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. 

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.

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.

The second week of the Conference USA season has come to a close. You can see my power rankings from last week right here. In short, the conference is wide open with only one undefeated team (the 1-0 UAB) left. Here's my breakdown.

1. Central Florida (14-1) - The Golden Knights suffered their first hiccup of the season: a 76-71 loss to Houston. The good news? They still carry a strong set of non-conference wins, and no other team looks poised to dominate the conference over the next few weeks.

2. UAB (11-3) - UAB is the only unbeaten team in C-USA. That said, it's only one win (due to the postponement of their matchup against East Carolina). They did manage to outlast a solid UTEP squad after three overtimes. They look ready to compete, however, with any team in the conference.

3. UTEP (14-4) - Tim Floyd's squad has game this year. They are 2-1 in C-USA with a 3OT loss against UAB. More importantly, they rebounded by handing Tulane their first home loss of the season (with a dominant first half under the leadership of star Randy Culpepper).

4. Tulane (12-4) - The Green Wave's 7 game winning streak disappeared after a home loss to UTEP. They showed some strength after making a solid comeback run in the second half. With ECU and Tulsa next on the schedule, look for Tulane to regain its strength.

5. Memphis (13-4) - Easily the most overrated team of the conference. Despite holding a national ranking several weeks ago, tough losses at Tennessee and SMU have brought the Tigers back to earth. Let's see what happens with Southern Miss., UAB, and UCF next on the schedule.

6. Southern Mississippi (13-3) - The team's 13-3 record (and 2-1 so far in the conference) looks good. That said, they have played a cupcake schedule and barely overcame Rice (at the bottom of the conference) in overtime. USM will need to stay hot if they want to scale the conference over the next few weeks against some threatening squads.

7. SMU (10-6) - The Mustangs responded well to a loss against Tulane by laying a beatdown on the then-ranked Memphis Tigers. They are now 1-1 in the conference and have some potential, but a lot of early losses may hold them back.

8. Houston (9-6) - In David and Goliath fashion, Houston took down the undefeated Golden Knights. Doesn't change a slew of losses to teams ranging from Louisiana Tech to UT-San Antonio. Maybe the UCF win will give them some serious momentum, though.

9. Marshall (12-5) - The Thundering Herd has faltered in C-USA after strong non-conference play. They are now 1-2 in C-USA with UAB and Memphis on the horizon. Marshall will need to rebound fast if it wants to be a contender this year.

10. Tulsa (8-8) - Not much to write home about here. 1-1 in C-USA with a loss to UTEP and a win against Rice. Their .500 record may take a hit when they take on the Green Wave, UTEP, UAB, and Memphis in the next six games.

11. East Carolina (8-7) - Still above .500 due to the cancellation of a few games due to weather. They take on Tulane today at home.

12. Rice (8-9) - Rice is 0-3 already in Conference USA despite showing a little spark from time to time. With matchups against UTEP and UCF next, it looks like 0-5 may be in the Owls' future.

Agree or disagree?

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?