C-USA Football, Basketball & Baseball blog by CUSA Fans

For the organizers of the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl it would be a dream come true. The Beef O’Brady’s Bowl, which will be played on December 20, 2011 pitting the Big East’s #5 team versus Conference USA’s #2 could very well see a match-up of South Florida vs. Central Florida according to the latest 2011-2012 bowl projections. While Louisville versus Souther Miss proved to be a great game a year ago, the idea of having two local Florida teams must have the organizers of the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl licking their chops.

Sports fans across the globe can agree that college bowl season is indeed “the most wonderful time of the year.” With 35 college football games and 70 teams looking to finish their season off with a big win, these bowl games can have a major impact on recruiting and the development of younger players as well as on tradition and pride. Because of all of this excitement around the bowl season, picking teams in the college bowl pick ‘em contests has become somewhat of a tradition in offices and amongst friends.

The 2010-2011 bowl season will see six Conference USA teams extending their season with the bowl eligible minimum of 6 wins lead by the C-USA Champion UCF Knights. Here is a look at the 2010-2011 bowls for those six Conference USA schools:

East Carolina upset Houston 38-32 in Saturday’s Conference USA Championship Game.  Cougar QB Case Keenum threw for an incredible 527 yards and five touchdowns but had three costly interceptions.  Houston will face Air Force on December 31st in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth. East Carolina will face a tough test when they battle Arkansas at the Liberty Bowl. A total of 6 Conference USA teams will participate in the 2009-2010 bowl schedule.

The Houston Cougars moved up two slots to #21 following their 73-14 victory over crosstown rival Rice.  Houston will face ECU in the Conference USA Football Championship Game to wrap up the season with a Liberty Bowl berth on the line. Houston ended the regular season 10-2 and 6-2 in Conference USA play as their head to head win over SMU proved to be the deciding factor in the C-USA West Division. Should Houston top ECU on Saturday, the Cougars seem headed for a matchup with Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl per the latest bowl projections.

The Houston Cougars demolished the Memphis Tigers 55-14. Case Keenum threw for 405 yards and five scores in the victory. The #24 Cougars host Rice on the 28th and needs a win over their cross-town rivals to clinch the C-USA West Division. However is Houston loses to 2-9 Rice the SMU Mustangs would then be the West Division representative in the Conference USA Championship Game.

The Houston Cougars dropped 9 spots in the college football Top 25 rankings to #24 following their 37-32 loss to UCF.  The loss leaves the Cougars in second place in the C-USA West Standings as they look up at SMU. Case Keenum threw for 377 yards and a touchdown in the loss.  Houston hosts Memphis on November 21st.

The Houston Cougars escaped Tulsa with a 46-45 victory.  It took a last second 51 yard field goal to keep the Cougars at #15 in this week’s top 25 rankings.  QB Case Keenum threw for 522 yards and 3 scores in the victory.  The Cougars travel to Central Florida on the 14th and are currently slated for the Liberty Bowl in the latest 2009-2010 bowl projections.

The #18 Houston Cougars defeated Southern Miss in a wild shootout 50-43.  The victory moved the Cougars up in the Top 25 rankings to #15.  QB Case Keenum threw for an astounding 559 yards and 5 touchdowns in the victory.  The Cougars travel to face Tulsa, a team that is fading in the Conference USA standings, on November 7th.

The Houston Cougars dropped one spot to #18 despite their SMU 38-15 victory over SMU.  Houston will host Southern Miss on October 31st. At 6-1, the Cougars lost a lot of steam and attention with the loss @ UTEP, but the goal now for Houston needs to be focusing on winning Conference USA and making it to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis and the improved Top 25 rankings will come.

The first batch of BCS Standings are now out and Conference USA’s Houston Cougars enter the party at #17.  The 5-1 Cougars will look to move up the college football Top 25 rankings as they host SMU on October 24th. SMU has started the season 3-3 and is in the C-USA bowl discussion, but June Jones’ Hawaii Bowl goal for SMU has been in question. However, Southern Methodist was not included in the 2009-2010 bowl projections from Football-Bowl.com.