2009 CFN CUSA preivew & rankings

[indianmustang]

http://cfn.scout.com/2/870555.html
Bold Prediction … SMU will begin turning the corner and become a real nuisance in Conference USA. With patience, June Jones is going to be an unbridled success on the Hilltop. There were signs of dramatic improvement in 2008, even as the Mustangs skidded to a season-ending, 10-game losing streak. Now, with that first awkward season out of the way, the program will be much improved in more than just intangible measurements. As the passing game goes, so go the Ponies, and QB Bo Levi Mitchell and dangerous receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Aldrick Robinson are all back in Dallas for another season

[indianmustang]

predicted wins are rice,tulane and SFA

[The PonyGrad]

predicted wins are rice,tulane and SFA

So

a real nuisance

but only a nusiance.

[PonySnob]

predicted wins are rice,tulane and SFA

Top 25 in everything we do!!!

[that's great raplh]

[Dooby]

I have a hard time believing that Tulsa and Houston will be the only .500 or better teams in Conference USA West and that UAB will bad and Marshall will be .500. Somebody in Confernce USA West besides Houston or Tulsa is os going to get on a roll.

[CalallenStang]

I have a hard time believing that Tulsa and Houston will be the only .500 or better teams in Conference USA West and that UAB will bad and Marshall will be .500. Somebody in Confernce USA West besides Houston or Tulsa is os going to get on a roll.

But who will that be?

Rice? They graduated their entire team last year.
Tulane? Toledo has not produced there.
UTEP? They struggle down the stretch each and every year.
SMU? I think most on this board realize we're still at least a year away from turning the corner.

IMO, the most likely candidate is UTEP.

[MustangLaxer]

It is SMU that will shock everyone and take advantage of the down West...with a .500, but probably not above

[Stallion]

I can easily see UH and Tulsa going undefeated against the rest of CUSA West. No other West teams are in their league. Someone might upset them at home. Here are my comments on CFN on another board

CFN does a good job with these predictions but the biggest mistakes by season's end will be the glaringly low ratings of Tulsa's skill positions. Tulsa has the best Receiver trio in Dameris Johnson, Trae Walker, and Slick Skelly plus they use FB/HB/TE Charles Clay extensively in their passing game. The kid who decommitted from Arkansas is an outstanding prospect too. They have excellent depth too at WR in case of injuries. Both Clay and Dameris Johnson sre also dangerous out of the backfield and RBs Williams(6.1 ypc) and Opeseyitan(7.9 ypc) have already proven they are solid backs with quality ypc in backup duty and will step up this year even more with the graduation of the Senior. One of the three outstanding QB's Quarterbacks will pass for a zillion yards. Tulsa is loaded on Offense at every skill position and will average over 500 yards per game once again-the defense is the questionmark.

Another big ommission is Houston WR James Cleveland who was a Freshman All Big Ten at Iowa and OLM Roy Watts a transfer from UT. Both will compete for ALL-CUSA by season's end. UH may be about a year away from providing CUSA with its first legitimate Top 20 team.

They got UTEP right at about 4-8-I keep scratching my head at prognosticators thinking they will compete for CUSA West. I am a big fan of Trevor Vitatoe but I really don't think UTEP will be that strong.

[GeorgiaMustang]

Will the absence of Gus Malzahn at Tulsa have any impact on their offensive production? Granted it is a system where one coach, with sufficient knowledge of the system can create continuous offensive output, but Malzahn had to have soemthing to do with how many points Tulsa scored last year.

[Stallion]

The returning offensive skill position players had more to do with it. Todd Graham has put highly successful offenses on the field at Rice and Tulsa without Mazlhan. it would be hard to screw up this collection of talent now when he has Mazlhan's playbook too. If there were a problem it would have to be at QB-but these are 3 great QB prospects for CUSA. Tulsa's record won't be near as good though because they are playing a real schedule (including OU, Boise St. and New Mexico) not the pastry puff teams they get in CUSA.

[Dooby]

They got UTEP right at about 4-8-I keep scratching my head at prognosticators thinking they will compete for CUSA West. I am a big fan of Trevor Vitatoe but I really don't think UTEP will be that strong.

Stallion, I think this is hysterical. I was thinking of starting a thread asking what the deal with UTEP was, but frankly, I didn't want to get jumped on by you without having my point thoroughly fleshed out. I don't see what others see in UTEP, either. Almost every rankings has Houston and Tulsa in a class by themselves (agree with that) and then UTEP third, and then SMU, Rice and Tulane. I figured there was some 5 star UTEP transfer I was forgetting.

This is a two or three team league at best. Tulsa, Houston and ECU. No other team is appreciably better than anyone else. Perhaps, Southern Miss, will give ECU a run for its money, but no other team is likely to sniff for the championship game.

Anyway, I still think somebody else in the West is at .500 or better and gets on a roll by beating the other West teams, especially if that team has a weak East schedule. If you look at the schedules, a good argument can be made for SMU to "come out of nowhere" and compete.

We can all point to the defense, but as I noted elsewhere, this league is filled with bad to atrocious defenses. If the offense gets it into gear (not an inconsequential "if," mind you), I see no reason to believe that SMU cannot compete this year. If you are an SMU fan, this is what you hang your hat on. That, by no means, is a prediction, but I recommend everyone hold off on the "one year away" comments until after the UAB game, at least.

I am more optimistic about this season than I was last season, certainly.

[The PonyGrad]

No reason to think that the SMU offense will not "turn the corner" this year barring injuries and even more so if the Miami transfer becomes elligible.

Certainly the defense is a work in progress and the special teams need to be seen but there is enough for real improvement in the W/L column if not necessarily making it to .500.

[CalallenStang]

No reason to think that the SMU offense will not "turn the corner" this year barring injuries and even more so if the Miami transfer becomes elligible.

Certainly the defense is a work in progress and the special teams need to be seen but there is enough for real improvement in the W/L column if not necessarily making it to .500.

I don't have any worries about our offense. However, there were two or three high schools last year that could have put 28 points on our defense.