Way out West, you gotta believe Case Keenum will throw forever, or at least until the Cougars clinch the title. Riding on the arm of one of the most prolific passers in college football history, Houston should edge out SMU and Tulsa which shared the West crown last season. Tulsa gobbles up a lot of yards (the Golden Hurricane outgained C-USA opponents by an average of 70+ yards per game ) but have a new coach and a weak defense while SMU, though it has 18 starters returning, has a tough schedule compared to Houston with difficult games at Texas A&M, TCU and Southern Miss.
In the East look for a battle between UCF and Southern Miss in an exciting two-team race.
The Knights’ strength is offense. Led by quarterback Jeff Godfrey, the 2010 C-USA Freshman of the Year, and runners Latavius Murray along with Brynn Harvey, a first-team all-conference pick in 2009 who missed last season with a knee injury, UCF’s offense should carry them to the title.
Despite 17 consecutive winning seasons and nine straight bowl trips, Southern Miss hasn’t won a Conference USA title since the league split into two divisions in 2005. The Golden Eagles’ comparatively weak defense will be the chief reason they come up short in their conference title aspirations.
