O5 - Week 11

 Well, MAC was early this week so here's 4 picks..

AAC: Gus has the UCF(7-2 4-1 AAC) looking sharp. Plumlee will toss two TD passes at Tulane (8-1 5-0 AAC). UCF-24 Tul 20

CUSA: FAU (4-5 3-2 C-USA) at FIU((4-5 2-3 C-USA) in an intrastate battle. Nkosi Perry is having a decent year at QB and had a good game in last week's big win against UAB. FAU 21 FIU 20

MWC: San José State (6-2 4-1 MWC) visits Snapdragon to take on San Diego State (5-4 3-2 MWC). I'll ride with Cordeiro, who has tossed for 2,224 yards and 11 TDs for the Spartans. SJST 28 SDST 23

SunBelt: App St visits Marshall and the erratic teams have identical (5-4 2-3Sun Belt) records. Laborn carries the rushing load for #herd at home. MU 17 APP St 16

Nov 13, 2022

Pratt threw more TD passes than Plumlee but that wasn't enough for Tulane. UCF 38 TUL 31

Nkosi Perry accounted for 4 TDs and FAU rolled FIU 52-7. 

Wrong on SJST. Cordeiro did plenty, but Jalen Mayden threw three touchdown passes and Jordan Byrd returned a kickoff 95 yards for a TD for San Diego State. SDST 43 SJST 27

Marshall U blocked a punt for TD and Fancher tossed two TDs in a 28-21 win over App St

3-1 for the weekend

Nov 16, 2022

Virginia canceled its game against Coastal Carolina this coming weekend after 3 football players  were killed earlier this week in an on campus shooting.

And some Baltimore -related news. Charlotte has hired Michigan associate head coach Biff Poggi as its next HC 

Poggi was a longtime successful high school coach in Baltimore ,Maryland with  Gilman School and  then powerhouse, St. Frances Academy, before joining Jim Harbaugh's staff at Michigan. He  sent  Blake Corum and other St Frances stars to Michigan.

Midweek pigskin in week ending Nov 21

 A battle of two (2-0) MAC, WMU and CMU, teams kicks off tomorrow tonight at Central Michigan. WMU will need  more than the fake spike TD that saved them against Toledo last week. Richards to Dixon passing game will take  the home team to a narrow victory. CMU 20 WMU 18.

I'm taking field goals as the winner in the FIU/WKU game in the CUSA.  The tossed coin landed on FIU 12 WKU 9

Tulsa reached the top 25 and I don't see Tulane slowing down Zach Smith, who has tossed 10 TD passes, in this AAC matchup. Tulsa 27 Tulane 22

It's hard to resist to the MWC matchup of San Jose St (4-0) and Fresno St (3-1). I'll take the Starkel to Gaither connection to keep SJST undefeated. SJST 31 Fresno St 26

 Coastal Carolina (7-0, 5-0 Sun Belt) hosts AppSt(6-1, 4-0 Sun Belt) and the home team Chanticleers will ride McCall's passing to 34-19 victory over AppSt..

Nov 18, 2020

Props to #JerotPatterson  for this stat line 31 carries for 301yards, 4 TDs in his Buffalo Bulls  42-17 win over Bowling Green. 

Nov19

Wrong about the QBs and the game . It was Eleby, WMU QB, who stole the show by tossing 5 TD passes in a 52-44 win over CMU.

Nov 20

I got damn close on the final score  and was correct on Tulsa, who needed OT to put away Tulane 30-24. Davis Brin, the Tulsa  QB , had  solid night: 18-28, 266 YDS, 2 TD 

Nov 22

 I was wrong on WKU who  outscored  FIU 28-8 in the second half  for a 38-28 victory 

CCU got a hell of a battle from App ST in scrapping out a 34-23 win. McCall is a gamer and Isaiah Likely ( 3 REC, 118 yards, 1 TD) shows a lot of promise and may keep the Chants undefeated this season.

SJST /Fresno ST was cancelled. 2-2 this weekend

Pre-season 2020 Other 5 football notes

Yes, the proliferation of transfers is dizzying, but this one caught me off guard. Two-year starting QB Isaiah Green leaves Marshall for the transfer portal.

Former UNLV starting quarterback Armani Rogers will play  at Ohio and is a grad transfer so he's eligible for 2020.

Ricky Slade , Penn St RB, is headed to ODU  to play for HC Rick Rahne who  an assistant coach at PSU.

Maybe a bad sign for the O5 football future.: Michael Alford, the Central Michigan AD , is  taking the job of CEO of Seminole Boosters, Inc., at Florida State.

July 20:

Former WAC rivals, Wyoming (MWC) and Arizona (PAC12) announced a  home-and-home series starting in 2033.

Wyoming lost to Zona 13-12 when they  last met in 1977.  Zona leads the all-time series 12-10.

July 23, 2020

Grisham, the Governor of New Mexico asked New Mexico, which competes in the MWC,to suspend contact sports. The Lobos  lost its Sept. 12 game with USC(PAC12).  In addition to their conference slate, the Lobos are scheduled to play Idaho St, Miss St(SEC), and New Mexico State as non-conference opponents. NMST also received the "suspend" letter.

July 30, 2020

Ball State(MAC) replaced Iowa(B10) on Iowa St(Big 12) schedule and had an open slot because its game at Michigan(B10) was canceled by the B10.

ISU won the only previous meeting between the two schools in 1998.

Aug 6

AAC 8 +4  ,starts Sept 19, MWC 8+2 , starts Sept 26. Sunbelt 8+4  , starts Aug 29

Aug 9

MAC cancels 2020 football season. Will its best players transfer ASAP?

Aug 10, 2020

ODU of the CUSA cancels its season and so does MWC.

Aug 14, 2020

FIU(CUSA) delayed it's start til Sept 16. Sunbelt and AAC haven't had much to say lately.

Aug 15

There's going to be a lot of last minute shopping for opponents now.  Tulane(AAC) needs a new opponent for its opener since Southeastern Louisiana, a Southland Conference member had it's season canceled by the conference.

aug 21, 2020

Chris Robison , the FAU Owls' starting quarterback the last two seasons. who was recently named to the Maxwell Award Watch List, was removed from the team's roster and no reason was given publicly.

aug 23

WKU (CUSA) added 1a independents ,Liberty and BYU, to it s 2020 schedule.

aug 31 

South Florida(AAC) will play Notre dame on Sept. 19. The game will be part of a three-game series in which the Bulls get one home game in Tampa, Florida.

Sept  3, 2020 

Mike Collins, ULM DC, resigns 10 days before season-opener vs. Army. Basically because his tank is empty.

Sept 4, 2020

Desmond Trotter threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns and Jalen Tolbert had 169 yards receiving and two TD receptions for South Bama (Sunbelt) in a 32-21 win over USM(CUSA) . UAB(CUSA) beat Central Arkansas(1AA). 

Sept 6

SMU(AAC) looked shaky  yesterday for about 3/4 of the games yesterday against Texas St (Sunbelt) but held on for a 31-24 win. TJ MDaniel rushed for 130 yards  for the Mustangs. BTW, Jeremiah Haydel made a great one-handed TD reception for the Bearcats early in the second quarter. In another AAC /Sunbelt matchup Brady White threw four TD passes to lead Memphis to a 37-24 win over Arkansas St.

Three CUSA teams, Marshall, UNT, and UTEP beat 1AA teams , but UTEP had some problems with SF Austin in a 24-14 win.

Dec 21 O5 Bowl Games

NEW MEXICO BOWL SDST(MWC) has found various ways to put together a solid season. CMU has been erratic . Aztecs D get a pick 6  and a narrow 19-17 win
FBC MORTGAGE CURE BOWL- Tough call . Can  Flames D contain Werts, the Georgia Southern QB? Nope! I'm looking for a wild won with Hickson of Liberty rushing for two TDs in a 36-34 win
CHERIBUNDI BOCA RATON BOWL Kiffin is gone so FAU falters to SMU(AAC)  34-22. Shane Buechele will strafe the  Owls D for three TD passes.
CAMELLIA BOWL You never know which FIU(AAC) teams will show up. Arkansas St(SunBelt) QB Hatcher will have a solid day.  Ark St 29 FIU 26
MITSUBISHI MOTORS LAS VEGAS BOWL: Harsin has Boise St(MWC) nearing the heights it was at Peterson left for UW.  Peterson goes out on a winning note at UW with 23-22 win. Ahmed rushes for 100  + and a TD for the Hiskies
R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL UAB's (CUSA) offense tends to disappear. App St(Sunbelt) survives losing another HC. App St 20 UAB 16

dec 22 review

Five out of six. Only incorrect pick was SMU (AAC). Robison tossed for 305 yards and two TDs for FAU in a 52-28 win.. I thought UAB was going to make it a big day for the CUSA, but App St with Boynton rushing for 157 yards and two TDs roared back for  the 31-17 win. Then FIU(CUSA) couldn't slow down Hatcher, the  Ark St QB, and lost 34-26 giving the Sunbelt a 2-0 day against the CUSA.
Another Sunbelt squad , Georgia Southern , fell to Liberty 23 to 16. Calvert's 57 yards TD pass to a wide open Huntley was a huge play for the Flames.
MWC got a split. Aztecs controlled CMU the entire game  in a 48-11 win. Boise got rolled by UW 38-7.

Jan 8:

It turns out the Aztecs win over CMU was HC Rocky Long's last victory. He was 81-38 as head coach at SDSU and before that 65-69 in eleven seasons at New Mexico which makes him the winningest HC in MWC history. Brady Hoke, the man he replaced at SDSU nine years ago, is the new HC.

Jan 27

And  Rocky Long returns  to be the Lobos DC. Man, WTH happened at SDSU? I thought he'd retire or go to a different conference as a consultant.

May 21, 2020

 Props to UAB: Georgia is on their schedule in 2021 and 2023 and LSU in 2022. UAB is 2-25 versus SEC schools. In 2000 they beat Saban's LSU squad, and they beat Miss St in 2004.

July 14, 2020

Four-star QB Shedeur Sanders, son of Deion Sanders, commits to FAU (CUSA). Big nab for Coach Taggart.

Week 13 O5 picks- division time

MACW has two idle teams  tied at 5-2( WMU and CMU)  so I'll roll with a MAC East game .  Miami O owns H2H tiebreakers with the rest of the East including Ohio who will  get back on the winning track against Bowling Green tonight 27-19 behind  another solid all-around game game from their QB  O'Rourke.
AAC: I'm not sold on Temple's two QB, Russo and Centeio, system and don't think they have enough O to stay with Cincy who lock up the East with a win.   Cincy 34 Temple 22
CUSA: Chris Reynolds, Charlotte's QB, has been putting up big numbers, but the herd D will find a way to keep them in the game and get Marshall to a narrow 24-23 road win and keep them on pace with FAU in the East.
MWC: Utah St moves in to tie with Boise for the Mountain with a win.  Home field and Jordan Love's arm will be the keys in a 44-43 shootout win over Boise St.
Sunbelt: Ark St trails ULL by a game in the Wesr , and Georgia Southern trails App St by a game in the East. Hatcher's a hot QB and he'll the Red Wolves to a 30-29 over  another solid QB- led team  GSU Eagles who will get big numbers from Werts.

Nov 20

 Wow,  Ohio 66 BG 24. O’Shaan Allison rushed for 175 yards which included touchdown runs of 54, 7 and 53 yards, Nathan Rourke accounted for four TDs, three passing, one rushing.
Nov 24
Saturday split leaves me 3-2 for the week
Well, Reynolds was the man and the #herd went limp in the second half . Char 24 MU 10
Less than I expected, and a blocked extra-point attempt turned into Cincinnati's decisive points in 15-13 win over TU.
I was way off Boise.  Holani (16 CAR, 178 YDS, 2 TD) led the way in the BSU 56-21 blowout of USU.
 Ark St 38 Ga SO 33- Huge Game from Hatcher

Layne Hatcher ARST 19-24, 354 YDS, 4 TD
Shai Werts GASO 18 CAR, 151 YDS, 1 TD

• Hey how about Butch Davis' Panthers beating Miami FL. FIU (CUSA) 30 The u 24

Friday the 20th football slate

FIU at La Tech- The Panthers were crushed by Tulane and lost to WKU and will lose 22-16 to La Tech. I expect J"Mar  Smith, the Bulldogs QB, to have a good game.
Utah at USC- Doubts that Helton can lead the Trojans back to their glory years are firmly entrenched. Trojans D will wilter against the Utes QB/RB combo of Huntley/Moss. Utah 34 USC 23
AFA at Boise St I'm tempted to roll with Air Force, who had a nice win against Colorado last week, but Bachmeier , the Broncos QB, will do enough for his team to win 26 24.

Sept 21 wrapup- 

 J'Mar Smith was outgunned by Panthers QB James Morgan, but Justin Henderson rushed for 141yards and 3 Tds in LA Tech's 43-31 win.
 Pittman Jr had a hell of a game for USC 10 rec , 232 yards, 1td. Backup QB Fink sparkled of the bench . USC D held Moss to 20 yards rushing in a 30-23 win.
Bachmeier tossed for 263 yards and 2 TDs in a 30-19  Broncos' win over AFA

Florida Matchups in O5 play Sept 21-22

#fau  (CUSA) will rely heavily on rushing yards from Singletary in an upset bid at #ucf (AAC), but  I don't think the Owls will contain Mckenzie the UCF QB for long.  UCF 30 FAU 20
#fiu (CUSA) doesn't have enough O to stay with Miami Fla  in their first mmeting since the brawl twelve years ago. Yes, I know FIU is averaging 40 plus points a game but that was against Umass , ODU, and Indiana. Miami 34 FIU 16
#NIU (MAC) travels to FSU (ACC) and faces a Noles team that's a mess. Marcus Childers will toss a TD pass  and keep the Huskies in the game but they'll fall 20-17.
For new readers O5 , the Other 5 , is my label for the non -power football conferences., #aac, #cusa, #mac, #mwc , #sunbelt
sept 22: This says it all about UCF 56 FAU 36 . McKenzie Milton  UCF
21-32, 306 YDS, 3 TD , Devin Singletary  FAU 25 CAR, 131 YDS, 3 TD
sept 23:  FIU QB Morgan tossed two  TDs to Worton for FIU in the the 4Q but that was too little, too late to recover from a 31-0 deficit.Miami 31 FIU 17. NIU QB Childers passed for two and rushed for one TD but that was far from enough in a 37-19  defeat to the Noles

CUSA 2018 football predictions

EAST
Florida Atlantic- Kiffin  is looking for a Power 5 job ,and  former Nole  De Andre Johnson may be a his key.
Marshall's D held opponent under 20 PPG and returns nine starters  but #herd fans can only hope Doc has a cures for the O's woes.
Middle Tennessee: All rest on QB Stocksill if they can run with the big dogs in the East.
Florida Intl: Butch Davis has a lot of holes to fill, but the Panthers will be a tough foe  by the middle of October.
Old Dominion Monarchs- Wilder is a decent HC, but I'm not sold on the Monarchs' talent.
Charlotte has eleven D starters returning.
Western Kentucky- Year 2 w/o Coach Brohm and more holes to fill.
WEST

UAB's solid QB Erdely and a stellar rushing attack will lead the Blazers to the West title.
Louisiana Tech has a solid D and big hopes for QB J'Mar Smith.
North Texas - Nice job in 2017 by Fine and the Mean Green lads, but you can bet the West will exploit NT's weak O-Line
UT San Antonio: Josiah Tauaefa returns to the D and the Roadrunners need him
Southern Mississippi has great talent but keeps getting stuck when trying to turn the corner
UTEP Miners' Rebuild continues with new HC Dimel.
Rice : Good luck new HC Bloomgren!

8/17/18

#USM senior QB #KwadraGriggs, who started seven games last season, was suspended indefinitely  Saturday for a "student conduct matter." It appears transfer Jack Abraham will get the  starting job.

8/23/18

#WKU will host Cincinnati on 9/20/25 and visit them  on 9/26/26. They've never matched up on the field espite being  about three hours apart.

8/27/2018

Going to be a long season for #rice . Jack Fox kicked a 23-yard field goal as time expired to help Rice beat Prairie View

9/15/18

Glimmer of hope for the Cusa. #northtexas qb Fine led the Mean Green to romp over Arkansas.

9/26/18

Focusing on CUSA conference games. Love the #herd behind I Green at #wku. NTEX will be Fine hosting LA Tech. UAB handles Charlotte. #FAU will pull it out at end at #MTSU. UTSA gets by UTEP.
I don't trust ODU coming off the VA Tech win against ECU (AAC)

CUSA 2017-18 hoop predictions

CUSA has no one in the current top 25 and will likely need a miracle to get two teams in the Dance.
East
Middle Tenn-  King 23 PPG 6 rbg
Marshall- Elmore returned and looks sharp with 28PPG and 92 FT%
Old Dominion- Stith and Carver lead in stats on a team that has no current star.
Charlotte- Davis 15 ppg 6 rbg 6 apg
W Kentucky- Beardsen 17.5 ppg 3 APG
Fla Atlantic- Troutman 13 PPG 62.5 ft%
Florida Intl- Lockett 16.9 ppg 9 rbg
West

UAB- Cokely  is leading the Blazers with 19 ppg & 11.7 rbg3 

LA Tech- Harris isaveraging 25 ppg and Jean has a 57.1 - 3p%

TX El Paso- Off to a slow start . Frazier  14 PPG 

S Mississippi -Griffin leads in nearly every stat category

North Texas- Woolridge 17 ppg  2.3apg

TX-San Ant- Jackson is the man from three point land

Rice- Cashaw 17.3 PPg 8.3 rbg
dec 23: How about the #herd (9-4) hanging with Xavier before falling 81-77. Also noticed that #jonelmore passed #halgrier on the Marshall  history scoring list in the win over EKU.
Jan 12: #mtsu and #wku are 4-0 in CUSA play.  C.J. Burks scored a career-high 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting helping the #herd recover from big loss to #wku with a win over Charlotte.
Jan 21: #herd  beat #mtsu and #uab this week.. MTSU recovered from that loss with a win over  #wku yesterday. #odu led by #AhmadCaver (17 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST) beat  #FAU and moved into a tie for first with WKU and MTSU.
Jan 28: #herd run over late by #wku (7-1).#brandonwaters (17 pts 12 reb) led #mtsu (8-1) to an easy win UTEP. #utsa hit 15 treys in a win over UAB. Is the NTX  Mean Green revving up with wins over FAU and FIU.
Feb 11: Elmore and Paneva had solid night  in the #herd win FAU.  #Nickyoung 32points helped MTSU get by NTU. #ODU and #wku won to keep the race tight.  UTSA 63 UTEP 59 #deonlyle hit five of eight trays  to keep a surprising #utsa in  the picture.
Middle Tennessee 12-1
Old Dominion         10-2
Western Kentucky 10-2
Marshall                  8-4
North Texas          7-5
UT San Antonio 7-5
feb 18 CUSA update- Wow, I had to look at this score #odu 82 #utep 33 a few times.
#herd get a big win at the buzzer over #ntx . UTSA needed OT to beat Charlotte. #wku and #mtsu. Top 4
remains the same. UTSA is in fifth now.
feb25 update : How about the #herd Offense scoring 103 in a win over Charlotte. led by #jonelmore 's
38 points which includednine treys. CUSA leaders #MTSU and #wku won. #utsa led by #donlyle beat
La Tech to remain one game behind Marshall for the 4th seed and rd1 CUSAT bye
march 4- Huge #herd upset of #mtsu gets them the final bye slot. WTH happened to #wku ?
#uab led by Nate Darling rolled WKU 101-73. UAB or USTA , fifth and sixth in the CUSA are in gear and
may pull some CUSAT upsets. MTSU, ODU, WKU, & Marshall have rd1 byes.
march 16: It didn't take long. Kermit Davis is leaving #mtsu for Ol Miss (SEC) job. #Buffalo surprised
me . I liked them all season but didn't think Zona was going to toss in the towel in the second half.
SCORING LEADERS W. Clark BUFF 25 PTS, 4 REB, 7 AST
march 19 update : Ajdin Penava MRSH - F (18 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST) had a decent game but Jevon Carter WVU - G (28 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST)and his teammates were too much in the
intrastate matchup. #wvu 94 #herd 71

march 24 update: Western Kentucky is in the NIT F4. #WKU freshman Taveion Hollingsworth scored  30 points (4 of 7 treys, and 8 of 9 free throws)  in a 92-84 win @ #OKst and faces #utah next.  Penn St/ Miss St is the other semi. In the CIT, #Utsa was outscored 48-32 in the second  half and lost to Sam Houston St . 76-69

march 28 update: Justin Johnson's (24 PTS, 11 REB, 2 AST) solid game was not enough for #wku in the 69-64 loss to Utah , who will face Penn St in #NIT final.
March 31 update: I tuned in to the end of the #northtexas 88-77 win over #usf in the CBI. NTX hit their free throws down the stretch.Roosevelt Smart scored 25 points and made all 14 of his free throws.   The champion is determined  by the a two out of three series.
NTX #CBI  results

• 
  @ SDAK
  W

  90-77
• 
  vs MER
  W

  96-67
• 
  vs JVST
  W

  90-68
• 
  @ SF
  L

  72-62
• 
  vs SF
  W

  69-55
• 
  vs SF
  W

  88-77

REGULAR SEASON

May 30, 2018 : I'm not digging the #Cusa hoop scheduling change in which the top five teams in the league will play each other for the final four conference games, as will teams seeded 6-10 and teams seeded 11-14. Yes, I think the #cusa get shorted on dance tickets, but gearing everything toward the RPI metrics and having some teams face each other three times in the reular season  borders on bizarre.
June 22, 2018
#mitchell robinson of #wku went to the Knicks in rd2. Only #cusa player taken.
July 1, 2018
#UAB- #ChrisCokely averaged 17 pts, 9 reb in his senior and the #charlottehornets signed him as a UFA

O5 quick snaps Labor Day weekend 2017

I'll try to stick to conference matchups but may not find many so I'll go  for possible close games.
1) #FIU (CUSA) visits #UCF (AAC):  Butch Davis' squad will stay in this one for  three quarters but UCF will prevail 30-17 behind QB #miltonmckenzie
2) #marshall (CUSA)  D won't contain   #miamiohio QB Ragland's aerial show. Miami O 31 MU 19
3) #coloradost (MWC) crushed Oregon St of the Pac 12 last week but Colorado is a  tougher team.
Plenty of Hype over the QBs, Montez  of the Buffaloes, and Stevens of CSU, so watch the rushing game be the key. Colorado 27 CSU 25
4) #coastalcarolina (sunbelt)  faces #umass who lost a tough one to Hawaii last week. #CCU will have a tough time slowing down the Ford to Breneman connection. UMass 33 Ccu 26
September 1: Well #FIU lasted a quarter and a half before Mckenzie and crew rolled them. Nice game for FIU #ThomasOwens  5 REC, 99 YDS, 1 TD. UCF 61 FIU 17
Sept 2 : I was correct about the Buffaloes but definitely thought there would be more O. Col 17 
CSU 3. I didn't foresee the  shaky offensive pass interference calls.
Sept 3: Ragland put up decent stats,, but the #herd got 3TDs from for the special teams and D:  Keion Davis returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and Chris Jackson added a pick6 . #marshall 31 MIami O 26. Cheers to #coastalcarolina RB #Abercrombie had 17 carries for 149 yards and two touchdowns in #CCU 38-28 win over Umass.

2017 CUSA football snap hunches

Weak #CUSAEast and room for regime change in #CUSAWest
Ganes to watch: Oct 7 #usm /#utsa . Nov 18 #fau /#fiu  Nov 25 #utsa /#louisianatech


EAST
W. Kentucky-  A ton of changes but the East appears weak
M. Tenn. St.- If Stocksill stays healthy , they topple #wku.
Old Dominion- Monarchs slide back a little
FIU-Butch Davis will rile these lads up
FAU- Kiffin has ex FSU QB Singletary
Marshall- #herd lines need shoring up
Charlotte- 49ers need to find a little gold.

WEST
Louisiana Tech- Holtz' guys should prevail but #utsa may turn the tables this season
UTSA- Solid recruiting will finally reap some rewards
Southern Miss- Consistency ?????
North Texas- #meangreen did go bowling last season-keep your eyes on them
UTEP opens at #oklahoma- brutal
Rice- new logo
UAB- slow recovery from no football in two years

Aug 17, 2017 : #DaltonSturm - #utsa is betting a lot on his improvement. just six interceptions over his 13 starts last season.
Aug 25, 2017:#kiffin  hired #briles son, and #butchdavis wants #jimmyjohnson to visit his squad. #FAU and #FIU are getting plenty of ink

CUSA football 2016

CUSA is  the most discussed conference at the Other  5 community. USM is getting a lot of hype this 2016 pre-season, but I'm not jumping that train. Instead I'll get on the Rice Owls limb.
EAST
1) Marshall- All signs point to a great Herd  D led by Durant. Can Litton continue to light up the O?
2) FIU: QB McGough will step up in his sophomore season.
3) W. Kentucky: Replacing Doughty will slow down the Hilltoppers in Septemebr
4) FAU: Trey Hendrickson, Owls DE, will get his fair share of sacks.
5) M. Tenn. St. Injury bug has hit the WR corps.
6) Old Dominion: Looks for some strong play from Monarchs LB, T.J. Ricks.
7) Charlotte:Kevin Olsen may be the QB answer

WEST
1) Rice- Stehling will play well enough at QB and the Owls develop a rushing game and surprise in the West.
2) Southern Miss- Coach Monkton's exit will hurt , but QB Mullens will keep them in contention.
3) Louisiana Tech: Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson. are a nice WR/TE tandem, but QB situation is shaky
4) North Texas :  Alec Morris, Bama QB transfer,  could provide some sparks.
5) UTEP : Shaky QB situation
6) UTSA-Post Coker era starts, Cavill, a transfer WR should be fun to watch.

9/2/16

My Rice  limb cracked quickly -WKU crushed them last night. FIU collapsed after the first half in a loss to Indiana/