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Folks,

This newsletter has been a failed experiment. In that way I suppose it is very much like the league it covered: understaffed, underfunded, under-loved. Some other time I will put out the comprehensive version of what the thinking was and where it fell short. Long time readers of this newsletter and the cusareport.com site will have the gist. In short, the market for a conference-wide site was not there. Well, at least in the form that Yours Truly published. The league is covered in bits and pieces in the course of covering a single team by a few outlets. The issue I had with those – speaking as a consumer in this respect – was that the view was limited and partisan.

There is room for a neutral point of view and we tried bring that. That at some points people accused CR of bias for/against “Tech, UAB, CLT, UTSA, ODU, FAU, and Middle” says something positive of the coverage. In the end there was a vicious circle post-pandemic’s belt-tightening. The momentum CR built was lost, and the subsequent announcement of the disbanding of the league as we know it – ODU, USM, Marshall all leaving first – was the end. C-USA will continue, but “I” will not be covering it on CUSA Report. Maybe someone else picks it up and continues the coverage of Tech and WKU’s journey. Maybe someone else chronicles Kennesaw State.

Whatever happens, I appreciate the people who opened up their digital wallets and shelled out a nominal fee to keep it going. This tournament is the last C-USA related coverage you will see from me, and to reduce expenses and make it simple, we will do it on the site – cusareport.com. We will have a tournament preview, some recaps, and more. Let’s go out strong.

Last newsletter we mentioned Western struggling. Since, they have won two, including a very impressive win in Birmingham, Alabama. So it goes. CBB is always strange and surprising and possible infuriating.

Scores

FAU 77 FIU 73 /OT

The Owls maintained their win streak but were tested by FIU and new scorer extraordinaire Denver Jones. The Owls host North Texas, on their own win streak and looking for revenge this Saturday.

Bowling Green –

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Florida Atlantic have won eleven straight. Naysayers – and there are always naysayers – looked at the quality of opponent. Sure, they said, they beat Florida but what of it? Well, the Owls went to Denton and beat North Texas at their own game. It was a rugged, ugly basketball game that had a lot of defense, a lot of bad shots, ugly calls, questionable refereeing, and clutch buckets.

Dusty May’s squad are real. They can compete with the top of the league. They proved it again. On a night where UTEP took UAB to double OT, and WKU and Middle dropped games against mid-tier league teams (CLT and Rice are not necessarily the top of the contender list) beating holders of three partial championships on their own court at heir own style has to mean something.

Last year in Boca Raton Mike Forrest missed something like three straight go-ahead buckets late in a show-us-something type of game. In this one he made clutch buckets. He hit a clutch free throw. It wasn’t easy – and NT’s Rubin Jones nearly ate him up and won a free throw one-and-one to possibly tie it but missed badly.

Mike Gundy is going viral again. He said “I might have to cut you out” in response to a rambling, uncertain question about if he planned to make any staff changes.

My initial thoughts on it are these:

1) Mike Gundy, don’t threaten to pull anyone’s credentials even if they ask insensitive questions. 2) Reporter guy, ask a better question.

Gundy is coming off a loss, is an emotional guy, and is going to be ready to jump on any small mistake – he criticized the mic-holding technique already – and that is an out you as a reporter do not want to give.

Out on the twitter, I had casually mentioned the big NT-FAU game coming up on the 29th, and someone responded “FAU? They beat Florida. They aren’t any good”.

Well, that is true and yet not. FAU are relatively untested. Beating up on Northern Kentucky – even with some upsets happing in the CBB universe – is not going to get anyone super excited. FIU is un-good. A blowout win there, also doesn’t move any needles.

As we type this, FAU is 11-1, 1-0 in conference and posts a Kenpom Adjusted efficiency of +15.17, best in the league. They’ve competed well in their two tests (L to MSST, and W over UF) and have taken care of business the rest of the way. They blow out the bad teams, and win by double-digit over the mediocre squads.

North Texas represents an opportunity to exercise a demon. Last year after a 4-game win streak, FAU lost to Western on the road, and a heart breaker vs North Texas at home in which they missed three go-ahead bucket attempts in the final minutes.

Like most of you hoop-heads, I saw a little of Louisville vs WKU and can say that while there are a lot of reasons to not freak out, consider that it is very much a missed opportunity to lose to an in-state program that was very vulnerable. You have to take full-advantage of opportunity. Want to build the WKU brand? Win over Louisville, bud.

Meanwhile, Louisiana Tech had a rough-go vs SFA, a good program historically. Tech does not look like the league-contender they were the previous years with Junior Lofton, but that is how it goes with a new head coach. Losing by a point in overtime is nothing to be ashamed about, but losing at home is not a good thing.

UAB is good, but not as good as West Virginia, apparently. They look like the clear favorite as they dismantled South Carolina easily.

We mentioned that losing Marshall, ODU, and Southern Miss would improve the league as it was trimming the fat. USM has improved greatly this season, but the point stands. As of now, only FIU and UTSA are equal or below .500.

It has been busy at CR HQ. In preparation of the conference start, we’ve been watching a lot of basketball. Some things that stand out thus far?

Well, Middle is lengthy and will be a problem if you cannot break a press or are sloppy on passes. FAU is good, and I’ve caught a couple of games but haven’t studied them in earnest. They remind me of a Rocky villain: just stomping on teams and making a little name for themselves.

UAB gave WVU a little run before petering out, but they looked good early. They are physical and can score and defend. North Texas looks better and better as they incorporate their new pieces in the system that McCasland has built. We will learn a lot about these teams once league play starts but we have not been surprised by much.

Meanwhile, Bowl Season is about to start and champion UTSA is going for their first bowl win in history. UAB will take on Miami (OH)l, North Texas will play in a bowl with an interim coach, and Rice will give us a little 2021 nostalgia as they take on Southern Miss.

Seth Littrell was fired after a 44-44 record in Denton, 0-2 in league title games, and 0-5 in bowl games. His teams qualified for six, but will not be coaching the Frisco Bowl on December 17th. In the press conference he talked like he was frustrated but also set on coaching the bowl game.

It may seem on its face like Littrell was doing well but got unfairly yanked from his post. The truth has more nuance. He was really his record: perfectly balanced good and bad on the field. His teams were prolific scoring, but never complete enough to truly break through and win anything of significance.

For a season-by-season look, check out Mean Green Nation’s post.

San Antonio, TX – Jeff Traylor called this season his favorite “for a number of reasons” and listed injuries, adversity and reference some mystery things that he felt were special. In winning the league on Friday night 48-27 over UNT, the Roadrunners cemented themselves as one of the league’s best teams. WKU, FAU, UAB, and UTSA are all two-time winners over the last ten years.

The crowd was good – 41,411 was the announced number. There were about 1200-1500 North Texas fans. That itself was a good number considering the NT program has a skeptical relationship with the Littrell-led NT program. Littrell came into this game 0-6 in post-season games, 0-5 in Bowls and 0-1 in league title games. He added another loss to that number in this one.

UTSA were the favorites but North Texas jumped out to a 10-7 lead early in the first quarter. The run game that disappeared in October had returned for North Texas, with one 56 yarder unleashed from the NT 1-yard line. The only thing that stopped Ikaika Ragsdale was his own speed limit.

Austin Aune forced a ball to Jyaire Shorter after a UTSA punt, and the Runners down 3. The pass was behind the target, and there were cries for a flag, but it fell to a UTSA defensive back and UTSA scored on the next possession. They never trailed the rest of the way.

SAN ANTONIO, TX – The air was foggy upon arrival into the city. There is a slight buzz for the game, simply judging by the number of interactions had while out and about. People wearing their UTSA gear and the occasional UNT-supporter sighting. It looks like the game day atmosphere will be dampened – literally – by rain. As we write this, it is raining not 500 yards from the Alamodome.

Tailgating opens at noon, and the Roadrunners have fostered a nice tailgating scene. If it is anything like last year’s championship game, it will be big party. Head coach Jeff Traylor is hoping for 50K in attendance. The current situation (based on screen grabs of Ticketmaster) is that it looks like about 40K, which would be right about last year’s total.

There are a couple of factors at play: the first being that the game is on Friday. That is always a little tougher than the normal Saturday. UTSA is playing in the second championship game, and not the first. Fans of novelty will not be as excited. Mitigating that is the fact that North Texas is just right up the road in Denton – about 4.5 hours’ drive. There should be more visiting fans than WKU brought – for obvious reasons.

For NT fans, the Sky Bar tailgate for North Texans is just a short walk away. I’m told this is where everyone went in October. Your correspondent has already had about five tacos in one day and is planning a morning excursion for more.

Apologies for the late thoughts, as CR was traveling to San Antonio for the C-USA Championship Football game.

UAB hired Trent Dilfer. FAU hired Tom Herman.

One of these is very on-brand for the school, the other is quite outside the box.

We’ll start with UAB. Bill Clark was about as much of a serious football man as you can get. He was stoic, and his teams played defense and ran the ball. They won, if seemingly collapsing any fun and whimsy by sheer Clarkian will. Trent Dilfer is a television guy, happy to give a quote and make an appearance. He had a great college career in California, and won a Super Bowl by driving the bus for the great 2000 Baltimore Ravens. His name is synonymous with that kind of play. “Just be Trent Dilfer and don’t mess it up”.

The Rose Bowl was blocking the negotiations but has backed off their hardline stance for guarantees, reports Sports Illustrated. That means we will have an expanded playoff sooner than later.

For CUSA, that does not mean too much right now. The idea will be that the six highest-ranked champions will get a bid, and the rest will battle it out for the other spots by ranking. This is the current playoff ranking.

UTSA social media fans have been angling for a ranking in the CFBP but considering that the two title team contenders have a combined 0-3 record against the mid-tier of the AAC, this year the playoff would not include the winner of the league. For the last few years, the champion has simply been the best of a weak bunch. Last year’s UTSA squad did beat Illinois, Memphis, and UNLV. That’s not quite a murderer’s row but they probably could have made an argument that they should be higher. The loss to UNT in Denton really hurt the ranking at the time.

All of that is to simply illustrate the point: CUSA as currently perceived is not going to put the top-6 champion in the CFPB.

UAB is going to hire Trent Dilfer as head coach. He was apparently a late-entrant into the coaching search – at least to the people trying to cover the proceedings. The UAB Football team was agitating for keeping interim coach Bryant Vincent. Dilfer won a Super Bowl and had been on TV for a long while. He led Elite 11 for a bit and recently coached at a high school and is competing for a state title in Tennessee this weekend. Now, he will be the UAB head coach as they enter the AAC.

The Blazers have a good program but one that needs the next step. Bill Clark said as much before the opening of Protective Stadium. Dilfer will be tasked with raising enthusiasm and filling up the stadium with fans. The program has been good, but probably could use some eye-catching non-conference wins. UAB has had talent in Birmingham, but will be expected to compete with AAC programs recruiting from the same areas.

Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated reported that UNT Athletic Director Wren Baker will be taking over at West Virginia. North Texas has built facilities, raised funds, and won an NCAA Tournament game in hoops and will compete for a league title this weekend in San Antonio. He is well-respected as a fund-raiser but also underated as an administrator. He turned the North Texas Athletic department from a small-time operation to one that is poised to compete in the AAC next season. He was hired by current UNT President Neal Smastresk, who also was instrumental in hiring Seth Littrell. Hoops coach Grant McCasland was a Baker hire, and his success has meant he is a target of rumors for bigger jobs.

The next AD will likely have to either replace him, or keep him well paid. All told, North Texas Athletics is in a great spot – we haven’t even mentioned all of the “other” sports where NT is a competitor. The next hire will have some decisions to make but the football and basketball jobs will have good foundations to lure good coaches.

We published a preview on the actual website this time. Check it out!

link

UTSA will host UNT (again) in the league title game on December 2nd, at 6:30 pm. The Roadrunners knew they would host coming into this weekend, but were playing UTEP for the status of undefeated in league play. They went 8-0 after coming back and winning on a late field goal by Sackett to seal the game.

North Texas needed a WKU loss or a win vs Rice. They got the latter, thanks to some defense (KD Davis interception) and some heroics by the punter Bernardo Rodriguez. He snagged a snap that was going over his head and managed to get it down the field. NT held Rice over the final four minutes to win the game.

North Texas is a hobbled version of themselves compared to the October 22nd team that gave UTSA just about all they could handle. The four-headed running back monster is down to about 1.35, and the defense is missing some pieces. UTSA is hurting as well, and famously started a DT at left tackle in the last meeting.

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I hope you all had a great of a Thanksgiving as I did. I had family in from out of town, no coughing or sneezing, and lots of food and fun. It was a great time.

This Thanksgiving week has been filled with soccer and some football, and a lot of basketball. With the caveat that everyone in the league has had a little bit of a different test, we will rank the teams based on proprietary formula to result in a POWER RANKING

1 UAB 4-1

The week that was:

UTSA took care of Rice in Houston. We’ve been waiting for Mike Bloomgren to blossom at Rice for years now. They seemed like they had finally turned a corner this season and beat UAB. The loss to CLT, and uncompetitive performances against the last two league championship game participants show how far away this program is from competing. Rice won the league in 2013, but has been on the fringe since.

Meanwhile UTSA celebrated the regular season championship, and sealed the hosting of the title game. They weren’t challenged vs Rice, and the only goal from now on is to stay healthy. UTSA has a chance to win their second title in a row.

The basketball season started, and while there is plenty of time before conference play in earnest begins, it is a good idea to set the stage. I realize many of you are more into football right now – and with good reason – but again, let us stop and consider the situation.

This post is public, but subscribe and pay for more as we cover the league this season for the final time.

CUSA Report’s initial power ranking:

1. UAB
2. Western
3. NT
4. Middle
5. FAU
6. UTEP
7. Tech
8. Rice
9. CLT
10. FIU
11. UTSA

November brings clarity to a football season. By this time, we have had contenders – or pretenders – reveal themselves and test themselves on the field.

Earlier in the year we thought Middle Tennessee was going to be a contender after beating Miami, but it turns out the U was garbage. Middle fell apart quickly, looking like a member of the bottom third of this league.

You probably considered UAB a contender far longer than they actually were. While they have talent, and the program still has winners on it, they are a shadow of the Clark teams.

UTSA are still made of championship stuff, and the surprise team of last season – WKU – was tested twice and came up wanting. UNT stepped up and is now the challenger du jour. We wondered if there was some hints of a paper tiger in Denton, but having competed well and boasting a 10-1 record in conference play since the Marshall game in 2021, it is time to say “they are a good CUSA team.”

UAB had 4th and 3 with about 5-minutes to go, down 7-points. Without having gone back and pulled up the numbers, it sure felt like a scenario that UAB would have “won” in previous seasons. I am forgetting the details, but they came up with huge plays vs Marshall in the title game, huge plays vs Rice in the weeks before that. They came up with huge plays vs UTSA in the “playoff” game in San Antonio (before getting beat on the final drive). They have shown themselves to be a quality team … and now they sort of peter out with a pass that didn’t go anywhere.

That is completely unfair, of course. Judging a team on a single play here and there is not really good analysis, but it is exactly what everyone else is doing. Football is entertainment, first and foremost. People in Birmingham want to have good feelings when they watch the UAB squad. This last half-decade did not have overly beautiful football on the field, but it had winning football. It had a powerful run game, a tough defense, and a timely pass game.

Now? The run game is there. The defense is doing a job. The pass game is not as timely. Can that be it? It is hard to say. The fans are unhappy with the interim head coach and if this UAB season has done anything, it is raise Bill Clark’s profile a little higher.

The Dragons had a shot. 1:54 left in the game and another opportunity. Zeno mounted a nice drive (thanks to some heavy-lifting from McBride). The broadcast showed the graphic that UAB is 0-3 in one-score games this season, which tells you how unlucky they are. But also tells you how they haven’t been able to win the game before desperation time. They had a final toss into the end zone into some good coverage. It simply wasn’t to be.

The game of the day is in Bowling Green with the winner getting the best chance at earning a second shot at UTSA in December.

WKU podcast from the Red Towel guys.

MGN written preview

Last night we saw La Tech and FIU battle it out at the bottom of the league. The Panthers were clearly the worst team in the nation —and league for the first weeks of the season. Their performances in recent weeks — closer than expected game vs UTSA, wins over CLT, Tech — demonstrate that the “worst” designation is not permanent.

Greetings from the internet. CR was on a longer-than-expected hiatus as we were doing some reorganizing behind the scenes. We noted on twitter, but not in this space, so if you were wondering we apologize for the lack of information.

Rest assured: we have been watching the games, and have our opinions. Instead of game-by-game recaps, we will rank the teams by power using our proprietary ranking and add some notes about recent performances.

1. UTSA – The Roadrunners enter the bye week 4-0, and pulled out an epic game-winning drive that saw the tight-end Cardenas pull down a one-handed (left!) grab to get UTSA into scoring position. The next play-call was bold, but something we have seen before from head coach Traylor (vs WKU on fourth down). They play to win. UTSA has now won vs UAB in a play-in game (essentially) last year, a title-game, and beat NT in a battle for first. They do not always look like the best team in the league (vs FIU, Middle for a stretch) but when it is winning time, they have a play-making QB and are dangerous. They get a chance to rest, now and that should help things a bit.
2. WKU – The Tops are 3-1, lost in San Antonio, but gave them all they could handle until NT did the same a couple of weeks later. Reed is very good, can run, and very accurate. The WR group is dynamic, and the second-best in the league in talent and production. The run game is dynamic, and I really like the scheme (lots of pulling lineman and play-action off of it). The defense is always well-schemed and had a good game plan for UTSA. They did a great job vs UAB and own their destiny the rest of the way. Next up is UNT, a good rush team with the capability of hitting you over the top with big WR and TEs that can run.
3. NT – These are power rankings, not talent rankings. NT looked awful, terrible, and garbage in non-conference (terrible losses to SMU, UNLV, Memphis) but had won well vs FAU and Tech. The run game looked powerful and clever, the pass game was doing nice play-action, and the defense was getting timely stops to put them in position to win. Against UTSA, they could not run as productively (22 yards) but that was because UTSA was flying forward to stop it. That put the spotlight on Austin Aune to make plays. He had big numbers – 325 yards and 2 scores – but close-watchers will not the missed chances and poor completion percentage. It is tempting to think that NT is on the verge of unlocking some explosive ability, but it is equally likely that they fall back to earth. Full credit to them for taking the lead three times after losing it – big plays by Aune, again – and being a half-yard away from winning the game. It took a miracle catch and a great throw vs a good young corner (Texada has been great) for UTSA to win.
4. Rice – If you are one of twelve Owl fans you are finally seeing the fruits of the Bloomgren labor. This Owl squad has looked tough and capable but unlike previous seasons, they are winning games. There was a comeback vs Louisiana Tech and a big win vs UAB. Sure, FAU squeaked by with a 3-point win but there was a lot to like there. The next part of the schedule won’t require perfect games from Rice, either (CLT, UTEP). The end of the season will see three title-game hopefuls in @WKU, vs UTSA, and @UNT. That’s a tough little stretch but it will tell decide the title race. The Owls have every chance of doing some damage and either sneaking into the race (like they did in 2013!) or messing it up for someone with designs on hosting.
5. UAB – The Blazers are a better team than UNT on paper, but the games are played in real life where the coaches have to do play-calls and everyone needs to execute. The run game still looks very good and watching this team you see a lot of positives. That makes sense, as UAB was probably as good as UTSA last year and was also one-drive away from winning in San Antonio. The tools are there but the products being made are less-than-good. Obviously, missing Bill Clark as the head coach is a gigantic thing and easy to point to for root cause analysis. Two-losses in conference play means UAB needs help. They have UNT on the schedule and so can get ahead of them with a win in Birmingham, but they need two someones to beat WKU. They can spend time rooting against UTSA as well, but that doesn’t seem too likely. They can be very good and still outside the title game. WKU and UTSA are likely the championship game participants at this moment and UAB could split against them and be on the outside looking in .... because of Rice.
6. UTEP/FAU – Sure, UTEP beat FAU on a late-field goal the other day, but these teams are very much alike. They have talent, but are sort of middling. They are good enough to beat you but also bad enough to let you come back and win. The talent is there, but neither side of the ball will impose their will upon you, but instead will take what is given. That is a recipe for mediocre and that is about that.
7. Tech – A teams that is flawed but will jump up on you if you are not careful. Tech’s offense is explosive and interesting. I love the screens and movement they do with Smoke Harris. McNeil is a solid QB but was injured. Downing and the freshman Lyddy came in and made some big time throws to get to, and through overtime. They are trying to be bold - going for 2 there at the end - but are still building the kind of team they want. The roster was thin even in Holtz’ last season but has talent. Tech has always been able to recruit talent to Ruston and I expect they will be good in the coming years. Right now? You and I could probably run through that defense.
8. Middle – they had a brief run where they looked like they were going to do something.
9. FIU – gasp! FIU handled Charlotte. I was of the opinion that FIU was the worst team in the league. They proved that wrong. They are clearly the second-worst. (Also, good effort vs UTSA in front of an empty stadium on Vice night)
10. CLT – Will Healy looked like he was going places. He did that CLUBLIT thing, and beat Duke. He was young and interesting, and also had Charlotte doing some interesting things offensively. Looking back, it is hard not to think some of that was the team that his predecessor had put together, as CLT has regressed. In all of Healy’s time, he seemed to lose momentum after playing FAU. They had his number. Apparently the AD did not have his number, as Healy found out about his firing on twitter. That’s not a good look at all. Of the AAC-bound teams, CLT is playing the worst football. A fun rumor: Former Tech coach and serial winner Skip Holtz.

Games to watch:

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I am quite sure when the schedule-makers put UTSA in Murfreesboro as the CBSSN game for CUSA this week, no one expected a huge game. After Middle beat up on Miami, it turned into the game of the week. Middle has been impressive of late, and UTSA are the defending league champions. The stage was set, and Murfreesboro managed a mediocre crowd for it. They missed an entertaining game. I fully admit that I am grading Middle on a gigantic curve, and in other circumstances would be much more critical, but Rick Stockstill knows what he is doing. He has kept MTSU a decent program in two different leagues across two different decades. He manages to pull out a decent competitive program every five or so years no matter how many people show up to watch him do so.

Chase Cunningham threw for 300 yards, and showed some gutsy plays. He isn’t quite Bailey Zappe, but showed a knack for making creative throws, and also showed toughness in the face of on-rushing defensive lineman bearing down on him. Middle’s defense came up big with three interceptions against the league’s best all-around QB in Frank Harris. They pulled themselves to within three after that spectacular pick-six early in the fourth. It was a fantastically entertaining game for a Friday night on CBSSN. Middle’s stands were empty, by the future is not.

Middle faces UAB down the road, and WKU back home – both programs capable of wining this league – and if the last two weeks were any indication of the quality on this team, there is every reason to believe a split of those is possible. After that? Well, the rest of the schedule is not a murderer’s row of talent. Middle can score, and they have an opportunistic defense. UTSA’s collection of wide receivers are the best in the league and the Blue Raiders nearly did enough. Keep all of this up and they might earn another shot at the Runners.

MEMPHIS, TN — CR was in Memphis to watch North Texas at the Tigers. It was entertaining, which is the entire point If I recall. The real action was watching UTEP and Middle jump up and make some noise. The Miners upset Boise 27-10 and by all accounts they dominated. The same thing happened in Miami, where MTSU did the same. Just ask head coach Rick Stockstill. He made a point to emphasize that it wasn’t a fluke or a bad Miami game, but a straight beat down handed from the boys in blue, white, and silver to the folks in Coral Gables. They join FIU in recent memory to have beat the Hurricanes.

Once again we are reminded that college football is a funny game and anything can happen. That kind of hope made Middle re-up on Stockstill even when it was looking not so fun, and now it has paid off. The lack of hope made Marshall (last year) kick out Doc Holiday and hire Huff. That paid off after the South Bend trip . . . and now it looks kind of silly. Everything is relative, and recency bias goes both ways. Seth Littrell’s seat was very hot after UNLV, and then a decent showing vs Memphis has kept him at a simmer.

Results

• UTEP 27-10 Boise St
• UTSA 52 Texas Southern 24
• WKU 73 FIU 0
• Memphis 44 NT 34
• Middle 45 Miami 31
• Houston 34 Rice 27
• USA 38 La Tech 14
• Purdue 28 FAU 26
• USC 56 Charlotte 20

Each week the league’s coaches do a press conference and the value therein ranges from very insightful to simply an opportunity to say the same four cliches over and again.

Charlotte

“It was an incredible night on Saturday, I’m very proud of our guys and the fight they showed. Obviously, there is a lot to clean up and along way for use o go be our best. I still thought it was impressive that they came out and fought the way they did. I thought we wanted it and we played physical. I think we played the best football so far this season, but our best football is still in front off s. It is important that we have a great week of preparation and I think everyone understands the task this is at hand this week. We are excited to play a great football team in a great environment, but we have so much to do to get better in this building and that is our focus right now.”

Healy also talked about the big plays in the secondary, and how they just need more consistency. Also, getting turnovers are good. Also he went down the list of South Carolina guys he knows.

Jeff Traylor’s UTSA Roadrunners scored a touchdown on a grinding drive in Austin. They followed the score up with a surprise onside kick, the kind of things well-prepared underdogs do when they see the opportunity. The follow up play was a running-back pass to the squad’s best wideout. Result: touchdown UTSA. The broadcast showed the Runner fans in attendance getting crazy, contrasted by the silent, concerned faces of the Texas faithful.

I was the kind of recipe for an upset. For Texas (the state) teams, playing the University of Texas is a chance for the spotlight, and also a chance to steal it for a while. For as long as I can remember – since the Ricky Williams era in the late 1990s, Texas has been a juggernaut in the cultural landscape. Jeff Traylor mentioned it in the lead up. He noted that no one on UTSA chose SA over Austin. No one expects a win in Austin to change that fact going forward, but the idea is to not make choosing a UTSA seem like such a step down. That’s the nature of the game.

UTSA has made big moves in the last 20 months or so. Hiring Traylor raised their profile among Texas High School coaches, winning 11 in a row raised the profile slightly among college-football obsessives, and getting a shot at Texas in the early non-conference season opened the possibility of a breakthrough. Beating a down Baylor a couple of years ago does not move anyone. Texas, despite not having had the hardware of the squad in Waco for the last decade, is still TEXAS.

The Longhorns stomped away all hope fairly quickly. The talent level in the UT backfield is elite, and that is rare. The good UTSA squad looked three steps too slow, and Bijan Robinson walked through the defending CUSA champs again and again. There was a brief moment of luck, where UTSA was saved by a refs call and the game was not put away just yet. UT pulled away and won 41-20.

CUSAREPORT went 7-3 against the spread, with North Texas (last second TD and an interception in the end zone from backup Grant Gunnell!), UAB (loss), and MTSU (win!) messing up the momentum.

I like to think we have a good handle on the league, even if it can partially be summated as “be cynical”. The Sun Belt had the kind of week that CUSA has dreamed and planned for, and there is simply no way to argue against the idea that the Belt is more fun, and more prestigious than the remnants of the CUSA that is currently carrying the colors. So it goes.

Marshall had the kind of signature win that seemingly never came with Doc H. Sure they beat App State, but the Mountaineers are not Notre Dame. Definitely not a top-ten ranked ND. I digress. This is not a Belt blog, to be sure, but we do have to acknowledge the realities with which we are faced. The best of this conference (UTSA, UAB) did not look like they could handle Notre Dame, or Texas A&M, or anyone along those lines. This week UTSA gets a crack at Texas, coming after a big emotional game against Alabama, and so there is a possibility that there could be letdown that enables the Runners to make a little CUSA magic happen. Right now that is hoping against hope.

Let us recap the week.

You want picks? I got picks. Well here are the picks against the spread on Action Network app this morning, as I listened to a completely unnecessary meeting at an ungodly hour.

UTSA -2.5 at Army

The Runners have a tough trip up to West Point, NY. There is a risk of dropping off after a good performance vs Houston. The weather should be nice so there won’t be any issues. The truth is that while Army is a tough team, they have dropped off in recent seasons, and UTSA has a lot better athletes and should prove themselves better over four quarters. I say they win by more than a FG and thus I’ll take the points.

MD -27 at Charlotte

I was browsing through some stats on cbstats.com and noticed the touchdown count so far. WKU has 12 in two games, and FAU has 10 in the same number. North Texas and Charlotte have played two and only managed 5. FIU also has five but 3 of which came against an FCS opponent. We can laugh or whatever, but UAB’s 8 came in one game vs one FCS opponent as well. As you might imagine, the leading touchdown getter is usually the highest scoring program in the league.

2021 TD Final Numbers

1. WKU 79 14 games
2. UTSA 63 14
3. Marshall 58 13
4. MTSU 51 13
5. UAB 50
6. NT 46
7. ODU 42
8. CLT 42 12
9. LT 41
10. FAU 40
11. UTEP 38 13
12. FIU 32 12
13. USM 27

An exception was NT/ODU. The Monarchs averaged 27.6 while NT averaged 27.5 even thought NT had four more scores. ODU’s seven more FGs, 2 two-point conversions and one safety helped put them over the mark. It helps, but in general touchdown-getting is the key. Again, that is wildly unsurprising.

Happy Labor Day, folks.

This is week one, which followed week zero (stupid). There are a lot of questions being answered right now, and questions being asked anew. The “narrative” of a season is being written and we will hold back on drawing complete conclusions but we will pass judgements week-to-week.

CUSA as we know it is ending. This is the first season after the departures of Marshall, ODU, Southern Miss, and the last before we see Charlotte, UTSA, UAB, North Texas, Rice and FAU leave for the AAC. This is a transitionary year if there ever was one, but don’t forget that you can still win some things, folks. The trophies and memories are not ephemeral.

Week 1 results:
9 OU 45 - UTEP 13
24 Houston 35 - UTSA 34(3OT)
14 USC 66 - Rice 14
James Madison 44 - MTSU 7
Ohio 41 - FAU 38
SMU 48 - UNT 10
WKU 49 - Hawai’i 17 Friday
W&M 41 - Charlotte 24 Thursday
FIU 38 - Bryant 37(OT) UAB 59 - Alabama A&M 0 Mizzou 52 - Louisiana Tech 24

I greatly dislike the “List of Stuff” offseason content parade. Unfortunately, it draws eyeballs and eyeballs == $$. Well at least that is the idea. There are some useful aspects of putting down a list of players or teams or coaches. It helps get everyone organized and provides something like a frame of reference.

The league is gearing up for media day this week and so has released the preseason league “watch list”. It is essentially “these are some of the good players, folks”. Again, that is kind of useful. Only kind of.

We can say, look out for Gavin Hardison on UTEP, he might put up some numbers given he has been in the league and threw for 3K yards last year. He is missing some weapons (Jacob Cowing is now at Arizona) and that will take a bite out of his production. See, this is only a watch list, and it has already sparked even that reaction so it has served its purpose.

Greetings from the Mississippi River.

The last we spoke the league had more teams and there was a lawsuit maybe on the horizon. Since then, Marshall, Southern Miss, and Old Dominion have departed this grouping … and and UCLA and USC joined the B1G??

It sure is a crazy time out here in college football’s America. I have debated (internally) continuing the coverage of the league. There are diminishing returns, and a moving target. There is a right way to do it, and that is with everything I have. There is the way I can do it, which is with considerably less than that.

I think what we can settle on is something in between. A newsletter – this device – here, with some thoughts and updates and considerably less resources consumed than the main site and podcast.

We previewed the game on the site.

This week has been tiring. You can see the staffers and the various media crazy enough to be here all week for all games. In years’ past, I did the full gamut of mens’ and women’s coverage and was very beatdown. Unfortunately, the support for the women’s coverage does not make up for the time and effort. There is some good basketball, and some good stuff happening there but facts are facts. This year I’ve spent the time doing some Frisco stuff (eating, drinking, being merry).

Still, I am pretty tired. The benefit of publishing an online-only outlet that is opposed to chasing empty clicks is that we do not have deadlines to meet. You know, those things that force some of the artifice and half-assed work by your least favorite beat writers.

I appreciate good writing, good work, and thoughtful opinions. I do not appreciate half-assery.

The night-to-morning switch is not ideal. Middle played an overtime game last night. North Texas and Louisiana Tech finished their games up around 8pm, but have to play at 11:30am. It is weird. The idea is to get the women’s semifinals some shine, and put them in prime time.

It means that everyone has to wake up pretty early and make it out to Frisco after … just having been in Frisco. You might be missing the tail-end of the morning commutes depending on your situation.

Outside of that, the quarters were the first taste of entertaining, high-quality basketball. UTEP - Middle went to over time, and we saw some good players making plays in high-leverage situations. Middle grew up, I thought, but that likely will not be enough for the UAB Blazers. North Texas had a shoot around (basically) vs Rice, and UAB about the same vs FAU. Tech was fighting for their lives vs WKU. A big lead was erased, and then some scrappy points and a big bucket by Lofton over 7‘5” Sharp were key.

Today’s slate: 1W North Texas vs 3W Louisiana Tech and 1E Middle Tennessee vs 2W UAB.

I will start by linking you to Sam Doughton.

We also had the recap from day 2 and the premium version of the recap

There will also be a quarterfinal preview coming up later. I cannot link to it because it is unfinished, and I need some breakfast. So far this tournament hasn’t held many surprises. I mean, Marshall beating FIU, USM beating UTSA, and Rice beating Charlotte were upsets in seeding perspective, but nothing much was separating those teams.

Today’s events –> NT vs Rice, WKU vs Tech, Middle vs UTEP, and UAB vs FAU

The best part of the tournament is the early days, as seeing all 14 programs in one spot is a great time to get a sense of the differences between cultures, quality, and perspective.

The cheerleaders, comparing notes and giggling at their counterparts, either making fun or dancing along or taking notes. The bands usually have a mutual respect for each other. The band directors have different personalities, with some watching the game more and trusting their band a little more. Others are spread into the media table, and also fumble at their communication a bit.

The various athletic directors range from buttoned up to gregarious, and the same applies to the SIDs. Some are harried, frazzled, and others are composed and accommodating.

The first day is always relaxed, as the teams are bad and do not inspire much traveling support. I’ve seen WKU, and UAB arrivals(fans not players) today, and that tracks. The tournament started yesterday, but doesn’t really begin until this evening.

Yesterday was a travel day. Your Truly left St Louis, MO to get to Frisco, TX. All in all it was a short trip. It was made a little longer to bring along my family, which includes three young children. There is a lot of coordinating restroom breaks, food, snacks and cleanliness that takes a lot out of you.

I was thinking about this, pretty much spent from the day as we were leaving the restaurant for dinner and encountered a lone Charlotte hooper. He looked like he was waiting on a to-go order. The rest of the squad was across the parking lot, leaving another restaurant, loading up in the team bus. My guesstimate was that the lone dude was getting a dessert to go.

Back at the hotel – CR is staying at the Embassy Suites across from the minor league ballpark – Marshall’s men’s team was unloading their bus, and the various managers were loading up the gear. As I carried my tired children to the elevator, I saw Marshall head coach Mike D’Antoni leave his elevator, wave goodbye, and try to figure out which route was best to get to his room. “Going to try to get some sleep”.

Travel takes a lot out of you, even if it is well-planned, and comfortable.

It’s long. It’s big. It’s the mega podcast preview of all 14 men’s teams in the CUSA tournament.

https://cusareport.com/podcast/2022-tournament-mega-preview/

Enjoy!

Over on the website proper, we previewed the tournament with a game remaining. There is a slight chance that the bracket we printed and posted is different than the final version we will see tonight, but that is not super likely. Rather than wait, we discussed some high-level expectations and predictions.

Check it out here.

In the longer term, this CUSA Tournament will be the last hurrah for our site as we know it. The modern CUSA and its 14-teams will all go their separate ways this summer, with the three Sun Belt squads bolting first. In case you are late to the party, this is the current league:

West - North Texas, UAB, Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, UTEP, UTSA, Rice East - MTSU, WKU, CLT, FIU, FAU, Marshall, ODU

Both of our current division champions are unlikely finishers. Like, check out one of my favorite season-previews from Three-Man-Weave. They had it all wrong. And they are good at this! They are thorough!

Again, that is not a knock, but simply that these teams were not expected to have these seasons. Yours Truly was even merely skeptical of the situation when we took stock in early February.

Russia is invading Ukraine and we are writing about college basketball and a fight over maybe money, I think. I do not work in the Pentagon, the state department or anything so no one cares about my Ukraine thoughts (or prayers). Still, I just want to acknowledge the fact that you were sent this email newsletter while no doubt getting updates on the latest from Kyiv.

Lawyers Making Bank

Marshall has been granted (temporarily) the requested restraining order meaning they do not have to participate in the arbitration they sort-of agreed to. Meanwhile, the league sent the following:

The Lawyers have been engaged. You might remember that Marshall U is one of the three schools looking to leave CUSA early. Both the league and the programs have said they are right, and willing to pursue their legal avenues. Well, the Herd have struck first, filing suit against the league and using their status as public universities in the fight.

The lawsuit contents that, as an arm of the state of West Virginia, Marshall University is entitled to sovereign immunity, based on the 11th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the West Virginia Constitution, which includes immunity from C-USA’s demand for arbitration.

That reminded me of former Texas Tech head coach’s complaint about being unable to sue Texas Tech, because it had sovereign immunity.

In that situation, the former Red Raider coach couldn’t seek relief through the courts because the State would not allow it to happen. It is a funny quirk (okay, not so funny) of dealing with a government. They could choose to just screw you over and then you would be stuck. This was always likely the reason why these programs felt they could break the league’s bylaws and exit. They simply could claim “sovereign immunity” and (in the eyes of the league) screw over everyone and bounce.

The basketball hype coming into this weekend centered around the UAB-North Texas game. It was shaping up to be a battle between a couple of programs destined to challenge for the league’s crown in Frisco, and could have determined some at-large fates. Bracketology is a cottage industry and we will not begin speculation about what this means in terms of selections long term.

Standings

East:

1. Middle 10-3
2. Western 9-6
3. FAU 8-6
4. Charlotte 7-7
5. FIU 5-9
6. ODU 5-9
7. Marshall 3-11

The realignment saga will likely continue with lawyers and public relations specialists, and twitter fights. In the mean time, we have some quality basketball on display. Remember, whatever you think about what the conference realignment means for you, these current players on the squad have little or nothing to do with any of that.

The Standings

East

1. Middle 8-3
2. FAU 8-4
3. WKU 7-6
4. CLT 6-6
5. ODU 5-7
6. FIU 4-8
7. Marshall 2-10

Today CUSA released the 2022 schedule and it includes Marshall, Southern Miss, and Old Dominion. After, CUSA’s Board of Directors sent the following statement:

“Conference USA intends to conduct the 2022-23 athletic year with the full 14 institution membership intact. The C-USA Board of Directors will exhaust all necessary legal actions to ensure all members meet their contractual obligations as defined by and agreed to in the Conference USA Bylaws.”

This is, as they say, a line in the sand. For their part, the departing Sun Belt members referred to their “Friday statement” which is to say they still intend to leave this summer. We are at an impasse. The league has no security force to make the three teams play let alone do anything. However, they have the bylaws and contracts signed. In this country, that means the threat of expensive litigation. The various universities have to gauge their willingness to fight and their likelihood of winning a battle waged in the court room.

Given that scenario, the result is probably that the Belt teams leave, but pay some damages over time.

The Blazers were ranked highest in Kenpoms ratings up until this weekend, when they dropped a road game to Old Dominion. The Monarchs are not particularly good this season, but given the coach and their five-year history it is reasonable to give them a little healthy respect even as we criticize their record.

This is CUSA, and losing on the road on Super Bowl Sunday is the kind of thing that happens to good teams. Still, this has repercussions for the UAB program health. We began this week thinking that UAB was going to maybe be the rare CUSA program that could earn an at-large or, upon winning the tournament, a fairly impressive seeding.

As it is, this hurts the ol’ resume a bit, and makes the upcoming home games vs North Texas (Next Saturday the 19th) and Tech (March 5th) incredibly important.

The Blazers now have three conference losses and all are to teams with non-winning conference records. Rice (6-6), Marshall (2-10), and ODU (5-7) are a combined 13-23 in the league.

This afternoon USM, ODU, and Marshall announced they were leaving the league this summer. It was long-rumored to be coming and the three programs/universities leaked and pressured the rest of the league to allow their departure much earlier than agreed upon.

You might recall the league’s statement back on January 20, 2022:

“Conference USA acknowledges reports of three of our members prematurely departing. We fully expect everyone to follow our bylaws and honor their contractual obligations through the 2022-23 academic year. All fourteen members will continue to be eligible for conference championships and the postseason opportunities Conference USA provides.”

Is 14-months reasonable notice? Sure, I think so. My opinion does not matter too much as all 14-league members agreed to this bylaws when it was time to decide this. It reminds me a little of UIC complaining about not being eligible for the post-season when apparently they were the ones that suggested this provision in the first place.