Subtractions/Additions
Conference USA has seen major change over the last couple of seasons, with realignment at the upper levels ending with the break up of the old Big East, CUSA was once again raided for teams to fill up the now named American athletic conference. CUSA lost Memphis, Houston UCF and SMU to the AAC last season and this year lost East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa. ECU and Tulsa had been two of the more consistent teams in the conference with Tulsa falling off last season and Tulane being bad for most of the past decade. Too me ECU is the big loss this season, but they are replaceable. Coming in to fill the void left by the trio of departures are, WKU from the Sun Belt and Old Dominion which is making the transition from FCS to FBS. WKU has been good if not exceptional team in the Sun Belt, but has reached its zenith under the tutelage of Willie Taggert who left two years ago for USF and then a one year stint from vagabond Bobby Petrino, they are a solid if not spectacular addition to the conference roll call. Old Dominion finished above .500 in each of the four seasons it competed at the FCS including two trips to the playoffs, they aren't as well known or successful as Georgia Southern or Appalachian State but they do show an ability to move up in rank and succeed and that is a good trait in a new team.Recent History
No conference champ has repeated in the last three seasons, 2011 Southern miss was there last competent team they have had, 2012 Tulsa dropped off after there championship season and 2013 Rice is yet to be determined but I do have hope that they will buck the recent trend in drop offs for former champions.
Coaching Changes
There was relative stability in the Conference USA coaching ranks this off-season, with only 2 coaching changes it stands to reason that some of the under performing teams have staffs that need to make tangible improvements. UAB is one of those under performing teams but are saved the uncertainty of the hot seat because last seasons head coach joined the staff of the other departing head coach from the conference, Bobby Petrino. Garrick was under a good amount of pressure to produce results as his Blazers teams had stagnated over the last couple of seasons, he seized the opportunity to coach in the ACC even if that meant a demotion (or what amounts more to a lateral move). Garrick is replaced at UAB by Bill Clark, the head coach formally at Jacksonville State where he took the Gamecocks to there best record since 1992 and a quarterfinal appearance in the FCS playoffs. Petrino for his part in the Carousel is on his third job in as many seasons, two years ago he was at Arkansas where a long standing affair was discovered, along with other transgressions, after a motorcycle accidents with his mistress. He jumped at the chance to take the WKU which was seen as a one year stop gap before a BCS gig opened up and Louisville's did with the departure of Charlie Strong to Texas. With the departure of Petrino WKU looked inside the program for stability and their next coach. Jeff Brohm, brother of Brian Brohm former Louisville QB, takes over a program that is at the highest point in the history of the program. Brohm has been an assistant head coach multiple times and OC at a few stops but this is his first test running the whole show.
Team Write-ups (Division, 2013 W-L, Total Returning Starters, Returning Off (Starters (QB), % yards), Returning Def (Starters, % tackles) *coach records are career numbers
Marshall Thundering Herd (East, 10-4, 13, 6 (Y), 60.4%, 7, 85.9%), The Thundering Heard were the conference runner up last season and the champions of the East division. With 13 returning starters The Herd and a returning quarterback they position themselves well in the East to make another run at the championship game. Marshall needs to replace their top running back and two of their top three WR but a loaded defense brings back most of the top playmakers from a good squad last season. They should be the class of the conference. Current Head Coach: Doc Holliday (27-24) Hired: 2010Rice Owls (West, 10-4, 12, 6 (N), 48.8%, 6, 63.3%) Rice is the defending champion of the conference and return a bit over half the roster but the offense is depleted losing over half the yards gained last year including the starting QB. The defense returns more playmakers than the offense but still need to replace a good portion of the starting lineup. Rice brings back enough to be the favorite in the division but they need to make sure the assimilation of new starters is a quick one because there are some veteran laden teams in the west that will be looking for any weakness to take them down. Current Head Coach: David Bailiff (61-63) Hired: 2007
UTSA Roadrunners (West, 7-5, 19, 9 (N), 79.6%, 10, 82%) UTSA comes into this season losing only 3 starters from last years team, which was one of the best Larry Coker has had since he took over at UTSA. Even without a returning quarterback this roadrunners team is deep just about everywhere and has returning talent to not force any of the younger two deep into a situation that might be disastrous. Rice is still the best team in the division but UTSA is gonna be a stingy out this season and a real contender for the CUSA crown. Current Head Coach: Lary Coker (79-30) Hired: 2009
WKU Hilltoppers (East, 8-4, 11, 8 (Y), 54.9%, 3, 24%) Third head coach in three years, this time comes from inside the program already. Jeff Brohm has worked on two of Bobby Petrino's staffs and he has some talent to work with on the offensive side of the ball. But the defense is a mess returning a quarter of the tackles from last year and only 3 starters. Brohm seems like a good hire and WKU should be middle of the road the conference but this won't be an elite year for the Hilltoppers. Current Head Coach: Jeff Brohm (0-0) Hired: 2014
North Texas Mean Green (West, 9-4, 9, 5 (N), 37.7%, 4, 55.2%) 2013 Mean Green was one of the most successful iterations of recent memory. But with a scant 9 players returning and most of the offensive difference makers leaving this could be a struggle for McCarney and company. With a depleted conference there should still be enough foundation to be a mid tier team. Current Head Coach: Dan McCarney (74-104) Hired: 2011
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (East, 8-5, 11, 4 (N), 69.9%, 7, 72.4%) Middle Tennessee has been one of the more consistent mid majors over the last 5 seasons and with a fair bit of talent returning in 2014 they should continue that solid if not spectacular run that they have had under Rick Sotckill. The biggest red flag is the lack of a returning QB which at a group of 5 school can spell disaster even with returning peripheral talent. Current Head Coach: Rick Stocktill (51-49) Hired: 2006
Old Dominion Monarchs (East, 8-4, 17, 8 (Y), 81%, 9, 81.8%) Old Dominion finds itself in a new conference and a new level of competition. And I've put them seventh in a thirteen team conference. This may seem high but they played well at the FCS level and I have no confidence in the bottom of the conference. Current Head Coach: Bobby Wilder (46-14) Hired: 2009
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (West, 4-8, 13, 6 (Y), 68.9%, 7, 72.1%) Skip Holtz was hired after being booted from USF to replace a very impressive run Sonny Dykes. Holtz's 2014 team brings back an average amount from last seasons squad that underperformed. Year two at La Tech will bring us closer to finding out if Holtz is more like his ECU days or his USF days. Current Head Coach: Skip Holtz (92-79) Hired: 2013
UAB Blazers (East, 2-10, 14, 6 (N), 66.2%, 8, 74.2%) Bill Clark's sole year at Jacksonville State was impressive but he takes over a stagnant UAB team that brings back a plenty on defense but needs to adapt to a coaching change. Clark will needs to recruit well in a talent rich area of the country and to dig up the gems if he wants to enforce any kind of significant change in Birmingham. Current Head Coach: Bill Clark (11-4) Hired: 2014
FAU Owls (East, 6-6, 10, 5 (Y), 58.8%, 5, 60.8%) FAU has been a mess for, well, a while and but last year showed a significant increase in output. This season team brings some playmakers back but also has to replace over half of each side of the ball. A returning QB always helps a team in this situation but this team needs to build off of it's success last season. Current Head Coach: Charlie Patridge (0-0) Hired 2014
Southern Miss Golden Eagles (West, 1-11, 15, 8 (Y), 55%, 7, 78.1%) Of the bottom three teams in my rankings for this conference this is the team I'm most worried about coming back to bite me in the ass. Three years ago this team lost a couple of games and then fell apart when the coaching staff almost completely turned over. But that doesn't change the fact that there has to be some talent left on this team and with over half the offense back and two thirds of tackles from last year coming back this team has the chance to surprise some people. Current Head Coach: Todd Monken (1-11) Hired: 2013
UTEP Miners (West, 2-10, 16, 9 (Y), 72.6%, 7, 67.3%) The middle of the trio of teams that were really bad last season but return a lot and they sit about as highly in my opinion as Southern Miss and FIU, lots of talent coming back still gonna be bad. Kugler is in for the long haul and a surprisingly good season in year two could give him the rope to make significant and long lasting change in El Paso. Current Head Coach: Sean Kugler (2-10) Hired: 2013
FIU Panthers (East, 1-11, 18, 11 (Y), 58.8%, 7, 64.6%) FIU brings back a bunch of starters from a squad that wen 1-11 and that could mean one of two things. It could mean that this team will take another step forward with a more experienced roster or it means that FIU brings back a bunch of players that just aren't that talented. I tend to lean toward the latter. Oh and one last aside, firing Mario Cristobal was a gigantic waste of a supremely talented coach and asset. Current Head Coach: Ron Turner (43-72) Hired: 2013
2014 Predicted Standings
East: 1) Marshall 2) WKU 3) Middle Tennessee 4) UAB 5) Old Dominion 6) FAU 7) FIU
West: 1) Rice 2) UTSA 3) North Texas 4) Louisiana Tech 5) Southern Miss 6) UTEP
Conference Championship: Rice at Marshall
That concludes the first conferene rundown for the season, I pale in comparison to Bill Connelly at SBNatoin but I think it's fun and it helps me think critically about certain teams. Conference USA doesn't excite me much but Marshall and Rice should be entertaining to say the least and have a chance at the Group of Five New Years Day bid. I hope you enjoyed this, the next conference up will be the Sun Belt and I hope to have it out before the end of the month.
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