Is This The Year Of The C-USA

Lord help us.

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There seems to be a new dominant (or at least most entertaining) Group of Five conference every season. The parity at this level is significant enough that no one league is ever going to be truly dominant enough to break away from the others, with so much of the quality of a lot of these teams being determined by the amount of veteran experience on their rosters – which is liable to change pretty drastically every season.

Just think about the last decade or so in college football. In the early 2010s, the MAC drew national attention for its mid-week games and quite a few fun teams, including the Jordan Lynch years at NIU; Kent State’s 2012 two-headed rushing attack; Dave Clawson’s Bowling Green squad and Matt Campbell’s consistently strong Toledo squads.

But, as a lot of the coaches that manufactured that strong era departed for bigger jobs, the MAC fell off considerably. As it did, the Mountain West started to rise, in tandem with the new AAC. The former rode consistent powers like Boise State while the latter found rising stars in Houston and Memphis.

Those two have remained relatively strong throughout. The MWC really made its hay in 2018-19, while the AAC was best from 2016-17. Both conferences fielded legitimate contenders for NY6 nods, had interesting and fun coaches and schemes, and made noise in the national conversation as potential usurpers.

You already know which conference took control in 2020. With Coastal Carolina and Louisiana at the fore, it was the Sun Belt’s time to rule, and in a lot of ways, that’s still true. It has three of the best G5 teams again in 2021 with Coastal Carolina, App State and Louisiana, but an early loss for the Mountaineers and some regression for the Cajuns have blunted that excitement – as has the lack of an obvious No. 4 as the Georgia duo struggles and several other programs undergo coaching changes.

The AAC and MWC are still pretty strong but lack the depth of intrigue needed to be the G5 darling of choice this season. The former has two real competitors for its crown in Cincinnati and SMU, with Memphis as a distant but well-cemented third, and the latter, while led by an awesome Fresno State team, is without the star power of Boise State and is depending heavily on Brady Hoke finding an offense. He’s not going to, so quit asking.

The MAC has very little in the way of a case to make, unless Western and Eastern Michigan both end up being really good, which seems unlikely.

Folks, you know what that means. I know what it means. We just need to say it.

Welcome to the year of Conference USA.

We’re still only four weeks into the season, so it’s a little early to declare such a thing, but the non-conference slate has pointed us in one direction, toward the C-USA.

It has excellent top-end programs in the form of 4-0 UTSA and 3-1 UAB, both of which look to be title favorite, and the Roadrunners can claim two of the best non-con wins of any G5 program right now, beating Memphis and Illinois. The two have distinct styles, too, with UTSA’s excellent gap rushing attack and UAB’s smothering defense and strong line play.

It has potential contenders lurking behind, limited but intriguing in their own rights. Marshall is the most talented squad in the league but does very little from a creativity perspective, and is working in a new coaching staff that has been overwhelmed by the moment twice this season, falling to ECU and App State teams that it should have beaten. This is the kind of group that gets a whole lot better as the season goes on.

FAU is in a similar spot, though it serves as a slightly less talented version of the Thundering Herd.

Western Kentucky and Charlotte are cousins because both have what looks to be an awesome offense and absolutely no defense. The Hilltoppers are riding one of the last air raid attacks in America and very nearly upset Army and Indiana in consecutive games. The 49ers have unlocked a fantastic passing attack, which I detailed on Monday’s dispatch.

Game Review: Charlotte (Finally) Has A Balanced Passing Game

Then we have the next layer, of teams that could either be good or interesting, but probably not both. Louisiana Tech is usually good and not interesting, and will likely be again despite some offensive troubles. UTEP is 3-1 and very likely not good despite it, but we love Gavin Hardison and Jacob Cowing on here. I can promise you it will be interesting. Rice is in the same boat, the boat is just sort of inverted, where the defense is interesting and the offense smells like a trash can full of diapers.

And then the last test: how’s the garbage? And folks, it’s pretty good! Southern Miss sucks big time but is working through the beginning of installing a fun new offense, as is Old Dominion, which has the added difficulty of sitting out the 2020 season. FIU, MTSU and North Texas are varying forms of unwatchable, but 11 out of 14 with six that are legitimate contenders isn’t bad at all. None of the other leagues can boast that.

I’m ready to declare it. This is the year of the C-USA. Lock your doors, board up the windows, call your relatives and make peace with the God of your choice.