overtime loss. I would expect Tulsa to have a bit of upside this season in the conference.

6. University of North Texas (2-3 Record // 0-1 CUSA // Loss @ Tulane) 

5. Middle Tennessee State (3-3 Record // 1-1 CUSA // Loss @ ECU) 

4. Tulane (4-2 Record // Win against UNT) 

Notes: Best start in recent memory? Check. Breaking the Homecoming Curse, a losing streak reaching all the way back to 2006? Check. The Green Wave has momentum. Toughest games left on the schedule are next week's matchup with East Carolina, and the Rice game in Houston to close out the regular season. Several more cupcakes will help Tulane pave the way to bowl eligibility, however.

3. Rice (3-2 Record // 2-0 CUSA // Win in OT against Tulsa) 

2. East Carolina (4-1 Record // 2-0 CUSA // Win @ MTSU) 

Notes: MTSU is one of the stronger CUSA teams this year, so a road win against them will help East Carolina secure its division. CUSA East will come down to Marshall and East Carolina. That matchup will come in the last game of the regular season for the Pirates.

1. Marshall (3-2 Record // 1-0 CUSA // Win against UTSA) 

Sound off on Twitter. @fearthewaveblog. 

Tulane's Tarrant (from nola.com)

Conference USA teams are now wrapping up their non-conference schedules, so things are about to get much more interesting in the rankings.

At the very least, we are starting to see the conference begin to separate a bit in these last few games of conference play. So without further adieu, we begin with...

12. Rice (3-9; W10 - 12th) - I've been waiting to use this since Christmas, but "Stink... Stank... Stunk..." pretty much describes what is happening with the Owls. They haven't won a game in almost a month. No sign that things will get any better once they open in-conference against Southern Mississippi.

11. Marshall (7-7; W10 - 7th) - Marshall suffered the biggest drop in the rankings. Once upon a time, the Thundering Herd were expected to challenge Memphis for an NCAA berth. Things have changed. Star DeAndre Kane is out, and the team has failed to figure out a game plan in his absence. A loss to Kentucky won't kill you, but getting smacked down by the Delaware State Hornets will. Marshall is looking like a falling star.

10. Tulsa (8-6; W10 - 11th) - Tulsa gets a slight bump because Marshall looks worse, but nothing much to say here. They took a drubbing at the hands of both Creighton and FSU. They added a close win against Buffalo (a 5-9 MAC team) to their resume. I'm guessing Tulsa's record will start to plummet once they hit the conference.

9. UAB (8-6; W10 - 10th) - UAB hasn't really done anything to hurt its case over the last couple of weeks... but it hasn't helped itself either. UAB captured an additional two victories over some bad competition: Northeastern and Georgia Southern. I'm not ready to move UAB up, really, in light of six pretty deserved losses. While UAB has played some competition, it has failed to show that it can contend against a competent team. That will end up hurting them.

8. East Carolina (8-4; W10 - 5th) - ECU's stock is also falling. After a solid start, they are starting to drop some ugly games, and there's no sign of stopping in conference play. Here's my personal favorite: an overtime home loss to the Campbell State Fighting Camels. Boom. ECU doesn't seem to have a lot under the hood, and I expect them to pay for it once they hit the better in-conference teams.

7. Southern Methodist (10-5; W10 - 6th) - After a 10-1 start, Larry Brown's Mustangs have come back to earth. Or Conference USA. Or somewhere. They took a loss to Wyoming, a team that is on the cusp of being ranked, so that's not terrible. A 2-4 record since Dec. 15 doesn't look very strong, however. Losses to Wagner and Rhode Island seem to be indicative of this team's problems.

6. Houston (10-2; W10 - 9th) - Houston, Houston, Houston... They boast a rare distinction of holding the best C-USA record and also being the second worst team in Ken Pomeroy's rankings (at 192...). What gives? They've played nobody. And they have been challenged by weak competition (Texas Southern, Prairie Valley, etc.). I expect Houston to follow Tulane's 2011 trajectory: great non-conference play followed by a bunch of early losses in January. Then again... they keep winning, so it's tough to demote them.

5. UTEP (6-6; W10 - 8th) - UTEP is still moving on up. After taking a ranked UNLV to the wire and beating a rock solid Oregon team, UTEP hasn't stopped their resurgence. They smoked a Nebraska team that beat Tulane earlier this year. The down side? UTEP took an ugly loss to Colorado State this week that hurts their case a bit. Still a strong team that has some upside in conference play.

Memphis opens 2013 with a win over Tennessee 

4. UCF (9-4; W10 - 4th) - This is the weakest UCF team in recent memory. That said, no one is really making a case from below to take their spot. The Golden Knights took a loss to South Florida, completing the Florida trifecta of defeats against the Florida Gators, Miami Hurricanes, and South Florida Bulls. Not good. Their offensive efficiency is still solid while their defense continues to give up points to bad teams. UCF will need to re-establish itself in conference play if it wants some relevance this year.

3. Southern Mississippi (11-4; W10 - 2nd) - The way I see it, we have the top three teams and everyone else, right now. Since last ranking, USM lost to a good Wichita team and smoked a Morehead State squad that gave Kentucky some trouble, once upon a time. In a quirky scheduling move, Southern Miss finished 2012 with two exhibition games against junior college teams... Southern Miss will open its 2013 against Rice.

2. Tulane (12-3; W10 - 3rd) - This is the highest I have put the Green Wave so far this season. Tulane is riding a five game win streak with two of their best wins of the year to close out non-conference play: a road win at Alabama and a home beatdown of Wofford. Josh Davis is leading the conference in scoring and adding a ton of rebounds on the side. And... even after a slow first half, Davis likes to do stuff like this:

Tulane has a ton of momentum right now. They respond to slow starts with a dominant second halves, consistently finding a way to win. Tulane will have a chance to prove itself with a home opener against UTEP on Wednesday.

1. Memphis (10-3; W10 - 1st). Memphis is still the top dog in the conference. In short, they haven't given up anything in December. The Tigers successfully dominated a slew of mid-majors before capping off its non-conference season with a solid victory over Tennessee on national TV last night. Until Tulane or Southern Miss can show it can beat the Tigers, Memphis will retain its spot in the driver's seat. With early games against ECU, UAB, and Rice, it seems Memphis won't see a big game until its Jan. 22 matchup with the Green Wave. And while Tulane has dominated with Josh Davis at forward, Memphis's Joe Jackson is the best guard in the conference with a knack for coming up big in vital games (23 against Louisville and 21 against Tennessee).

That's what I'm seeing at the moment. Let me know on the Fear the Wave Facebook if you have thoughts/disagreements.

Green Wave fans, unfortunately, I missed a week of new power rankings last weekend while I was taking my finals. My B. Luckily, most teams had a little mid-December break in their schedules anyway, so we didn't really miss much.

Here's what the Conference USA landscape looks like with only a few games left before the conference schedule begins. Short story: the power teams are starting to emerge while some early risers have begun their descent. Here's what I'm thinking. At number 12...

12. Rice (3-8; W6 - 12th) - The Owls aren't having a good year. They are definitely the bottom feeder of the C-USA. No doubt. They took drubbings by the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds (not a joke name) and a team called Hartford. The Owls picked up a rare win against Chicago State, but nothing else to write home about here.

11. Tulsa (6-5; W6 - 10th) - Tulsa took a bit of a beating against a solid (and ranked) Creighton team, so that's not a big deal. Giving up a big loss to U-Arkansas-Little Rock definitely hurts. Consistency has remained an issue with this team, and I don't see much upside yet with Tulsa.

10. UAB (6-6; W6 - 11th) - After a pretty devastating series of losses to start December, they haven't rallied back much. UAB took a loss to Ruters and squeaked out a win against ULouisiana-Monroe. They don't really have a signature win or anything like it that points towards a run in C-USA, so don't expect much from this team moving forward.

9. Houston (8-2; W6 - 8th) - The good news? They boast the best record in the conference right now. The bad news? They don't look good. They took an extra overtime to beat a bad Texas Southern team at home. They took a loss to Prairie View earlier this year, and they have won by two points or less to San Jose State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. I think this team looks worse by the week, and in spite of a great non-conference record, they will see a sharp drop once we get into conference play. Think about Tulane last year after starting off with a 10-0 run. I'm not betting on Houston right now.

From MinerRush.com

8. UTEP (4-5; W6 - 9th) - UTEP is one of only two losing teams in C-USA. But it's the same old story. UTEP played a few good teams and were outmanned big time early this year. And as we know, most in-conference teams didn't play anyone yet... ya-da-ya-da-ya-da. BUT. UTEP is starting to show some life. They took the Oregon Ducks to three overtimes a couple nights ago to pick up a hard fought win. They also lost 62-60 to the #21 UNLV Rebels. Make no mistake, UTEP isn't a powerhouse, but they are picking up speed and will look to improve in conference play.

7. Marshall (7-5; W6 - 7th) - Though UTEP will soon overtake Marshall in the power rankings, I'm going to hold them at 7th this week. Since the last rankings, they took care of Coppin State and Savannah State and suffered a loss to a great #11 Cincinnati team. They lost to the team they were supposed to and beat the teams they should beat. So we'll keep them there for now.

6. SMU (8-3; W6 - 3rd) - December hasn't been good to Larry Brown's Mustangs. After starting the season 8-1, they haven't won since Dec. 1. The Mustangs took a beatdown against Rhode Island on the road and lost a relatively close one to Utah. SMU is poised to keep sinking as their schedule gets tougher.

5. East Carolina (7-2; W6 - 6th) - The Pirates get a little bump this week. Since last ranked, they went 1-1. They beat Gardner-Webb at home and also took a struggling but #21 ranked UNC to the wire in a 93-87 loss. That said, we've seen the Tar Heels falter this week against a rough Texas team, so don't get too excited. ECU is playing solid basketball on par with the middle-weights of Conference USA.

4. UCF (7-3; W6 - 2nd) - I'm not liking the Golden Knights right now. They took a 22 point defeat at home to Miami (of 'the U' variety), which is necessarily killer. Miami is a good team. But UCF isn't a bracket buster this year, at this point. That's not really the problem though. They have played a close home game against Bethune-Cookman and barely beat Old Dominion on the road. So far, UCF looks much more vulnerable than in years past, and they haven't shown much spark yet.

Josh Davis in action. From NOLA.com

3. Tulane (9-3 - W6 - 5th) - Tulane is on a bit of a hot streak right now. They smoked a bad Texas Pan-American team but did it in style: the entire bench was able to hit the floor in that game. They followed it up the next night with a 15 point home win against an alright Pepperdine squad. The Green Wave is 9-0 in its new fieldhouse. They are solidly beating middle of the road teams, especially those that can't stack up against the talents of Josh Davis and sharp shooter Jordan Callahan. There are two big questions for the Green Wave as they try to ascend into the upper echelon of C-USA. 1) Can they win on the road? So far, the answer has been no. They are 0-3 after underperforming against Georgia Tech and giving up winnable matchups against San Diego and Nebraska. 2) Can they play tough ball against UCF, Southern Mississippi, and Memphis? Last season, an injury-plagued Green Wave had nothing left for the conference schedule. For Tulane to establish itself as a top-notch program in this conference, it will need to rattle these teams for the first time in years.

2. Southern Mississippi (8-3; W6 - 3rd) - Right now, it's Memphis/Southern Mississippi and then everyone else. They had a tough run with losses against a ranked Arizona team and a solid Louisiana Tech. They battled back with big wins against Grambling and Georgia State. The next two games will show us what kind of team the Golden Eagles are: Wichita State and bracket buster Morehead State.

1. Memphis (7-3; W6 - 1st) - You want to think that Memphis has finally got it. They fell apart at the Atlantis Tournament, looked bad for a bit after that, and then finally got some steam. Then they do something like last night: make a game against the Lipscomb Bisons into a close battle... Even good teams falter, but inconsistency is killing the Tigers. Anyway, the Tigers showed their teeth a bit in a fairly close game against rival Louisville. That said, Conference USA is lacking a powerhouse team this year. Simple as that. Nevertheless, it's still Memphis's conference to win at this point.

That's my breakdown this week. Thoughts? Disagreements? Leave comments on our Facebook or on the post.

The middle of the pack isn't giving up much ground as Conference USA continues to improve its collective record against weak non-conference opponents. That said, here's my breakdown of C-USA in week 6:

12. Rice (2-5; W5 - 12th) - The Rice Owls aren't looking any better. This week, they added a home loss to Drexel and an 8 point victory over Houston Baptist to their resume. On the bright side, they doubled their season win total, so that's pretty legit... Nothing to see here. Moving right along...

11. UAB (4-5; W5 - 9th) - UAB's stock continues to drop. A blowout defeat against UNC is not a season ender, but UAB failed to rebound four days later when they suffered another blowout loss against Middle Tennessee State. At this point, UAB's dragon lacks teeth, and it's starting to show as their schedule gets tougher.

10. Tulsa (5-3; W5 - 11th) - Tulsa gets a slight bump since they didn't shoot themselves in the foot. They went 1-1 this week. Their blowout victory against Missouri State was nice, but they took a loss against a pretty solid Wichita State Shockers team. We'll see what Tulsa has down the road, but they haven't shown much fight thus far, to be honest.

9. UTEP (2-4; W5 - 8th) - UTEP was off this week, but Houston is starting to look like better squad after adding a few nice wins. The Miners will take on Idaho State this week, so don't expect them to post a big time success immediately. They will take a shot at both ranked UNLV and Oregon after that, so we'll watch the Miners for later this month. We won't really know how good UTEP is until we get into conference play. Their non-conference schedule was way tougher than most teams in C-USA; that said, they didn't capitalize on any upset opportunities. Lot of questions left here.

8. Houston (6-2; W5 - 10th) - They finished this week 1-1. They took a loss against Texas A&M, but a win against TCU makes their resume look a little bit brighter. Houston's record is good, but the team still has some work to do to show its strength. Ken Pom rates their schedule strength as the second easiest in basketball so far. Not good.

7. Marshall (5-4; W5 - 4th) - Marshall's early season strength is looking more like a mirage. They took a beating against Charlotte and narrowly pulled out a 3 point win against a mediocre UNC-Wilmington team this week. Even some of their early successes look a little less valuable at this point. They beat Villanova early, but so did everyone else now. Two overtimes to beat a bad Hofstra team that SMU just rocked also doesn't do much for me. I'm thinking Marshall's stock is falling.

6. East Carolina (6-1; W5 - 7th) - East Carolina is up to 6-1. Even Ken Pomeroy's computer sees Tulane and East Carolina in a dead heat, so I am going to give my Green Wave the benefit of the doubt here. ECU has some spark; they are nationally in the top 30 for scoring. They have a week off while they prepare for an in-state game against their enemies at Chapel Hill.

5. Tulane (7-2; W5 - 6th) - Tulane went 2-0 this week with solid wins over Navy and Nicholls St. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Neither Navy nor Nicholls St. had much to contend with. BUT. Tulane is still perfect on their home court. So there's that. At any rate, Tulane has some cupcakes on the schedule before a tough road matchup at Alabama on Dec. 30. That game will give us a better sense of where Tulane is in the grand scheme of things.

4. Southern Mississippi (6-2; W5 - 2nd) - I'm only going to drop the Golden Eagles a couple spots despite going 0-2 this week. Their loss against a lame New Mexico State team was pretty disappointing. That said, they rebounded and stayed close with #8 Arizona until the final minutes while on the road. They kept it interesting, and that's pretty good for Conference USA.

3. Southern Methodist (8-1; W5 - 5th) - The Mustangs like to win. Larry Brown's team improves to 8-1 after a beatdown victory at Hofstra and another victory against Utah. Not too shabby. There's not much to say about a relatively bland offense and defense, but the Mustangs have clicked so far. They'll keep racking up non-conference wins against a Mickey Mouse schedule while they're at it. Good stuff.

2. UCF (4-2; W5 - 3rd) - The Golden Knights added one more win in a blowout against a nobody Florida Tech team. So there. Until SMU plays someone or UCF decides to throw a wrench into their season, I don't think there will be much movement at the top.

1. Memphis (5-2; W5 - 1st) - Memphis wrecked a fairly solid Ohio Bobcats squad in a game that finally made the Tigers look like a team that deserved to Battle For Atlantis. Or Battle 4 Atlantis. Or #Battle4Atlantis. Or whatever the stupid reality show name tournament they faltered in early this season was called. So the Tigers have that going for them. On the 15th, they will take on a stellar Louisville team though. We'll see how that goes.

Although no Conference USA team will see action today, nine teams will hit the court tomorrow in non-conference play with a few interesting matchups. By and large, the Conference USA power rankings have stayed fairly stable.

Since this is a weekly feature, I am going to indicate where we had each team last week for some comparison. That is what W4 (Week 4 Ranking) means, from this point on.

Here's what I'm seeing.

12. Rice Owls (1-5; W4-12th) - The Owls are still the bottom dwellers following two more losses this week. They've been competitive against virtually no one so far, and it doesn't seem like the future is looking any brighter for this team.

11. Tulsa (4-3; W4-9th) - Tulsa's stock is falling after a 1-3 stretch against some bad teams. Their only win in the past two weeks came against Jacksonville St., with three blowout losses sandwiching that victory. They showed some heart in the early season but will likely stick near the bottom of the conference.

10. Houston (5-1; W4-11th) - They are 5-1, but every team in C-USA has a winning record at this point (except UTEP/Rice). The issue is that they have played the second easiest schedule in college basketball right now and gave up a loss this week to Prairie View, which I assume is a stop on the Oregon Trail educational computer game. Probably the one where you can hunt buffalo, but I'm still researching.

9. UAB (4-3; W4-8th) - In fairness, UAB is playing about the same level of basketball as last week. Houston is just playing a little better right now. They played an OK game against an alright TCU team en route to a loss, but they have a few major conference teams coming up (namely North Carolina). Should be a few tough battles for this team.

8. UTEP (2-4; W4-5th) - UTEP's stock just keeps falling. They had some early season hopes, but they don't look like much right now. In fairness to the Miners, they played the toughest schedule of any C-USA team so far (40th in the country). Yet, the Miners haven't made any opportunity count, and they are getting blown out by teams like Vanderbilt. They need to change momentum and fast.

7. East Carolina (5-0; W4-10th) - ECU played one game this week and won. Their bump comes from a few teams showing their flaws in the meantime. To me, this is a very similar team in the early season to Tulane. They face undefeated Charlotte on Saturday for their first test of the season.

6. Tulane (5-2; W4-6th) - Tulane won both games this week. But that isn't the story. They let a rough Southern U. team dominate the second half in a game in which they once held a 17 point lead for a scary final two minutes at home. Then the Freret Street rivalry against Loyola wasn't exactly a blowout. Tulane seems to have the pieces in place for a solid year (Josh Davis leads C-USA in scoring and rebounds), but the Green Wave isn't firing on all cylinders quite yet.

5. Southern Methodist (7-1; W4-4th) - It's tough to not put them lower, but no team below SMU really justified a bump this week. The record looks great, but there's not a lot of substance. Their offense and defense are fairly bland despite Larry Brown's influence. They had a nice win over Utah, but it was offset by a 13 point loss to Arkansas-Little Rock. I'm not quite ready to put a lot of faith in this team yet.

4. Marshall (4-3; W4-7th) - It's tough to place Marshall, honestly. Their offensive capacity is stellar. They are scoring (top 30 in the country) and rebounding (top 24 in the country), but it's not totally clicking in the early season. A win over Morehead State helps their cause, but they will face a hellstorm this month involving West Virginia, Kentucky, and Cincinnati. Yikes.

3. UCF (3-2; W4-3rd) - Nothing to see here. The Knights had the week off. They have three cupcake games before they play Miami at home. This should let them pad their record a bit.

2. Southern Miss (6-0; W4-1st) - Southern is playing solid basketball. They have a trip to #9 Arizona coming up but not a whole lot else (maybe Morehead St. will be a tough matchup, but that's it). Not a lot of flash with this team, but they shoot well (.481 field goal percentage).

1. Memphis (4-2; W4-2nd) - The Memphis Tigers move up to first because they chose not to shoot themselves in the collective foot this week. Of course, that mission has been tough for the Tigers in the early season. Embarrassing their program in the Battle 4 Atlantis was step one. They then decided to make a game against Northern Iowa a defensive grind but managed the win. Today, however, they beatdown a bad Tennessee-Martin team and looked like a contender again. The conference is Memphis's to lose, and this season will depend on whether they can rebuild from their early season failures.

Tulane faces off against in-state opponent Southern University tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a power ranking of Conference USA teams as we continue to get deeper into non-conference play.

12. Rice Owls (1-3) - Pretty simple here. The Owls are off to a 1-3 start against a comparatively very easy schedule. Not a lot of hope in the early season. They also got pounded this week by Georgia Tech, the only somewhat significant team they have seen so far.

11. Houston (4-0) - There, I said it. Sure, 4-0 looks pretty, but they have played a horrible schedule. Their four opponents have a combined win total of 2 victories. Not an average. Total of two wins over four teams. The have four more cupcake games before they take on Texas A&M, the first from a conference of note. So don't be shocked if they are off to a 7-0 run.

10. East Carolina (4-0) - Another undefeated team without much substance. ECU scheduled the Mickey Mouse teams upfront before they head to #9 UNC midway through their non-conference schedule.  They have played two close games against weak opponents already. Only a matter of time before the Pirates come back to earth.

9. Tulsa (4-1) - C-USA is a conference of a great records so far. But Tulsa is a textbook case of some underlying weakness. Tulsa is looking OK thus far until you see the 20+ point drubbing they suffered at the hands of the Cal State Northridge Matadors. Life comes at you fast.

8. UAB (3-2) - Their two losses came to ranked Creighton and Illinois St. They have UNC and Rutgers coming up soon, which should be additional tests. They are playing one of the tougher non-conference schedules of the conference.

7. Marshall (2-3) - Marshall had high hopes coming into this year but has struggled so far. A tough loss to South Dakota State and a 2OT defeat against Hofstra definitely have limited the Thundering Herd's expectations.

6. Tulane (3-2) - The Green Wave clashed with Nebraska in the finals of their preseason tournament but came up short in the 1:05. Had Tulane pulled it off, they would have real momentum in the early season. Luckily, the team will play a series of easy teams to get rolling once again. Josh Davis is thriving in his leadership role, and Jordan Callahan has been effective. Let's see where this goes.

5. UTEP (2-3) - The Miners' record looks weak, but their losses came against Arizona, Oklahoma, and Clemson. For whatever reason, UTEP missed the memo on avoiding major conference opponents, but the Miners look like a competitive team moving forward.

4. SMU (5-0) - The Larry Brown era is starting with a bang for the Mustangs. 5-0 looks great, and there isn't too much ahead of them before conference play. Ken Pomeroy's computer is still saying they have the third easiest schedule in C-USA, so it's tough to give much weight to this team just yet.

3. Central Florida (3-2) - You can definitely excuse their loss tonight to #7 Florida, but a drubbing by Middle Tennessee St. definitely makes you wonder about the Knights' viability. UCF will have to gain some steam as they rebound from a chomping by the Gators.

2. Memphis (2-3) - Yeah. Definitely bold to put the Tigers at #2 in C-USA. They are always the conference leader come March, after all, and they started this week with a #16 national ranking. Well... a lot can change in a week. It's tough to justify the Tigers as the conference top spot right now after suffering beatdowns by VCU and Minnesota at the Battle for Atlantis. Memphis is playing bad basketball, and until they get their groove back, their resume consists of a win against North Florida and a squeezed home victory against Samford. Yuck.

1. Southern Miss (5-0) - USM is looking solid right now, especially with two overtime wins in away games (Western Kentucky and Georgia) already. An away visit to #10 Arizona in two weeks will likely bring them back to earth, but a solid foundation to the season so far.

That's all for now. We'll do another update next Saturday.