Fifth Down and One To Go
That’s right, just like Mizzou in 1990 I’m taking an extra down. With some luck however I will use it to my advantage and not end up a loser like the Tigers. So, what’s the play on fifth and short? Well that’s the million dollar question in Conference USA, with all the teams in contention separated by only a pair of wins it’s still anybody’s game. Would I have made this claim just a few hours ago? Probably not but then undefeated Tulsa fell to a lackluster Arkansas squad. Currently Rice are playing ball at a level close to Tulsa and if the Golden Hurricanes slip again, Rice will be more than glad to replace them atop C-USA West.
In the East division things get even more dicey, with Marshall currently holding a slim lead at 3-1 in conference and East Carolina occupying the number two slot at 2-1 currently and capable of continuing to stay close to the top. Central Florida isn’t out of the mix either and a win over ECU could prove to be a big boost for the Golden Knights. Providing Marshall and East Carolina don’t show how pathetic they can be in games that are considered to be automatic, Memphis despite sitting third in the division is almost out of this. Though as stated, Marshall and ECU have proven that no win is automatic.
Four weeks are left to be played in this college football season, Conference USA has two teams with the requisite six wins to become bowl eligible, four more teams are two wins away from reaching the mark. UAB and Southern Methodist have become mathematically ineligible for a post-season and should be looking to just escape this year with some dignity or something to build on. However, with both teams only playing conference foes the best that can come out of it is the faith your team can beat conference opponents, and maybe a benefit for someone else in conference if things continue to be this tight.
Central Florida, Southern Mississippi, Tulane and Texas-El Paso all have to win the remainder of their games in order to be bowl eligible and for some of those teams it’s going to be easier said than done. With some teams having yet played Tulsa it may be a losing battle, or it may not as Tulsa have shown they are not the BCS busters people wanted them to be this year.
Conference USA is a tight race this year, as a result it looks a bit amateur from the outside if you only take the overall record into consideration, but when you have twelve teams playing with something to prove upsets happen, predictions are usually wrong and anything can come out of any given game.
