CUSA Football: Week 13 Preview

Football

This is the last chance for three teams in the C-USA to become bowl eligible (Marshall 5-6, Southern Methodist 5-6, and Rice 5-6). The winners will join three other teams who are already bowl eligible (University of Central Florida 8-3, Eastern Carolina 7-4, and Tulsa 9-2). There are six teams that aren’t qualified for bowls since they cannot reach six wins, the minimum required to play in a bowl. This doesn’t mean they can’t spoil the chance for others.

Now onto the games!

Game of the week
Tulsa (9-2) vs SMU (5-6)

The Tulsa Golden hurricanes have already secured their bowl spot, having the best record in the conference at 9-2, and to represent the west division in the C-USA championship game. But don’t expect them to take a back seat this weekend when they faceoff against the Southern Methodist Mustangs. The mustangs come into this game at 5-6 which means if they want to make it to the postseason they’ll need a win. SMU comes into this game after a loss to Rice, which if won could have made them bowl eligible, where the struggling defense gave up 423 yards to the owls’ offence. This has been the story all year for the mustangs’ defense putting the pressure on the offence to make up for their mistakes. The Hurricanes beat UCF last week in a 23-21 game that previewing the likely CUSA championship game. Tulsa brings the 13th best rushing offence in the country into the game averaging over 240 yards a game, their offense overall has averaged around 35 points a game. Even with these great numbers expect a close game, with SMU’s fate in their own hands don’t expect to see the Mustangs roll over. June Jones knows he doesn’t only need a win but a win against the conference’s top team will help them get one of the 5 C-USA bowl games. Expect some trickery this weekend.

My prediction Tulsa 28 SMU 20

The Game will be on FX at 12:00 pm Eastern/10 Pacific