Tigeer Wrote:CollegeCard Wrote:CUSA is probably better overall than those two I-AA leagues, but I think they may be the worst I-A league this season. Up to this point this has got to be the worst year for the league, at least this decade, if not ever. Half of the league is below the 120 cutoff of I-A teams and 75% of the league is below the top 100.
A look at the East tells the story. I hadn't checked out the CUSA standings for a while and was really surprised by the East standings. It looks the division will come down to ECU, UCF, & Memphis. ECU & UCF lost by a combined 112-19 to USF & WVU. The surprising part for me is that Memphis is actually in a potential spot to challenge for a division title. The Tigers were soundly defeated by both Sun Belt teams they played, & were winless against I-A opponents in non-conference play. They also lost to Ole Miss, who is headed for an 0-8 trainwreck in the SEC. However the Tigers are 3-1 in CUSA. When you have to question if a winless SEC team could win a CUSA division, the difference between CUSA and the BCS leagues has never been greater in my opinion.
I wouldn't say soundly defeated by both Sun Belt teams for Memphis. The ASU loss for Memphis can not be explained - up I think 31-6 at halftime to lose 34-31 - painful to listen to on the net. BTW - MTSU gave the UoL a pretty good game for about 3.5 quarters - I listened to that one on Sirius. Other than that I can't argue with you; Ole Miss pretty much stinks - the gap between CUSA and the BE is huge and may continue to widen unless something changes. Memphis, USM and ECU may need to rethink their alignment to gain a competetive advantage of some kind.
I stand corrected on my language with the Tiger's game @ Arkansas St. That was a close final result. I was shocked at the time though when Memphis lost by 2 touchdowns to MTSU at home. UofL played horrible against MTSU, and still won by 16, with the Raiders not getting within 2 TD's over the final 11 minutes of the game. That's a 30 point swing over their result in the Liberty Bowl.
I didn't personally study the returning personnel for the Tigers over the summer, but they were a trendy pick to go from 2-10 to a great record. Phil Steele is the most accurate in an inaccurate business, and he liked Memphis. You returned a lot of starters, had a cake schedule, and most Tiger fans on here where predicting a bowl return, so I went with it. Tommy West could prove me wrong if Memphis finishes the season by reeling off wins, but you have to start wondering if it was all DeAngelo Williams and if the current talent level is simply not there.
I admittedly haven't caught many CUSA games this season, but did watch UCF-USM on Sunday. What can you say about the Golden Eagles? They are a shell of their former program. While they never beat good teams out of league, they'd always give them a scare and they dominated their fellow non-BCS opponents. By the time UofL left the league the Cards had replaced them as the power team, but I felt USM would regain a power position. I now think they're actually solidly worse than in 2004. You used to be able to count on their defense, but nothing impresses now. With the lesson of Steve Logan in mind I wouldn't say USM should shelve Jeff Bower, but something needs change.
I didn't expect such a gap between ECU and top 25 type teams this season either. They're my favorite to win CUSA East at this point, but I can't label them much above mediocre this year after seeing them against WVU and seeing how they lost at home to a sad NC St club. ECU does seem to have the right coach in place and their future looks brighter than most, however CUSA may not work well longterm.
We shouldn't get too caught up in one season and proclaim doom for a league. However, I'm not sure I see anything tangible to show CUSA is ready to step above the other non-BCS leagues & proclaim at least the #7 spot. Throw in that the Sun Belt is quitely eliminating the gap between themselves and the CUSA/MAC/WAC combo, and who knows what the future holds. The Belt is 9-8 vs. CUSA over the last two years, and the leagues seem like near even rivals. CUSA does has superior bowls and TV, along with a solid 12 members at this point. I wouldn't be shocked though if 6-8 years from now the current CUSA East was playing league games against current S.B. eastern members such as Troy, FAU, & MTSU, while you had a SWC-lite league created from a CUSA West core.
While an addition to this league isn't guaranteed, if I was Memphis I'd be putting everything into building football to try and show they're the team to take if the Big East adds someone. They could do it all and it still may not be enough, with geography actually being a legit excuse for R.C. on this occasion (unlike last time), but they surely won't be picked without the investment.
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RE: Sagarin Ratings Conference 
