2013 Conference USA Preview

 

Conference USA takes a major hit across its bough with the defections of four schools, three of which have been to multiple bowls in recent seasons.  In their place, three teams from the Sunbelt and one team from the football defunct WAC take their place.

 

In past seasons, this league has been in contention for a BCS at-large bowl bid, as well as a major challenge to the Mountain West for top non-automatic qualifying conference.  In the new alignment, CUSA falls to just above the Sunbelt.

 

New Teams: Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Texas-San Antonio

Departed Teams: Central Florida, Houston, Memphis, S M U

 

2014 Additions: Western Kentucky arrives from the Sunbelt Conference and Old Dominion moves from FCS.  Charlotte will become a member in 2015.

 

2014 Departures: The league loses much of its prestige with Tulsa and East Carolina as well as Tulane to the AAC.

 

Pre-season PiRate Ratings

Conference USA
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	PiRate	Mean	Bias
East Carolina	0-0	0-0	98.6	101.7	100.1
Marshall	0-0	0-0	92.8	99.8	94.3
U A B	0-0	0-0	87.6	94.4	87.9
Middle Tennessee	0-0	0-0	86.4	88.1	86.0
Southern Miss.	0-0	0-0	83.0	90.4	83.6
Florida Atlantic	0-0	0-0	82.0	81.6	80.8
Florida Int’l	0-0	0-0	74.7	79.4	74.5
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Tulsa	0-0	0-0	98.1	100.8	99.4
Rice	0-0	0-0	97.0	101.6	98.5
North Texas	0-0	0-0	90.8	89.5	90.6
Louisiana Tech	0-0	0-0	87.0	90.1	86.9
U T S A	0-0	0-0	86.4	86.1	85.1
U T E P	0-0	0-0	85.1	92.1	85.6
Tulane	0-0	0-0	84.2	93.8	84.0
League Averages			88.1	92.1	88.4

 

 

Official Pre-season Media Poll
East Division
Pos.	Team	Pts	1st Place
1	East Carolina	95	11
2	Marshall	82	2
3	Middle Tennessee	70	1
4	U A B	54	0
5	Southern Miss	40	0
6	Florida Atlantic	28	0
7	Florida Int’l	23	0
West Division
Pos.	Team	Pts	1st Place
1	Tulsa	98	14
2	Rice	76	0
3	Louisiana Tech	72	0
4	U T E P	46	0
5	North Texas	39	0
6	Tulane	31	0
7	Texas-San Antonio	30	0

 

 

Official Pre-season All-CUSA Team

 

OFFENSE

QB     Rakeem Cato, Jr., Marshall

RB     Vintavious Cooper, Sr., East Carolina

RB     Darrin Reaves, Jr., UAB

OL     Jake Alexander, Jr., Tulsa

OL     Stetson Burnett, Sr., Tulsa

OL     Scott Inskeep, Jr., UTSA

OL     Nate Richards, Sr., Rice

OL     Matt Shepperd, Jr., Louisiana Tech

OL     Will Simmons, Sr., East Carolina

WR    Justin Hardy, Jr., East Carolina

WR    Ryan Grant, Sr., Tulane

WR    Tommy Shuler, Jr., Marshall

TE      Gator Hoskins, Sr., Marshall

 

DEFENSE

DL     Christian Covington, So., Rice

DL     Justin Ellis, Sr., Louisiana Tech

DL     Greg Hickman, Sr., FIU

DL     Rakeem Nunez-Roches, DL, Southern Miss

LB      Shawn Jackson, Sr., Tulsa

LB      Derrell Johnson, Sr., East Carolina

LB      Andre Kirk, Jr., Florida Atlantic

DB     Kevin Byard, So., Middle Tennessee

DB     Lorenzo Doss, So., Tulane

DB     Phillip Gaines, Sr., Rice

DB     Marco Nelson, Sr., Tulsa

 

SPECIAL TEAMS

K       Cairo Santos, Sr., Tulane

P       Tyler Williams, So., Marshall

KR     Reggie Whatley, Jr., Middle Tennessee

PR     Trey Watts, Sr., Tulsa

 

 

PiRate Ratings Summary

 

About Grades

93-100         A+

86-92           A

79-85           A-

72-78           B+

65-71           B

58-64           B-

51-57           C+

44-50           C

37-43           C-

30-36           D

0-29             F

 

About Predictions

Predictions are based on the PiRate Ratings with home field advantage factored in.  The PiRate Ratings use different home field advantages for every game, since the opponent factors into the equation.

 

EAST DIVISION

 

Team	East Carolina Pirates
Head Coach	Ruffin McNeill
Colors	Purple and Gold
City	Greenville, NC
2012 Record
Conference	7-1
Overall	8-5
Grades
Run Offense	52
Pass Offense	81
Run Defense	69
Pass Defense	51
Ratings
PiRate	98.6
Mean	101.7
Bias	100.1
Rankings
PiRate	64
Mean	52
Bias	56
Prediction
Conference	7-1
Overall	8-4

 

 

Team	Marshall Thundering Herd
Head Coach	Doc Holliday
Colors	Kelly Green and White
City	Huntington, WV
2012 Record
Conference	4-4
Overall	5-7
Grades
Run Offense	63
Pass Offense	73
Run Defense	48
Pass Defense	46
Ratings
PiRate	92.8
Mean	99.8
Bias	94.3
Rankings
PiRate	86
Mean	62
Bias	80
Prediction
Conference	7-1
Overall	9-4 (lose CUSA title game)

 

 

Team	U A B Blazers
Head Coach	Garrick McGee
Colors	Forest Green and Old Gold
City	Birmingham, AL
2012 Record
Conference	2-6
Overall	3-9
Grades
Run Offense	57
Pass Offense	69
Run Defense	39
Pass Defense	43
Ratings
PiRate	87.6
Mean	94.4
Bias	87.9
Rankings
PiRate	99
Mean	85
Bias	97
Prediction
Conference	4-4
Overall	6-6

 

 

Team	Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
Head Coach	Rick Stockstill
Colors	Blue and White
City	Murfreesboro, TN
2012 Record
Conference	6-2 (Sunbelt Conf.)
Overall	8-4
Grades
Run Offense	62
Pass Offense	59
Run Defense	47
Pass Defense	39
Ratings
PiRate	86.4
Mean	88.1
Bias	86.0
Rankings
PiRate	101
Mean	105
Bias	104
Prediction
Conference	3-5
Overall	5-7

 

 

Team	Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Head Coach	Todd Monken
Colors	Black and Gold
City	Hattiesburg, MS
2012 Record
Conference	0-8
Overall	0-12
Grades
Run Offense	42
Pass Offense	51
Run Defense	42
Pass Defense	54
Ratings
PiRate	83.0
Mean	90.4
Bias	83.6
Rankings
PiRate	112
Mean	100
Bias	111
Prediction
Conference	3-5
Overall	4-8

 

 

Team	Florida Atlantic Owls
Head Coach	Carl Pelini
Colors	Blue, Red, and Silver
City	Boca Raton, FL
2012 Record
Conference	2-6 (Sunbelt Conf.)
Overall	3-9
Grades
Run Offense	38
Pass Offense	60
Run Defense	40
Pass Defense	46
Ratings
PiRate	82.0
Mean	81.6
Bias	80.8
Rankings
PiRate	113
Mean	121
Bias	115
Prediction
Conference	2-6
Overall	3-9

 

 

Team	Florida Int’l Golden Panthers
Head Coach	Ron Turner
Colors	Blue and Gold
City	Miami
2012 Record
Conference	2-6 (Sunbelt Conf.)
Overall	3-9
Grades
Run Offense	41
Pass Offense	55
Run Defense	31
Pass Defense	30
Ratings
PiRate	74.7
Mean	79.4
Bias	74.5
Rankings
PiRate	122
Mean	124
Bias	122
Prediction
Conference	0-8
Overall	1-11

 

 

WEST DIVISION

 

Team	Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Head Coach	Bill Blankenship
Colors	Royal Blue and Old Gold
City	Tulsa, OK
2012 Record
Conference	7-1
Overall	11-3
Grades
Run Offense	68
Pass Offense	63
Run Defense	65
Pass Defense	58
Ratings
PiRate	98.1
Mean	100.8
Bias	99.4
Rankings
PiRate	69
Mean	60
Bias	62
Prediction
Conference	7-1
Overall	10-3 (win CUSA title game)

 

 

Team	Rice Owls
Head Coach	David Bailiff
Colors	Blue and Gray
City	Houston
2012 Record
Conference	4-4
Overall	7-6
Grades
Run Offense	57
Pass Offense	67
Run Defense	63
Pass Defense	60
Ratings
PiRate	97.0
Mean	101.6
Bias	98.5
Rankings
PiRate	74
Mean	54
Bias	67
Prediction
Conference	7-1
Overall	10-2

 

 

Team	North Texas Mean Green
Head Coach	Dan McCarney
Colors	Green and White
City	Denton, TX
2012 Record
Conference	3-5
Overall	4-8
Grades
Run Offense	47
Pass Offense	66
Run Defense	52
Pass Defense	55
Ratings
PiRate	90.8
Mean	89.5
Bias	90.6
Rankings
PiRate	90
Mean	103
Bias	92
Prediction
Conference	5-3
Overall	6-6

 

 

Team	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Head Coach	Skip Holtz
Colors	Reflex Blue and Red
City	Ruston, LA
2012 Record
Conference	4-2 (WAC)
Overall	9-3
Grades
Run Offense	43
Pass Offense	78
Run Defense	45
Pass Defense	38
Ratings
PiRate	87.0
Mean	90.1
Bias	86.9
Rankings
PiRate	100
Mean	101
Bias	100
Prediction
Conference	4-4
Overall	6-6

 

 

Team	Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners
Head Coach	Larry Coker
Colors	Navy Blue and Orange
City	San Antonio
2012 Record
Conference	3-3 (WAC)
Overall	8-4
Grades
Run Offense	42
Pass Offense	64
Run Defense	55
Pass Defense	43
Ratings
PiRate	86.4
Mean	86.1
Bias	85.1
Rankings
PiRate	102
Mean	112
Bias	108
Prediction
Conference	3-5
Overall	4-8

 

 

Team	U T E P Miners
Head Coach	Sean Kugler
Colors	Dark Navy and Orange
City	El Paso, TX
2012 Record
Conference	2-6
Overall	3-9
Grades
Run Offense	51
Pass Offense	71
Run Defense	39
Pass Defense	37
Ratings
PiRate	85.1
Mean	92.1
Bias	85.6
Rankings
PiRate	108
Mean	94
Bias	107
Prediction
Conference	3-5
Overall	5-7

 

 

Team	Tulane Green Wavy
Head Coach	Curtis Johnson
Colors	Olive Green and Sky Blue
City	New Orleans
2012 Record
Conference	2-6
Overall	2-10
Grades
Run Offense	44
Pass Offense	71
Run Defense	39
Pass Defense	39
Ratings
PiRate	84.2
Mean	93.8
Bias	84.0
Rankings
PiRate	110
Mean	87
Bias	110
Prediction
Conference	1-7
Overall	3-9