Note: all C-USA teams, with the exception (barely) of Louisiana Tech, are in the BOTTOM 40% of FBS. Just a dumpster fire of a conference, saved only by the even-worse MAC.

C-USA

West

77. Louisiana Tech (4-1)
81. U.A.B. (3-1)
83. Southern Miss (3-2)
97. North Texas (2-3)
114. RICE (0-5)
124. U.T.S.A. (1-3)
126. U.T.E.P. (1-3)


East

82. Florida Atlantic (3-2)
92. Marshall (2-2)
98. Western Kentucky (2-2)
109. Middle Tennessee (1-3)
113. Charlotte (2-3)
119. Old Dominion (1-3)
121. F.I.U. (1-3)

OTHERS:

13. Texas (3-1)
16. Wake Forest (5-0)
24. Baylor (4-0)
71. Army (3-1)

Optimistic takeaway - while CUSA is still garbage, we almost beat the conference leader and have a chance to prove that we're better than last year. Even if that only means we're in the 80 to 90 range...

Here are the conference rankings. The rating points encompass the strength of the opponent, so a better won-loss record is not the sole determinant of a better conference. These are non-conference games only.

The Big 12 is, from top to bottom, the best conference this season. The appearance of so many power teams from the SEC is attributable, in part, to the weakness at the bottom of the conference (Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Tennessee are not very good, while South Carolina and Kentucky are worse than usual).

The other takeaway is that the American Athletic Conference is closing the gap on the P5. The ACC was the best P5 last season, but has fallen way off in 2019.

Conference W L Pct. Rating

Big 12 (24-6) 0.800 30.9544
Southeastern (29-10) 0.744 25.8456
Big Ten (30-8) 0.789 23.7653
Pacific 12 (24-10) 0.706 18.0534
Atlantic Coast (29-12) 0.707 12.3252

American Athletic (28-13) 0.683 8.5440
Mountain West (26-14) 0.650 -3.5331

Sun Belt (19-16) 0.543 -11.5660
Conference USA (19-29) 0.396 -25.5658
Mid-American (17-27) 0.386 -28.0908

Independents (12-16) 0.429 -42.0651

(09-30-2019 11:44 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  Note: all C-USA teams, with the exception (barely) of Louisiana Tech, are in the BOTTOM 40% of FBS. Just a dumpster fire of a conference, saved only by the even-worse MAC.

C-USA

West

77. Louisiana Tech (4-1)
81. U.A.B. (3-1)
83. Southern Miss (3-2)
97. North Texas (2-3)
114. RICE (0-5)
124. U.T.S.A. (1-3)
126. U.T.E.P. (1-3)


East

82. Florida Atlantic (3-2)
92. Marshall (2-2)
98. Western Kentucky (2-2)
109. Middle Tennessee (1-3)
113. Charlotte (2-3)
119. Old Dominion (1-3)
121. F.I.U. (1-3)

OTHERS:

13. Texas (3-1)
16. Wake Forest (5-0)
24. Baylor (4-0)
71. Army (3-1)

What ranking did Rice finish with last year?

(10-01-2019 08:48 AM)Intellectual_Brutality Wrote:  

(09-30-2019 11:44 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  Note: all C-USA teams, with the exception (barely) of Louisiana Tech, are in the BOTTOM 40% of FBS. Just a dumpster fire of a conference, saved only by the even-worse MAC.

C-USA

West

77. Louisiana Tech (4-1)
81. U.A.B. (3-1)
83. Southern Miss (3-2)
97. North Texas (2-3)
114. RICE (0-5)
124. U.T.S.A. (1-3)
126. U.T.E.P. (1-3)

...

What ranking did Rice finish with last year?

In WRC's analysis, 127th. See his final 2018 ranking here: https://csnbbs.com/thread-864519.html

(09-30-2019 11:44 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  Note: all C-USA teams, with the exception (barely) of Louisiana Tech, are in the BOTTOM 40% of FBS. Just a dumpster fire of a conference, saved only by the even-worse MAC.

C-USA

West

77. Louisiana Tech (4-1)
81. U.A.B. (3-1)
83. Southern Miss (3-2)
97. North Texas (2-3)
114. RICE (0-5)
124. U.T.S.A. (1-3)
126. U.T.E.P. (1-3)


East

82. Florida Atlantic (3-2)
92. Marshall (2-2)
98. Western Kentucky (2-2)
109. Middle Tennessee (1-3)
113. Charlotte (2-3)
119. Old Dominion (1-3)
121. F.I.U. (1-3)

OTHERS:

13. Texas (3-1)
16. Wake Forest (5-0)
24. Baylor (4-0)
71. Army (3-1)

I perhaps can provide some additional perspective here by looking at the Massey performance ratings for the C-USA teams this season. I didn't post them last year because I spent almost half the season away volunteering for the National Park Service, and inasmuch I lived about ten miles away from the nearest available Internet access point, I didn't see the point in regularly posting them. I did, however, keep track of them and am doing so again this season, so they may provide additional data for this discussion.

Mike Bloomgren's first season at the helm of the Owls produced results barely different from his predecessor. David Bailiff's final team had a median rating of 29.62 for the 2017 season; Bloomgren's 2018 team produced a 32.78 rating. So far, 2019 has been a definite improvement. After five games, the median stands at 38.52, which while still not high represents a nine-point improvement from two seasons ago and would put the Owls around 108th in Division I FBS if it were a Massey power rating. A look at all of the ratings for C-USA is interesting:

Florida Atlantic 48.41
Marshall 47.41
North Texas 44.65
Southern Miss 44.59
Charlotte 43.06
Louisiana Tech 40.76
Rice 38.52
Western Kentucky 36.92
UAB 34.36
Old Dominion 32.54
Florida International 32.16
Middle Tennessee 30.81
UTEP 24.97
UTSA 22.37

Right now, Rice stands seventh in C-USA. Of course, part of the reason for this lofty standing is because C-USA is such a bad football conference, but it does show that there are definitely opportunities for wins the remainder of this season, even against this week's opponent UAB. Unfortunately, the four C-USA teams currently rated below Rice on the schedule also happen to be this season's four road opponents, so that might work against the Owls. Nevertheless, those people claiming that Rice might go 4-4 in conference this season aren't as crazy as you might think....