Conference USA Football Picks

Below you will find the most updated picks from the CUSA Fans staff for the upcoming Conference USA football games on Saturday, November 3rd and Sunday, November 4th. We hope you enjoy the picks and continue to look to CUSA-fans.com for your Conference USA football news & previews.

UTEP @ Rice

Can anyone figure out the Owls? Common sense would tell anyone to pick UTEP in this game as Rice's defense is allowing 41.5 points per game, but somehow this same team won @ Southern Miss in early October on national TV. How does a 1-7 team pickup their only win of the season on the road at the Conference's staple of consistency and success? We have still yet to figure that one out.

UTEP has been a roller coaster this season winning 1, losing 3, winning 2 and the losing 2 straight, but the Owls defense should be just what the Miners offense and Trevor Vittatoe were hoping for. Vittatoe has filled Jordan Palmer's shoes nicely this season and has thrown for 9 TD passes in the past 3 games.

Combine the UTEP offense (19th in nation @ 35.8 ppg) and the Rice defense (41.5 ppg) and you have the makings for a UTEP win on the road.

UTEP 45 - Rice 28

Marshall @ UCF

What happens when you take a 1-7 team who has struggled all season and send them to Florida to take on a UCF team in the hunt for a C-USA Championship? Well we think you get a good football game. Despite 7 straight losses to start the season, the Thundering Herd has not stopped fighting and defeated Rice at home last weekend. With the 18th-ranked passing offense in the nation, there's no doubt that the Herd can score points, the problem is they don't score enough. Somehow, the nation's 42nd ranked offense is also the nation's 90th ranked offense in scoring at just 23.1 ppg. That is a problem.

UCF enters the game 3-1 in Conference USA play and comes off a big 34-17 win @ Southern Miss on Sunday night. Running back Kevin Smith has 1,260 rushing yards on the season and 16 TDs to lead the UCF offense, which averages nearly 35 ppg and 43 ppg against C-USA competition.

Expect to see a game that is kept within reach by Marshall's offense, but UCF should pull out the W.

UCF 38 - Marshall 28

Southern Miss @ UAB

The Golden Eagles (4-4, 3-2) look to rebound from their loss at home to UCF and travel to Birmingham to face the Blazers (2-6, 1-3). UAB has lost 4 of their last 5 games and averages just 18.6 ppg, good for 113th in the nation. Add that to a defense allowing 33.5 ppg and you have a recipe for disaster.

Southern Miss features a balanced offense led by sophomore running back Damion Fletcher, who has 923 yards rushing and 9 TDs. Fletcher has 4 straight 100+ yard rushing games, and if the Blazer defense cannot slow him down it will be a long day for UAB fans.

This game is a fairly easy one to call, just like Rice @ Southern Miss was earlier this season, but we saw how that turned out. Logic and stats prevail in our pick of Southern Miss to pick up the road victory.

Southern Miss 34 - UAB 10

Tulsa @ Tulane

Tulsa (5-3, 3-2) travels to Tulane (2-6, 1-3) as the Golden Hurricane look for just their 2nd road win of the season. Tulane, 1-4 at home this season, is scoring just 22.1 ppg on the season which ranks 96th in the nation. Tulsa, meanwhile, is scoring 35.8 ppg and allowing 37.8 ppg. Tulsa has alternated wins and losses for 7 straight games and looks to pickup some momentum and solidify their chances at bowling in 2007-2008 while Tulane looks for an upset win to build on.

Expect Tulsa's offense to score plenty of points against a Tulane defense that allows 30.1 ppg as the Golden Hurricane defeat the Green Wave.

Tulsa 44 - Tulane 28

East Carolina @ Memphis

See ECU Correspondent Bubba Rosenbaum's East Carolina @ Memphis preview.

SMU @ Houston

See SMU Correspondent Rick Atkinson's SMU @ Houston preview.