It’s day two of our annual college football conference previews. Conference USA featured a lot of wide open, pass-it-all-over-the-field football last year, and in some weeks, perusing the league’s results left you wondering if this was football or basketball. As an example, take the two division winners from 2016. Western Kentucky and Louisiana Tech met in the regular season, and then they had a rematch in the CUSA Championship Game. The first time around Tech beat Western 56-52. In the rematch, Western won the league title with a 58-44 victory.
Western Kentucky lost their offensive mastermind, when former coach Jeff Brohm took the Purdue job. Will new Hilltopper head man Mike Sanford be able to keep the Toppers scoring 40 points per game? The former Notre Dame offensive coordinator may be a tad more conservative in his play-calling, so we expect WKU will score less often this year.
However, the arrival of two new big-name coaches could add some points and excitement on the scoreboard in the Sunshine State. Butch Davis is the new leader at Florida International, and Lane Kiffin takes over at Florida Atlantic. A former CUSA coach returns to the league after a two-year hiatus without ever changing schools. Welcome back UAB to college football. Coach Bill Clark stayed loyal to the Blazers, and when UAB returns to the field on September 2 against Alabama A&M, the Blazers will have the same coach that guided the team to a very respectable 6-6 record in 2014.
Here is how the CUSA media voted in the preseason poll.
| CUSA-East | ||
| # | Team | 1st Pl. |
| 1 | Western Kentucky | 20 |
| 2 | Middle Tennessee | 4 |
| 3 | Old Dominion | 3 |
| 4 | Marshall | 1 |
| 5 | Florida Atlantic | 0 |
| 6 | Florida Int’l | 0 |
| 7 | Charlotte | 0 |
| CUSA-West | ||
| # | Team | 1st Pl. |
| 1 | Louisiana Tech | 20 |
| 2 | UTSA | 7 |
| 3 | Southern Miss. | 1 |
| 4 | North Texas | 0 |
| 5 | Rice | 0 |
| 6 | UTEP | 0 |
| 7 | UAB | 0 |
| Total Votes Not Released | ||
The preseason PiRate, Mean, and Bias ratings believe the CUSA race will be exciting and closer than last year.
| Conference USA | ||||
| East Division | ||||
| Team | PiRate | Mean | Bias | Average |
| W. Kentucky | 99.8 | 97.3 | 101.6 | 99.6 |
| Old Dominion | 90.9 | 93.9 | 91.4 | 92.1 |
| Middle Tennessee | 90.5 | 91.6 | 91.4 | 91.2 |
| Florida Int’l. | 84.0 | 83.9 | 85.2 | 84.4 |
| Florida Atlantic | 82.5 | 86.1 | 83.6 | 84.1 |
| Marshall | 81.9 | 83.8 | 82.7 | 82.8 |
| Charlotte | 74.4 | 77.6 | 74.9 | 75.6 |
| West Division | ||||
| Team | PiRate | Mean | Bias | Average |
| U T S A | 91.3 | 93.1 | 93.5 | 92.6 |
| Louisiana Tech | 90.2 | 92.0 | 91.1 | 91.1 |
| Southern Miss. | 84.3 | 86.1 | 84.2 | 84.8 |
| N. Texas | 80.5 | 82.1 | 80.4 | 81.0 |
| Rice | 80.1 | 81.0 | 80.8 | 80.6 |
| U T E P | 74.8 | 79.3 | 76.1 | 76.8 |
| UAB | 63.7 | 69.2 | 65.9 | 66.3 |
| CUSA Averages | 89.9 | 92.1 | 91.0 | 91.0 |
Here are our not-so-scientific predictions for the league races, and the bowl projections.
| Conference USA Projected Standings | |||
| Team | Conference | Overall | Bowl |
| East Division | |||
| Old Dominion | 7-1 | 10-3 | Bahamas |
| W. Kentucky | 6-2 | 9-3 | St. Petersburg |
| Middle Tennessee | 6-2 | 7-5 | New Orleans |
| Florida Atlantic | 5-3 | 6-6 | [Armed Forces] |
| Florida Int’l. | 3-5 | 4-8 | |
| Marshall | 2-6 | 3-9 | |
| Charlotte | 1-7 | 2-10 | |
| Team | Conference | Overall | Bowl |
| West Division | |||
| Louisiana Tech | 7-1 | 9-4 | Boca Raton |
| U T S A | 7-1 | 9-3 | Heart of Dallas |
| Southern Miss. | 6-2 | 8-4 | New Mexico |
| N. Texas | 2-6 | 3-9 | |
| U T E P | 2-6 | 2-10 | |
| UAB | 1-7 | 2-10 | |
| Rice | 1-7 | 1-11 | |
| Old Dominion to win CUSA Championship Game | |||
| Fla. Atlantic’s bid to the Armed Forces is an at-large bid | |||
Coming tomorrow: The Mountain West Conference–Will Boise St. return to the top, or will the Broncos look up at last year’s surprise winner Wyoming or Colorado St.? Can San Diego St. continue to dominate in the West Division, or will an up and comer like Hawaii knock the Aztecs off their throne?
The Pi-Rate Ratings 