CUSA Rankings by Houston Chron Blog

[MustangIcon]

These are the rankings posted by Houston Chronicle Blog writer Ronnie Turner. To be honest I have followed his rankings all year and think he is not all that knowledgeable, but for what its worth here they are with the Mustangs near the top:

Here are the C-USA rankings for Week 9, with previous rankings in parenthesis. I encourage all to comment on the rankings so that I may guage how the readers would have ranked these teams:

1. Tulsa (7-1 overall, 4-0 C-USA) (same)


It's really no surprise that the Golden Hurricane has managed to stay at the top of the rankings four straight weeks. Tulsa has won six straight contests and has taken out every major player in the league (Southern Miss, East Carolina, UTEP) except Houston, which the Golden Hurricanes will meet on the road this weekend. Should be a great match-up.


2. Houston (6-3, 4-1) (same)


The Cougars knew they had a legitimate chance to win the C-USA West title coming into the season, and they'll move one step closer to that goal with a victory over Tulsa on Saturday at Robertson Stadium. The importance of Saturday's match-up between the league's top two teams is obvious. Should Tulsa win, it'll have a smooth path to the West title and the right to play in the C-USA championship game. If Houston manages to pull off the upset and win its two remaining conference games, then it'll play the East representative in the championship game at season's end.


3. SMU (5-4, 3-2) (5)


It took the Mustangs until the fourth quarter of Tuesday night's game against UAB before they could really get things going, but they managed to hang tough and capture a 22-9 victory. Fighting for bowl eligibility, SMU needed the win and did what it took to get it. However, getting that all-important sixth victory might become a problem for the Mustangs who end the regular season with matches against Houston (home), Tulsa (home) and Rice (road). Good luck.


4. East Carolina (4-4, 3-2) (6)


The Pirates have made the most of their opportunities in the considerably weaker East Division, winning three of their last four games overall, including Saturday's 20-17 shocker over Southern Miss on the road. Now, ECU has a strong shot at becoming bowl-eligible, as well as claiming the East title. If you don't believe me, just check out the Pirates' three remaining conference opponents: Central Florida (road), Marshall (home) and Rice (road).


5. Southern Miss (4-4, 2-2) (2)


Southern Miss blew its chance to put some distance between itself and the rest of the East teams by dropping Saturday's game against ECU. Now the Golden Eagles are hoping that they can win out in their remaining four games and that ECU messes up somewhere along the way. If not, it'll be a repeat of 2005 when Southern Miss faltered down the stretch and allowed Central Florida to slip away with the East title.


6. UTEP (4-4, 2-2) (4)


The Miners' defensive struggles have caught up with them and has resulted in a two-game losing streak. In the blink of an eye, UTEP has gone from being the class of the West to one of the weak links in the chain. With a defense that has given up an average 29.2 points per game, it's not likely UTEP will finish higher than 6-6 or 7-5 this season.


7. Rice (3-5, 2-2) (same)


The Owls were idle this past weekend, so they won't be rewarded nor penalized. This weekend, however, they have UTEP on the road in what is a must-win game for both schools as each fights to become bowl eligible. But in all honesty, it's a game that could go either way. The Owls know the victory is there for the taking.


8. Marshall (3-5, 2-2) (9)


The Thundering Herd made mincemeat of Memphis on Saturday, keeping themselves in the thick of the race for the East title. What's next up for Marshall? A home meeting against Tulane. What's the message the Thundering Herd need to send? That they're serious title contenders.


9. Tulane (3-5, 1-3) (11)


The Green Wave ended a two-game losing streak by knocking off Army 42-28 at home last weekend. As funny as it might sound, Tulane has a small chance to become bowl eligible with games remaining against Marshall (road), Southern Miss (home), Central Florida (home), and Tulsa (road).


10. UAB (3-6, 2-3) (same)


The Blazers dropped a 22-9 decision to SMU on Tuesday night in a game I didn't expect them to win. Therefore, I've decided that I won't penalize them for that. This team has actually played beyond my expectations this season. I figured UAB would be doing a lot worse about now.


11. UCF (2-6, 1-3) (8)


I shudder to think that at one point this season the Golden Knights were ranked fourth in these rankings. UCF has really hit the skids this season with losses in six of its last seven games. Is it likely this team will win another game this season?


12. Memphis (1-7, 0-4) (same)


The Tigers are currently on a six-game losing streak, the latest disappointment being a 41-27 loss to Marshall on Saturday. Seriously, this team could really use a break from football right now. This season has been very brutal for Memphis and its fans.

[smupony94]

I like how he put us ahead of 2 teams that beat us

[SApony]

I would think ECU deserves to be in front of us. 4th or 5th place seems more realistic for us right now. CUSA is really weak this year.

[ReedFrawg]

I could see some rationale for you being ahead of UTEP since you almost beat them at their place, but I don't see how he could have SMU ahead of ECU. Newspapers suck.

[MustangIcon]

I think ECU should be up at 3, Southern Miss being 4, us at 5 and Utep at 6.

[craigjames4ever]

It's the Craig James effect in action.

[J.T.supporta]

As much as I like those rankings, I feel they are highly biased on their hometown team. Are these just CUSA game rankings or overall season rankings. If its overrall they need to take into play the ULL lost for UH and the UNT loss for us. Tulsas the best folled by UTEP, Houston, then us and USM. ECU sucks and they just got lucky against us because we prepared for the run.

[MustangIcon]

As much as I like those rankings, I feel they are highly biased on their hometown team. Are these just CUSA game rankings or overall season rankings. If its overrall they need to take into play the ULL lost for UH and the UNT loss for us. Tulsas the best folled by UTEP, Houston, then us and USM. ECU sucks and they just got lucky against us because we prepared for the run.

Well ECU must have sucked and gotten lucky again bc they won at Southern Miss last week and that is not an easy place to go play.

[TheOriginalTmmyChan]

Just an FYI...

...the guy that put these rankings together is a UH student. I believe he writes for the Daily Cougar.