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 17th. After a 5-1 start on November 3rd games, last week we went 1-3 on our weekly picks, and counting our ECU and SMU Correspondents' picks we were 1-5 overall. Ouch! We'll try harder this week and we hope you enjoy the picks and continue to look to CUSA-fans.com for your Conference USA football news & previews.

Tulsa @ Army

Army is 3-7 on the season, but 3-1 at home as they host the Golden Hurricane (7-3, 5-2 C-USA). Tulsa comes off a surprising 56-7 thumping of Houston that puts the Golden Hurricane in charge of their own destiny in Conference USA. With the 56 points last weekend Tulsa has now scored 105 points in the past two week and averages 39.1 ppg, good for 12th in the nation. Their 3rd-ranked passing offense has been led by senior QB Paul Smith who has 3,496 yards passing and 32 touchdowns on the season.

Army comes in with one of the Football Bowl Subdivision's (Division I-A) worst offenses scoring just 16.1 ppg; good for 119th or 119 teams in the FBS/Division I-A. While Tulsa's defense allows over 33 ppg, don't expect to see Army come close to outscoring Tulsa.

Tulsa 47 - Army 16

Tulane @ Rice

Had this game been played two weeks ago, these two teams would have had just 3 wins between them. But Rice (3-7, 3-3 C-USA) has won 2 straight and Tulane (3-7, 2-4 C-USA) comes off a surprising upset of UTEP a week ago. Rice's offense is driven by the passing game where they rank 27th nationally at 285.6 ypg while Tulane relies on the running game averaging 203.7 ypg, good for 23rd-best in the nation. While Rice's defense has allowed 42.2 ppg over the course of the season and 90 points in the past two games, the offense was strong enough to win both of those games. Expect to see a fairly high-scoring game, but Rice has the offense and the home-field advantage to come away with a win.

Rice 41 - Tulane 27

UAB @ Memphis

The Tigers (5-5, 4-2 C-USA) regained their momentum with a 29-26 win @ Southern Miss last week and have won 3 of their last 4 games, all within Conference USA play. UAB (2-8, 1-5 C-USA) has dropped 4 straight and has allowed 35 ppg this season on defense. With the nation's 114th-ranked offense at 18.7 ppg, this is not the way to win games. The Memphis passing game is the key for the Tigers' offense and senior QB Martin Hankins has thrown for 13 TDs in the past 4 games to lead the passing attack which ranks 14th in the nation. With Memphis at home and strong offense against the poor UAB defense, this pick will pad our stats for next week.

Memphis 34 - UAB 17

Marshall @ Houston

Three weeks ago we would not have given the Thundering Herd (2-8, 2-4 C-USA) a chance against Houston (6-4, 5-2 C-USA), but Marshall has won 2 of their last 3 games including a stunning 26-7 win over East Carolina a week ago. Houston had plenty of momentum heading into their game @ Tulsa a week ago, but the Golden Hurricane crushed the Cougars 56-7. Houston looks for a 6-2 C-USA final record as they feature the nation's 6th-ranked total offense averaging 520.1 ypg and 34.2 ppg. While Marshall's better play in the past two weeks will keep this game interesting, in the end, Houston's balanced and explosive offense will prevail.

Houston 42 - Marshall 26

Southern Miss @ UTEP

Two struggling teams collide as Southern Miss (5-5, 4-3 C-USA) travels to El Paso to face UTEP (4-6, 2-4 C-USA). The Miners were 4-2 in early October, but have since dropped 4 straight and allow 35.3 ppg. Ironically enough, the Miners also average 35.3 ppg on offense which ranks them 22nd in the nation. Freshman QB Trevor Vittatoe is the key to the Miners' offense throwing for 22 TDs on the season against just 4 INTs and looks to be a marquee quarterback in Conference USA. Southern Miss is led by sophomore RB Damion Fletcher who has been held to just 164 yards in the past two games after averaging over 110 ypg in the first 8 games of the season.

This 7:30 pm Saturday night game will be televised on CSTV, and while UTEP has a good offense and home-field advantage, I like Southern Miss to get their 6th win of the season.

Southern Miss 34 - UTEP 31

UCF @ SMU

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