Showing posts with label college bowl games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college bowl games. Show all posts

At this moment, the University of North Texas is leading the 4-0 Rice Owls in the fourth quarter. While I have learned not to speculate at such moments, it did spark my interest in clarifying Conference USA's tiebreaker formula to determine the divisional champions.

As we all know, in Conference USA West, we currently have the following setup:
1. Tulane: 4-0 in CUSA and 6-2 Overall
1. Rice: 4-0 in CUSA and 6-2 Overall
3. North Texas: 3-1 in CUSA* and 5-3 Overall
* indicates that UNT has already lost to Tulane. More on that.

Now the perplexing thing is that Conference USA does not seem to have an official post establishing their formula for tiebreakers. Here's their "Format" site for 2013, which provides no mention of tiebreakers for the division.

I keep reminding myself that it's the last year for us... Anyway, from what I gathered while cross-referencing past seasons as well as several C-USA message boards, here's the "Fear the Wave somewhat official tiebreaker" for Conference USA football's divisions.

1. The best record in Conference USA-play will advance.
2. If tied, the head-to-head matchup decides who advances
3. If still tied, divisional record would be the next measure (which is weird, as teams in the same division will play each other each year)

So there you have it. Let's say that hypothetically, a school in Denton, TX (3-1) was playing a school in Houston, TX (4-0). That Denton teams wins, making each team 4-1. Then, the Denton U would then control the tiebreaker over Houston.

Now let's say there is an additional team from Louisiana, in this example. They are 4-0 and have not played Houston, but they have already beaten Denton. In other words, they control the tiebreaker with Denton but would lose to Houston if both had the same record in-conference and Houston handed Louisiana its only loss (7-1 and 7-1, Houston advances).

However, if Houston lost to Denton and one additional game, Louisiana would still advance even if it lost to Houston (Louisiana 7-1, Denton 7-1*, Houston 6-2).

Now, for any of these scenarios, let's say that both East and West divisions produced a tied in-conference record. If both teams were 7-1, let's say, the order would be the following to determine the Conference USA Championship host:

1. Record in-conference
2. Head-to-head record, if available
3. Highest ranking under the BCS ranking model

That format is confirmed here by CSTV.

So what does that all mean? It would be stellar if Tulane can win them all coming down the line. But if nothing else, the team absolutely controls its own fate in this final stretch of the season.

**UPDATE on the Results of UNT vs. Rice: 

Tulane just beat the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. Yes, the same Tulsa that has beaten Tulane every meeting since 1968.

More importantly, Tulane is not only 4-0 in Conference USA, but the Green Wave is bowl eligible for the first since 2002. This is also the first 4 game winning streak since that same year when the team headed to Hawaii.

Congratulations to Coach CJ and the team on a tremendous accomplishment.

Quick Reactions: 

1. Lorenzo Doss picked off another one today. He is currently tied for the most interceptions in college football heading into tonight's games.

2. Tulane was a three point underdog in this matchup. In their six wins, they have been the underdog 5 times (only a favorite against Jackson State).

3. Rice also won today. That brings the Owls to 4-0. I don't think it's too early to assume that this season will come down to the final game of the year when Tulane travels to Houston.

4. This is the second critical win that has come without Nick Montana in the game. Redshirt freshman Devin Powell is 2-0 as starting QB in 2013.

5. Oh. Not only are they bowl eligible. It's October. Next three opponents? Florida Atlantic (2-5), Texas-San Antonio (2-5), and UTEP (1-5). This team is just getting started.

© Copyright FearTheWave.com Designed by Template Trackers