C-USA Preview

Now that the season is fastly appraoching, we take a look at each conference for where the teams may stack up, who are the best at each positon, some of the storylines to watch, and some of the top talents for the 2010 NFL Draft.

Projected Final Standings:
East
1. Southern Miss 9-3
2. East Carolina 9-3
3. Memphis 6-6
4. UAB 6-6
5. Marshall 4-8
6. UCF 3-9

West
1. Houston 8-4
2. Tulsa 8-4
3. SMU 7-5
4. UTEP 7-5
5. Tulane 6-6
6. Rice 1-11

Pre-Season All-Conference:
QB- Case Keenum, Houston, Jr.
RB- Damian Fletcher, Southern Miss, Sr.
RB- Andre Anderson, Tulane, Sr.
WR- DeAndre Brown, Southern Miss, So.
WR- Tyrone Carrier, Houston, So.
TE- Cody Slate, Marshall, Sr.
C- Carl Bennett, Houston, Sr.
OL- Ryan Herbert, Southern Miss, Sr.
OL- Terrence Campbell, East Carolina, Sr.
OL- Ryan Tillman, Marshall, So.
OL- Terrence Edge, UAB, Jr.

DE- CJ Wilson, East Carolina, Sr. 
DE- Albert McClean, Marshall, Sr.
DT- Chance Talbert, Rice, Sr.
DT- Jay Ross, East Carolina, Sr.
LB- Lawrence Young, Central Florida, Jr.
LB- Nick Johnson, East Carolina, Sr.
LB- Greg Jackson, Memphis, Sr.
CB- Van Eskridge, East Carolina, Sr.
CB- DeQuan Bembry, Marshall, So.
S- Andre Sendejo, Rice, Sr.
S- Eddie Hicks, Southern Miss, Sr.

Intriguing Story Lines:
1. Schedules Give Teams Chance to Shine
Out of the Big 4 in C-USA the past few years (Houston, Southern Miss, ECU, and Tulsa) all will have a chance to shine this season with their schedules, for different reasons. Houston and ECU have their usual very difficult non-conference schedule, with Houston playing @Oklahoma State, @ Mississippi State, and Texas Tech and ECU playing Appalachian State (laugh if you want, they are the most feared FCS team), @ West Virginia, @ North Carolina, and Virginia Tech. It looks as though Houston will likely lose the OK State game, and most likely come up short traveling to the SEC and playing a BCS team in 2009 in Texas Tech. ECU will have to once again upset a West Virginia team, which is realistic with their defense, and have to face two very talented ACC contenders in UNC and Virginia Tech. My guess, ECU wins at least 2 of their 4 hard road games, although I’m not positive which two it will be. Tulsa has two sure losses on schedule, going to Oklahoma and playing Boise State, but 3 of their 4 hardest conference games (Memphis, East Carolina, Houston) are at Skelly Field. Southern Miss plays 3 mediocre BCS teams in Virginia, @ Louisville, and @ Kansas. They have a shot in all of them, with most likely winning one.

2. June Jones Tries to Bring Hawaii-Production to SMU
After producing stat-phenoms such as Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan (both record holders at their graduation), June Jones bolted from Hawaii for more money and a little bit more notable school in SMU just a season ago. After fine-tuning the offense to fit what he wanted (including moving very productive quarterback Justin Willis to receiver), Jones has the Mustangs on the right track. C-USA already has one dynamic spread offense in Houston, and Southern Miss is on the verge of developing the same type. However, June Jones has an even more deadly, less balanced attack, and runs a west coast type of spread offense that the conference hasn’t seen. We will see if he can this Mustang team to a winning record, and hopefully their first bowl since the Aloha Bowl in 1984.

3. Tulane, Marshall, UAB Need Good Seasons…For Their Coaches
The past few years, big head coaching jobs like Washington, Tennessee, Auburn, Michigan, and others opened up and the media swarmed with constant updates and rumors. However, with only a few coaches at big name programs on the hot seat (Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Colorado), the hot assistants and other possible coaching candidates will have to look outside the BCS conferences for jobs. C-USA seems to be the prime landing spot, as they have 3 coaches who have struggled for 2 straight years now, and the other conferences have either young coaches already in place, or an experienced and well-respected staff in place. Tulane, Marshall, and UAB all need to improve, with Marshall being the most likely to be opened. Mark Snyder is a very solid coach, but he has at least a 5 game loss schedule this season and his team has the talent to do much better than he has lead them to be. Tulane has another great running back in Andre Anderson, but Bob Toledo has won 6 games in 2 years, and has to end the season with 5 road games in the last 6 weeks. Finally, UAB and Neil Calloway are under some pressure with a solid, NFL hopeful QB in Joe Webb, along with 11 starters returning on offense 7 on defense. However, they have 7 road games, with at least 4 losses there. It should be a tough season for all three programs.

End of the Season Awards:
MVP: Case Keenum, QB, Houston
Offensive Player of the Year: Andre Anderson, RB, Tulane
Defensive Player of the Year: CJ Wilson, DE, East Carolina
Newcomer of the Year: Devin Mays, CB, Houston
Surprise Player of the Year: Joe Webb, QB, UAB

Top 5 NFL Prospects for 2010 Draft
1. Case Keenum, Quarterback, Houston
At 6’2, 210, he’s just big enough to be a legit NFL quarterback prospect. However, Keenum has the great accuracy and the arm strength to hit his deep speed receivers. He lead the Cougars to the 2nd best offensive yardage-wise in the country while not running a full out spread like Texas Tech. Keenum may be flying under the radar now, and won’t come out this season as he’s a junior, but watch out for Keenum to soar this year and put him on the map for a 2010 1st round selection.

2. CJ Wilson, Defensive End, East Carolina
The ECU defense has emerged as not only the best in the C-USA, but one of the best in the country. They ended the year allowing only 21 points per game, 30th in the nation, by far the best in the conference. Wilson is probably the player on the defense and a team leader. Wilson played well all year last season, and ended 2008 with 10.5 sacks. After beating Virginia Tech and West Virginia in back to back weeks last season, they have to play both teams again as well as North Carolina. Wilson will need to step up once again this season.

3. Cody Slate, Tight End, Marshall
One of the best tight ends you’ve never heard of, Slate gets very little attention because he plays on the 95th ranked passing offense and because of that, he had a career low 40 catches in 2008. Slate has the size (6’4, 220) to be a solid starting tight end, and NFL scouts will have to study him hard if they hope to see past the abysmal passing offense at Marshall.

4. Andre Anderson, Running Back, Tulane
Not getting as much love as Matt Forte got when he was at Tulane, Anderson probably isn’t that talented. Anderson, however, was on pace for a great season, average 142 yards per game before getting hurt against Rice in the team’s 7th game. The offense is good around him so he should stay fresh, but if he can power his way to a 1,500+ yard season, he could go in the 3rd-5th round range.

5. Jay Ross, Defensive Tackle, East Carolina
While Wilson may have gotten most of the pub as the ECU because of his sack totals, NFL scouts are noticing the 6’3, 305 pound defensive tackle. Ross seems to demand double teams and really looks the part of a 3-4 defensive end in the pros. He will need a strong showing this season to keep his momentum going, but the 3rd-5th round isn’t out of reach.