Looking at schedules and some of the early power polls, could it be a rematch of Marshall and Rice for the conference championship ? Thoughts.

Of course it could be. Barring injuries to our starting QB, UTSA will beat Rice head-to-head this year though, and UNT should be strong again as well. So it's probably gonna be another Lone Star State battle for the top of the West, and Rice may not pull it off this time. And I think Marshall would be unwise to think they have the East wrapped up also.

(04-20-2014 07:04 PM)Volkmar Wrote:  Of course it could be. Barring injuries to our starting QB, UTSA will beat Rice head-to-head this year though, and UNT should be strong again as well. So it's probably gonna be another Lone Star State battle for the top of the West, and Rice may not pull it off this time. And I think Marshall would be unwise to think they have the East wrapped up also.

Hmmmmmmmm. You're drinking the cool-aide. You beat Rice, then I'll believe it.

Tech is gonna make it to the championship game and a bowl and some G5 team is gonna come hire away Skip Holtz!

I think they will both be the favorites to win their divisions, but it looks to me like Rice is more likely to have the stiffer competition to get there. I would not rule out UNT, and UTSA could give it a solid run. As for Marshall, I see their stiffest competition being MidTen. This could be the year of the spoilers. Ask again in mid-October after the Marshall/ODU game.

(04-20-2014 07:07 PM)MG61 Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 07:04 PM)Volkmar Wrote:  Of course it could be. Barring injuries to our starting QB, UTSA will beat Rice head-to-head this year though, and UNT should be strong again as well. So it's probably gonna be another Lone Star State battle for the top of the West, and Rice may not pull it off this time. And I think Marshall would be unwise to think they have the East wrapped up also.

Hmmmmmmmm. You're drinking the cool-aide. You beat Rice, then I'll believe it.

Is this a UNT thing where you guys ask questions, want people to answer 'em, and then try to belittle their answers when you don't agree? You guys started that "What's your Perception of UNT?" thread, and proceeded to argue with people when you didn't like the answers you got.

Now you're asking us to predict whether we think Rice will repeat. I gave my answer, explaining why I think they may not repeat (because I think we'll beat 'em this year and because you guys will also be strong again). And you accuse me of drinking koolaid? Tell me one thing I said that was unreasonable. It's not like I predicted we'd beat Alabama. It's Rice, a team we could've easily beaten last year. We lost 27-21, but missed two field goals in the game, had 24 first downs to their 15, and out-gained them by a hundred yards. We have nearly our entire team back, and Tucker Carter is looking good at QB so far.

If you want people to answer your damn questions, then accept their answers. And the koolaid remarks are frankly old.

(04-20-2014 07:13 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  ... As for Marshall, I see their stiffest competition being Middle Tennessee. .....

fixed it, but as far as the sentiment, we'll see...

Marshall selected Middle Tennessee for their homecoming opponent, promising a "Cato Airshow" ... who knows? They may be able to score 49 points on the Raiders again...

Rice and Marshall meet during the regular season so it would definitely be a re-match if the play for the championship again this year.

(04-20-2014 07:12 PM)RonBurgundy Wrote:  Tech is gonna make it to the championship game and a bowl and some G5 team is gonna come hire away Skip Holtz!

Tech is not going to bend over for Rice again this year - I think we get the W at home but doubt we get to the championship game.

It's nice being the guy in everybody's sights.

On the west side, I think Rice/UTSA/UNT all have legitimate shots at the west title. it could well end up with those three all being 1-1 against each other. If so, it will depend primarily on the crossover games. Who has the easiest schedule against the East?

Rice and UTSA are both replacing long term starting QBs with heir apparents. If both 1's falter, though, I like our 2/3/4 better than their 2/3, from what I have read.

To answer the original question, sure, could be. I put it at about 25% for a Rice/Marshall rematch. In Houston again, of course.

DON'T SLEEP ON UTEP

or was that, don't sleep in houston?

(04-20-2014 07:36 PM)SpaceRaider Wrote:  

(04-20-2014 07:13 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  ... As for Marshall, I see their stiffest competition being Middle Tennessee. .....

fixed it, but as far as the sentiment, we'll see...

Marshall selected Middle Tennessee for their homecoming opponent, promising a "Cato Airshow" ... who knows? They may be able to score 49 points on the Raiders again...

With the best home winning percentage in major college football, we don't lose at home (very often)

There are chances of a re-match but UTSA is looking really good and can deny Rice their division lead. In the east there are two teams that may hold off Marshal in MTSU and WKU. All preseason talk we will have the answers half way

THE EAST DIVISION GOES THROUGH BIRMINGHAM!


and by that I mean the top teams will run right over us at Legion Field.

There is always a chance of a rematch but my money is on a champ game of UTSA at Marshall. I think Marshall has a pretty good chance of 12-0 even though that is very difficult to accomplish by anyone. UTSA will likely pick up a couple of losses due to their much more difficult ooc schedule but they should be the best of the west.

Very low chance after Rice whips Marshall again, this time in the regular season.

(04-21-2014 09:01 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  Very low chance after Rice whips Marshall again, this time in the regular season.

(04-21-2014 08:32 AM)BeliefBlazer Wrote:  THE EAST DIVISION GOES THROUGH BIRMINGHAM!


and by that I mean the top teams will run right over us at Legion Field.

Come on now, let's be reasonable. The can run through us and around us as well. Sometimes when they are running over us we get lucky and make a tackle. I'd recommend going around us for the easiest path to the end zone.

How can I say this without aggrandizing...Rice is re-loading.

But so is UNT and UTSA. I would think that UTSA is slightly favored at this point, however, I'm not ready to concede the West to UTSA just yet. I get the strong sense that at times it seems as if the UTSA fans believe that losing to Rice was a fluke and not a result of Rice guys making plays. Who knows, but with that said I've been a huge fan of Eric Soza and that is not a guy you easily replace. Rice found that out in 2009 when we tried to replace a QB by the name of Chase Clement.

Of course, you probably just read my last statement and thought, "well that's double talk, Rice is replacing a 4 year starter." Yeah, we are, but McHargue (great player, and great young man), was not at the level of Chase Clement. And we have a very capable young man that has bowl game experience ready to go in Driphus Jackson.

So again let me say clearly: We are not rebuilding, We are reloading. Dismiss Rice all you want, you do so to your own dismay.

(04-20-2014 06:55 PM)MG61 Wrote:  Looking at schedules and some of the early power polls, could it be a rematch of Marshall and Rice for the conference championship ? Thoughts.

I hope you're half right. The other half I'm not worried about.