The CUSA has steadily improved the last few years and has likely overtaken the Mountain West in the conference hierarchy (after the Power 5 and American Conf). There are probably 3-4 teams in the CUSA that would likely win the Mountain West this year. They also have some pretty decent teams in the middle of the pack. If a conference is going to have a team challenge the American conference to take the Group of 5 Contract Bowl bid, it will likely come from the CUSA.
For each Conference we will have the Simplified Football predictions (record) with the Projected Win-Shares and rating of each team next to it. We will also have Bowl Projections for each conference.
CUSA Predictions:
East
Team – Record (Conf) / Win-Shares (Conf) / Rating
- Marshall – 9-3 (7-1) / 7.63 (5.37) / 3.68
- Western Kentucky – 8-4 (6-2) / 7.43 (5.2) / 3.68
- FAU – 6-6 (5-3) / 6.81 (4.59) / 3.35
- MTSU – 6-6 (5-3) / 5.25 (4.18) / 3.06
- Old Dominion – 4-8 (3-5) / 4.75 (3.41) / 2.85
- FIU – 4-8 (3-5) / 5.73 (3.85) / 3.09
- Charlotte – 2-10 (1-7) / 4.75 (3.41) / 2.35
West
Team – Record (Conf) / Win-Shares (Conf) / Rating
- Southern Miss – 8-4 (6-2) / 7.73 (5.45) / 3.67
- La Tech – 7-5 (5-3) / 6.83 (4.65) / 3.33
- Rice – 5-7 (5-3) / 5.31 (4.44) / 3.27
- North Texas – 5-7 (4-4) / 5.48 (3.82) / 2.99
- UTSA – 5-7 (3-5) / 5.46 (3.71) / 3.07
- UAB – 4-8 (2-6) / 4.25 (2.58) / 2.47
- UTEP – 2-10 (1-7) / 3.3 (2.6) / 2.58
Marshall and Southern Miss both win their divisions outright
Championship game – Southern Miss beats Marshall getting revenge from a loss earlier in the season.
That makes 6 bowl teams for the CUSA
Boca Raton Bowl – Southern Miss
Heart of Dallas Bowl – Marshall
New Mexico Bowl – Western Kentucky
St Petersburg Bowl – FAU
New Orleans Bowl – Middle Tennessee St
Bahamas Bowl – Louisiana Tech
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