Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: Conference USA teams have several chances to knock off the BCS "big boys" in '06

Non-conference schedules provide great opportunities to validate quality of CUSA

I have always been a fan who pulls for the underdog in a game where I have no rooting preference. Since the BCS's inception, which was prior to the 1998 season, I also generally cheer for the non-BCS team to win a game versus a BCS opponent.

Conference USA member Southern Miss adopted the motto of “Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” a few years ago to reveal their approach towards non-conference scheduling. They even painted it on their field. Many teams throughout CUSA took this approach this season.

Conference USA's teams play several games this season in which they will be taking on this underdog role against their BCS competition. Although there is quality football played within CUSA, its teams have not faired that well in non-conference match-ups against quality BCS opponents. The league's current members, who were in CUSA prior to last season's shake-up, do have a few wins of this nature though. A few that come to mind are the following:

. September 25, 1999 - East Carolina 27, Miami 23 - The Pirates beat the 13th ranked Hurricanes in an impressive comeback, scoring 24 unanswered points to erase a 23-3 deficit. This game was played at NC State's Carter-Finley Stadium due to Hurricane Floyd's effect on eastern North Carolina. Not only was this comeback against a Miami team that had the likes of Clinton Portis, Dan Morgan, Reggie Wayne, and Santana Moss, but also more amazing was the fact that ECU had been stuck in Columbia, SC all week as a result of Hurricane Floyd.

. September 6, 2003 - Memphis 44, Ole Miss 34- This shootout saw Memphis and quarterback Danny Wimprine get the best of the Rebels and Heisman Trophy candidate Eli Manning. Manning and Ole Miss led 34-21 after three quarters, but the Tigers proceeded to score on five straight fourth quarter possessions to win by ten. Manning posted nearly 300 yards passing on the day, but was overshadowed by the performance of Danny Wimprine. Wimprine was 18 of 32 for 355 yards in Memphis' first victory over Ole Miss since 1994.

. September 11, 2004 - Southern Miss 21, Nebraska 17- This is a bit of a stretch because the Huskers were 5-6 in 2004, Bill Callahan's first in Lincoln. However, I still included it on the list, because regardless of the circumstances, beating Nebraska at Memorial Stadium is no small task. Southern Miss made the most of its opportunities in this one as they kept it close until they were able to capitalize on a few costly interceptions by Huskers quarterback Joe Dailey. The Golden Eagles' Dustin Almond found Marvin Young for the game-winning 46-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

These were the only three that I felt fit the criteria. There have been other wins over prominent programs such as Southern Miss winning 21-0 at Alabama in 2000 and Houston winning 20-7 at LSU in 1999, but all of these wins for CUSA were during down years for the respective opponents.

There have also been quality wins by current Conference USA teams which were posted prior to those schools joining CUSA such as Marshall's 27-20 win at #6 Kansas State early in the 2003 season while the Thundering Herd was in the Mid-American Conference.

As this season quickly approaches, I thought I would take a look at some of the non-conference schedules across CUSA. There are some intriguing match-ups that are going to take place and I'll take a look at a few of those. These will be games in which I think the Conference USA team has the best shot to pull off the upset, although I am not necessarily saying that I think the upset will happen.

• September 2 - Memphis @ Ole Miss - Tommy West takes his Tigers to Oxford and Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to open the 2006 season. Memphis lost a heartbreaker to the Rebels last season after beating them in '03 and '04. They will be attempting to replace workhorse DeAngelo Williams as well as starting quarterback Maurice Avery. It will be year two of the Ed Orgeron era in Oxford and the Rebels should be improved; however, it has been a great ballgame when these two rivals have squared off in recent years. Expect the same this year.
• September 9 - Texas Tech @ UTEP - If you prefer to see offensive-minded football and the scoreboard lit up, this very well could be your type of game. Anyone who has followed college football in recent years is aware of the offensive juggernaut that Mike Leach has developed in Lubbock. The Red Raiders have only thrown for 19,830 yards in the past four seasons while having a different starting quarterback in each of those years. This year Graham Harrell will take over the reigns of the Texas Tech scoring machine and don't expect anything less than what we've grown accustomed to under Leach's guidance. UTEP has had a high-powered offense in the first two seasons under Mike Price. This year should be no different as they return senior quarterback Jordan Palmer and six other starters on offense. They also return ten starters on defense. Many people pick UTEP to win CUSA's West Division while Texas Tech is expected to possibly contend for the Big 12 South title. This could be quite an intriguing early season match up from the Sun Bowl.
• September 9 - UCF @ Florida - Last year George O'Leary led the best story in all of college football as he guided the Golden Knights to an 8-5 record, CUSA East Division title and bowl appearance, only a season after going 0-11. They return eight starters on offense, including senior quarterback Steven Moffett, senior wide receiver Mike Walker, and sophomore sensation running back Kevin Smith. This trio led an offense that averaged 28.7 points per game and 401.3 yards per game a year ago. The defense needs improvement, but does return ten starters from last season. Anytime you travel to the swamp you can expect all you want and then some, but the Gators are expected by many to win the SEC East this season. It is year two of Urban Meyer's tenure and Florida returns senior quarterback Chris Leak, but the Golden Knights have the talent to pull this shocker if the chips fall their way in one of college football's most difficult places to win, Florida Field-Ben Hill-Griffin Stadium, better known as "THE SWAMP."
• September 16 - NC State @ Southern Miss - Jeff Bower and his Golden Eagles will welcome Chuck Amato's Wolfpack to "The Rock" in week three. Southern Miss lost a 21-17 decision last season in Raleigh after leading for the majority of the game. NC State's Andre Brown had his coming out party against the Golden Eagle defense a year ago. Bower and the Golden Eagles will be going with an inexperienced quarterback and running back, but they will be facing an NC State defense that lost three defensive linemen (all three were first round draft picks) to the NFL. They are still loaded in the secondary though. Expect a close game with a score similar to last years, as both offenses will likely be trying to find themselves early in the season.
• September 23 - West Virginia @ East Carolina - Last year's game in Morgantown was a good one as the Pirates and first year head coach Skip Holtz nearly upset the Mountaineers, losing 20-15. That game featured both teams squandering scoring opportunities with the defenses rising to the forefront. After that game, West Virginia's only loss was at home to Virginia Tech as they finished 11-1, beating the SEC-champion Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl in Atlanta. As the year wore on, the Mountaineers became a potent offensive football team under the guidance of freshman quarterback Pat White. White did the bulk of his damage with his legs, rushing for 79 yards per game last season. He was so good that he drew comparisons to former Virginia Tech star Michael Vick. Fellow freshman Steve Slayton was also impressive, rushing for 1,128 yards in only ten games. The Pirates should be improved from a year ago. They will have a senior quarterback in James Pinkney and a stable full of quality skill players for him to distribute the ball to. Both teams could very well enter this ESPN televised game with 3-0 records wanting to make a statement to the nation. Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium will be rocking and the Mountaineers know they will have their hands full after last season. They will be trying to prove that last year was a fluke, while the Pirates plan on showing them it wasn't.
• September 30 - Tennessee @ Memphis - It seems like the Tigers always play their in-state rivals close before eventually losing a nail-biter. Last season, Memphis lost to the Vols, 20-16, in Knoxville. Tommy West's club will be replacing their workhorse DeAngelo Williams in addition to replacing departed quarterback Maurice Avery. Tennessee will be looking to bounce back from a 5-6 season a year ago, and I think it is safe to say that Phil Fulmer is feeling a decent amount of heat from Big Orange fans. He can ill-afford a non-conference loss to in-state rival Memphis, but despite there being plenty for the Vols to play for, expect the Tigers to make it interesting once again. With Memphis' recent success there won't be quite as much orange in the Liberty Bowl as there would have been prior to the Tommy West era.
• October 13 - Pittsburgh @ UCF - Dave Wannstedt's first season in the "Steel City" was a disappointing one, as the Panthers finished 5-6 after playing in a BCS bowl in 2004. They particularly struggled on offense as Tyler Palko was transitioning to the new staff's system. He will look to return to the impressive level he attained in his sophomore season. The Panthers are expected to finish in the top four or five in the Big East and should be improved from last season. Meanwhile, UCF, who was college football's Cinderella a season ago, returns a ton of talent. The Golden Knights are welcoming back 18 of their 22 starters and are primed for another run at the Conference USA title. Give the nod to O'Leary's club. They have more playmakers in the skill positions. . October 21- Southern Miss @ Virginia Tech This will be an extremely tall order for the Golden Eagles, as it is for anyone, to go into Lane Stadium and beat the Hokies. Virginia Tech has dominated opponents at home over the last decade or so. However, Frank Beamer's club will be replacing the departed Marcus Vick with an inexperienced Sean Glennon, Cory Holt or Ike Whitaker. The Golden Eagles are accustomed to playing in big-time atmospheres so don't expect them to be rattled by the hostile environment created by the Hokie fans. They will be breaking in a new quarterback as well though and definitely don't have Virginia Tech's talent across the board. Southern Miss' will certainly be no pushover, but expect Virginia Tech to be too much in the end for Jeff Bower's gritty Golden Eagles.
• November 25 - East Carolina @ NC State - The "Backyard Brawl" will resume this year at NC State's Carter-Finley Stadium. The last time these two teams met, the Wolfpack thoroughly dominated the Pirates, 52-14, in Charlotte in 2004. East Carolina was clearly outmanned in that contest. However, now the Pirates have progressed back towards respectability and pose a much bigger threat to the Wolfpack than what they did two seasons ago. NC State probably still has a few more horses than ECU, but the talent gap isn't nearly as wide as what it was prior to Holtz's arrival in Greenville. One of the key and intriguing match ups in this game will be NC State running back Andre Brown and the Pack rushing attack versus the East Carolina defense. Brown, who is from Greenville and shunned the Pirates, is now a stud in the red and white. The Pirates will possess a very potent passing attack this season and it should be awfully fun to see how they fare against an NC State secondary that is full of talented players. East Carolina will be out to make a statement in this game and expect nothing less than a dogfight in this one.

In addition to these games that I've highlighted, there are plenty of other games featuring Conference USA teams against some of college football's best programs.

Marshall has an extremely difficult non-conference slate for second year head coach Mark Snyder. The Herd travels to in-state rival West Virginia for the opener. Rest assured, they will be sky high for this game, but WVU should be too much for them. There are also trips to Kansas State and Tennessee.

Rice has one of the toughest, if not the toughest, non-league schedule in CUSA. Todd Graham will open with cross-town conference rival Houston, but then he will quickly find out what his Owls are made of as they will travel to UCLA, play Texas in Houston at the Texans' Reliant Stadium, and then travel to Florida State.

Their cross-town rival, Houston, faces challenging non-conference games in consecutive weeks. They play at home on September 23rd against Oklahoma State before traveling to the Orange Bowl to face Larry Coker's Miami Hurricanes, who are predicted by many to win the ACC's Coastal division.

Last year's conference champion Tulsa plays a couple of quality games out of CUSA, but they don't play any BCS teams. They do have tough road trips to Provo, Utah to face BYU and Annapolis to play what should be a very good Navy team. Tulsa isn't the only Conference USA team to play the Midshipmen, as the Pirates of East Carolina travel there to open their 2006 season.

Phil Bennett's SMU Mustangs are coming off their most successful season in some time, as they went 5-6, finishing one win shy of qualifying for their first bowl game in twenty plus years. They will receive a stiff test in this year's opener as they face off against Mike Leach's Red Raiders of Texas Tech. SMU was near the bottom of the nation last year in pass defense, allowing 250 yards per game, so we'll see how much they've improved right out of the chute.

UAB and Watson Brown will be replacing star quarterback Darrell Hackney with senior Chris Williams. Williams only attempted three passes as a junior while backing up Hackney. He and the Blazers will be challenged immensely right away as they open against Bob Stoops' Oklahoma Sooners in Norman. In weeks three and four, they travel to play between the hedges at Georgia and then to Starkville to face Sylvester Croom's Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Tulane only won two games in '05 and it will be tough for them to get more than one out of CUSA this season. In weeks two and three, they travel to play SEC foes Mississippi State and LSU. The game in Starkville could be a very good ball game. The Green Wave lost to the Bulldogs, 21-14, last season in a game played in Shreveport, LA due to Hurricane Katrina.

UAB isn't the only team that opens with a perennial BCS power. Southern Miss travels to Gainesville to face the Florida Gators to open the season.

Other appealing non-conference games that have not already been mentioned include UCF squaring off against Sunshine State rival South Florida and the ACC's Virginia Cavaliers traveling to Greenville to face East Carolina.

The Golden Bulls beat the Golden Knights by 17 last season and UCF will be out to avenge that loss this season as USF comes to Orlando.

UVA lost play-making quarterback Marques Hagans to graduation, and don't be surprised if the Pirates defeat the "Wahoos" in their first ever trip to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

As you've read, Conference USA teams have a plethora of opportunities this season to notch wins that will help improve the conference's image in the eyes of the college football world. It's often said, "In order to be the man, you must beat the man." Lets hope that "the man" falls multiple times this fall. It's only 51 days until opening weekend!