Quote:6. American

Top four: Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, UCF

The American does lose Louisville and Rutgers – well, loses Louisville – but adds East Carolina, Tulsa and Tulane – well, adds ECU. The top four isn't terrible: UCF will be a 10-win threat, Houston is underrated, Cincinnati is always a threat and ECU should hit the ground running from the start. The American's issue lies in the mess beyond the top quartet, a group that may include just one eventual bowl team. Is Tulsa ready to rebound? Can Tulane maintain its current growth against a higher caliber of competition? The league gets ugly after the leaders.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nca...gx01pyv1ls

Okay Paul

our top 4 teams have som respect but it falls off

id love for our bottom half to have some upsets in ooc next year

Jeez. One bad year and people forget about basically a decade of winning. Blankenship better step his game up!

(07-14-2014 01:33 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  Jeez. One bad year and people forget about basically a decade of winning. Blankenship better step his game up!

I think the one bad year gets exaggerated because the one bad year was a year in which Tulsa was supposed to be really, really good. Now that may have been an unrealistic expectation.

His comments on Tulane are reasonable. Our schedule is much, much harder this year in all phases...no tune-up games, better conference, tougher ooc schedule.

(07-14-2014 01:33 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  Jeez. One bad year and people forget about basically a decade of winning. Blankenship better step his game up!

I always think that too...I mean yes last season was pretty brutal for you guys but geez Tulsa has won 10+ games 3 of the last 6 years.

Teams like Memphis and Temple look possible bowl teams to me. PJ Walker will win some by himself.

I have no doubt in my mind that USF and UConn will be better and continue to right the ship. Memphis I think will improve as they realize FBall has been holding back their chances of moving up in conference for too long.

Temple is a bit of a wildcard, but I do think they will improve. Tulane is on the up and up and Tulsa has been too good for too long to fall off the cliff.

My point, I think he is showing a lack of knowledge and just making hte gut reaction based on public perception.

I think the middle-lower middle teams this year will be probably be better than most expect. Lots of tough OOC matchups in this league, so it may not show..

USF has been down since Leavitt departed and one decent year with Holtz, but I don't think, I know they'll be back.

Tulane is steadily improving and the new on campus stadium can only help with attendance / interest. I expect the Wave to make noise in the conference.

June Jones or not, SMU is never a "push over" team and has averaged 6 to 7 wins since June got there.

Temple is an enigma to me. They improved in the MAC and the American ain't the BE they got booted from, so I think like Tulane, Temple will come around. They played much better in the second half of last season. 60 points separated them from a 2-10 season versus maybe 5-7 or 6-6.

UConn - Pasqualoni is gone. Enough said.

Memphis. The Tigers just need one breakout season, just one. Competitive in most games last year. I'd expect at least a few more wins this year.

Tulsa will be back.

I expect to see 6 teams bowl eligible this year and 7-8 by next season. The top 4 are better this year but, overall, every team in the conference will get stronger. We need a good showing OOC, though.

(07-14-2014 03:41 PM)mac6115cd Wrote:  I expect to see 6 teams bowl eligible this year and 7-8 by next season. The top 4 are better this year but, overall, every team in the conference will get stronger. We need a good showing OOC, though.

Who?

Cincinnati. Check
UCF. Check
ECU. Check
Houston. Check

Besides the top-4, IMO, the most likely bowl eligible teams are Memphis and Tulsa. Mostly because they avoid at least one of the top-4 AAC in conference.

Although the Tigers play at UCLA, at Ole Miss, and at Cincinnati and then host Houston in the first half of the season, Memphis avoids both ECU and UCF in conference. They have a good shot at a second-half roll that will land them into bowl land.

Tulsa hosts Oklahoma, but the rest of the OOC slate is manageable - at CSU, at FAU, Texas St. They also avoid Cincy. I can see 6 wins there.

I should start by saying that there are few bigger Temple fans than me and while they will definitely be improved this season all the planets will need to align for them to get to 6-6 and a bowl game. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but with a schedule that includes games:

At Vanderbilt
At Penn State
At UCF
At Houston
Cincinnati
ECU

it’s going to be a tall order. If the Owls don’t run the table against Delaware St, Navy, at UConn, Tulsa, Memphis and at Tulane which team above do they beat?

I hope I’m wrong but I see 4-8 as acceptable, 5-7 a solid year, and 6-6 with a bowl an outstanding season.

(07-14-2014 03:38 PM)ECUPirated Wrote:  Temple is an enigma to me. They improved in the MAC and the American ain't the BE they got booted from, so I think like Tulane, Temple will come around. They played much better in the second half of last season. 60 points separated them from a 2-10 season versus maybe 5-7 or 6-6.

I dont know how we're an enigma. Addazio left the cupboard bare, so we used a lot of underclassmen where we needed mostly juniors and seniors to step up. We played a lot of freshmen in other years we would've redshirted. 7 of our 11 starters on D were underclassmen. This year, it's not likely to be more than 3 or 4.

(07-14-2014 04:49 PM)JHG722 Wrote:  

(07-14-2014 03:38 PM)ECUPirated Wrote:  Temple is an enigma to me. They improved in the MAC and the American ain't the BE they got booted from, so I think like Tulane, Temple will come around. They played much better in the second half of last season. 60 points separated them from a 2-10 season versus maybe 5-7 or 6-6.

I dont know how we're an enigma. Addazio left the cupboard bare, so we used a lot of underclassmen where we needed mostly juniors and seniors to step up. We played a lot of freshmen in other years we would've redshirted. 7 of our 11 starters on D were underclassmen. This year, it's not likely to be more than 3 or 4.

Enigma meaning Temple is a mystery to me. I don't know much about the Owls to speak to where you guys might be this year, only that I knew you guys had improved a lot after the move over to the MAC. But I checked out the schedule from last year, and the Owls seemed to have played a lot better later in the season, so maybe that was an indicator of what could be accomplished this year.

I think the conference, overall, including Temple, will be stronger this year.

Thanks for the info, though, always interested in getting a better understanding of other teams in the conference.

(07-14-2014 02:54 PM)DrBox Wrote:  

(07-14-2014 01:33 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  Jeez. One bad year and people forget about basically a decade of winning. Blankenship better step his game up!

I think the one bad year gets exaggerated because the one bad year was a year in which Tulsa was supposed to be really, really good. Now that may have been an unrealistic expectation.

His comments on Tulane are reasonable. Our schedule is much, much harder this year in all phases...no tune-up games, better conference, tougher ooc schedule.

I think there is some of the conference change driving that. Same thing happened to us


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USF, Memphis and Temple will all certainly be better. Their records will reflect the improvement and all three will be in bowl contention.

I don't have a clue about UConn or Tulsa; however, I think that their records will improve.

Tulane is a mystery to me. I honestly don't know what to expect but it would not surprise me to find them bowling again next season. I will say the same thing about SMU.

The top four that Paul mentions will all be bowling next season and should be at least as good as they were last year. In ECU's case, our record will be tough to match.

From top to bottom, we're better than the MWC this season... and it's not really that close; our bottom teams are better than their bottom teams and our top four are clearly better, with the possible exception of Boise State (who is also a mystery to me this year, but they should contend for the MWC title).

My beloved Green Wave will be competitive, but I don't know how the season will shake out. I certainly don't see where the ECU fans think they're so much closer to the league title than Tulane, whom they lost to a year ago. Our defense is a year older and as skilled as any in this league. ANY. Our offense will have a RS QB that may be amazing, or may be a deer in the headlights, time will tell. But if the O line improves, and it's been brutal for CJ's first two years, this could be a fun year for the Wave.

Roll Wave!

(07-14-2014 08:28 PM)DfromCT Wrote:  My beloved Green Wave will be competitive, but I don't know how the season will shake out. I certainly don't see where the ECU fans think they're so much closer to the league title than Tulane, whom they lost to a year ago. Our defense is a year older and as skilled as any in this league. ANY. Our offense will have a RS QB that may be amazing, or may be a deer in the headlights, time will tell. But if the O line improves, and it's been brutal for CJ's first two years, this could be a fun year for the Wave.

Roll Wave!

At your place in double OT, with a RB coming off injury. Now at our place, Nuff said.

(07-14-2014 08:33 PM)ecumbh1999 Wrote:  

(07-14-2014 08:28 PM)DfromCT Wrote:  My beloved Green Wave will be competitive, but I don't know how the season will shake out. I certainly don't see where the ECU fans think they're so much closer to the league title than Tulane, whom they lost to a year ago. Our defense is a year older and as skilled as any in this league. ANY. Our offense will have a RS QB that may be amazing, or may be a deer in the headlights, time will tell. But if the O line improves, and it's been brutal for CJ's first two years, this could be a fun year for the Wave.

Roll Wave!

At your place in double OT, with a RB coming off injury. Now at our place, Nuff said.

With our starting QB out last year, and missing one of our key defensive lineman, you made our backup QB look like an all-American in OT.

I do think Greenville is a tough road destination for a young Wave team. But our D is a whole lot better than people think. I'd be willing to bet there's 3 or maybe 4 on the field that will eventually play on Sundays.

And I can't wait to see Tanner Lee.