Pack it up, East Carolina fans. The season is over—your team lost to Temple and now that New Year’s Six bowl is (most likely) out of reach and the season is a waste.
Many of you probably felt that as the Pirates were upset while visiting Philadelphia last weekend. Losing games that you feel your team should win is never an easy thing to accept. But even when we think that the season may be done, it’s not—there’s still a silver lining, with that being a real shot to claim the AAC championship.
This bye week could have not come for a better time for the Pirates. That loss stings, but it gives them time to recover from it and become hungry for a win when they travel to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats next week.
Since ECU lost to Temple, the season starts anew for the Pirates. Each game matters a bit more to make that push for the conference crown. As the standings currently sit, Memphis, Cincinnati, Houston, Central Florida and ECU all have identical conference records at 3-1.
Looking at the conference standings can get a little messy. Houston beat Memphis, while UCF beat Houston, and Cincinnati was blown out by Memphis. UCF lost to UConn, and ECU lost to Temple.
Got all of that?
Of the teams in position to finish on top, ECU will only play Cincy and UCF this season. Because of this, all the Pirates can do is win the games they have in front of them and hope that the other teams falter.
With the remaining schedule, it looks like the Pirates have the best shot at running the table and winning the conference. As previously mentioned, there is a bye week to prepare for Cincinnati this week. Even on the road I like their chances because of the extra week to prepare.
ECU will then face Tulane, Tulsa and UCF. Two of those three remaining games (Tulane and UCF) will be at home. ECU is a different team at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, so I look for those games to be in the favor of the Pirates, who will have gained some ground in the race for first place.
Of the teams they are going against, Memphis will head to Temple, where the Owls will look to again knock a team atop the conference. After that, the Tigers have a pretty easy schedule to end, facing SMU, USF and UConn. ECU’s hopes of Memphis getting knocked off could very well hinge on this week’s matchup.
If ECU, Houston and UCF go unbeaten the final four games and Memphis loses, the conference championship could be decided on the very last week of the season. Houston and Cincinnati will face off that week and ECU and UCF will do battle in Greenville. I pray to the football gods that the conference championship will be decided on that final game! If that doesn’t excite you about that possibility, then you cannot call yourself a football fan.
ECU is still playing for a conference title and this season still means something, so keep that panic button in your back pocket.
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