Conference USA has been the weakest FBS league the last few years, and it looks to be on the verge of getting even weaker. When the league sponsored its first football season, the football members were Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, South Florida, Southern Miss., Tulane, and UAB. Over the course of its early years, Central Florida, East Carolina, SMU, TCU, and Tulsa were members.
Of the original teams, only UAB remains, but the Blazers are leaving the league to join the American Athletic Conference in 2023. Going with UAB will be Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice and UTSA. Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky almost made the move to the Mid-American Conference. The league stayed alive by getting Liberty and New Mexico State to come in from the ranks of the independents while inviting current FCS members Jacksonville State and Sam Houston to enter next year.
CUSA lost Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss. to the Sun Belt, and thus the league will have just one division of 11 teams this year. The top two in the conference standings will meet in the Conference Championship Game.
The CUSA Media poll did not record total vote numbers, just first place votes and predicted order of finish. Here is how the media picked the race in 2022.
| Conference USA | |||
| Votes | |||
| # | Team | 1st Place | Overall |
| 1 | UTSA | 14 | |
| 2 | UAB | 8 | |
| 3 | Western Ky. | 0 | |
| 4 | Fla. Atlantic | 0 | |
| 5 | North Texas | 0 | |
| 6 | UTEP | 0 | |
| 7 | Charlotte | 0 | |
| 8 | Middle Tenn. | 0 | |
| 9 | Louisiana Tech | 0 | |
| 10 | Rice | 0 | |
| 11 | Fla. Int’l. | 0 |
The opening PiRate Ratings differ minimally.
| Conference USA | ||||
| Team | PiRate | Mean | Bias | Average |
| U A B | 97.3 | 97.5 | 99.1 | 98.0 |
| W. Kentucky | 96.4 | 96.0 | 99.0 | 97.1 |
| U T S A | 97.1 | 95.3 | 96.6 | 96.4 |
| North Texas | 88.6 | 87.8 | 89.9 | 88.8 |
| U T E P | 86.9 | 86.4 | 87.1 | 86.8 |
| Middle Tennessee | 85.6 | 86.7 | 86.8 | 86.4 |
| Florida Atlantic | 85.3 | 87.2 | 85.6 | 86.0 |
| Charlotte | 82.9 | 83.9 | 82.3 | 83.0 |
| Rice | 81.2 | 80.6 | 80.1 | 80.6 |
| Louisiana Tech | 80.2 | 81.9 | 78.7 | 80.3 |
| Florida Int’l. | 67.0 | 70.1 | 65.3 | 67.5 |
| CUSA | 86.2 | 86.7 | 86.4 | 86.4 |
If you are new to the PiRate Ratings, there are three different power ratings and an average of the three. All three ratings, PiRate, Mean, and Bias, are calculated using the same statistical data but with different algorithmic formulas. The PiRate and Bias are closely related, while the Mean is somewhat different. Each of the three different ratings accentuate certain statistical events that have proven at times to be more essential than the other two. Thus, in some years, the PiRate has more success. In some years, the Bias has more success, and in some years the Mean has more success.
The PiRate Ratings are meant to predict the next week’s games on the schedule, so using them to predict the entire season’s results is unwarranted. Nevertheless, here are the predicted won-loss records prior to the postseason.
| Team | CUSA | Overall |
| Western Kentucky * | 7-1 | 11-2 |
| UAB | 7-1 | 9-4 |
| UTSA | 7-1 | 8-4 |
| UTEP | 6-2 | 8-4 |
| North Texas | 4-4 | 5-7 |
| Middle Tenn. | 4-4 | 5-7 |
| Florida Atlantic | 3-5 | 4-8 |
| Charlotte | 3-5 | 4-8 |
| Louisiana Tech | 2-6 | 3-9 |
| Rice | 1-7 | 2-10 |
| Florida Int’l. | 0-8 | 1-11 |
* Western Kentucky picked to defeat UAB in the CUSA Championship Game
Note: UAB head coach Bill Clark retired due to health issues this Summer, and offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent has been named interim head coach.
Coming tomorrow: The Mid-American Conference
The Pi-Rate Ratings 