{"id":24337,"date":"2010-07-26T16:05:04","date_gmt":"2010-07-26T21:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=24337"},"modified":"2010-07-26T16:05:04","modified_gmt":"2010-07-26T21:05:04","slug":"conference-usa-college-football-predictions-2010-260710","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/handicapping\/conference-usa-college-football-predictions-2010-260710\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Football Handicapping: 2010 Conference-USA Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Burns CFB Picks – Conference USA Predictions \/ Preview<\/h2>\n
\"Ben<\/a>
Ben Burns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each week Ben Burns prepares college football bettors for the upcoming ncaa football gambling<\/strong><\/a> season. This week it’s the Conference USA. Ben highlights several items to keep in mind when September college football betting<\/strong><\/a> season rolls around. <\/p>\n

Houston is the consensus favorite in Conference USA.<\/p>\n

That should tell you where CUSA sits on the nation\u2019s totem pole, somewhere just above the WAC.<\/p>\n

Yes, Houston has its hot-shot Heisman candidate quarterback in Case Keenum. But in case you forgot, he\u2019s the same hot-shot that tossed nine picks in the final two games last season. Both were losses by the way, including getting blown out by Air Force in Armed Forces Bowl. Air Force\u2019s vaunted defense intercepted Keenum six times en route to 37-20 rout.<\/p>\n

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For giggles, let\u2019s give Keenum a pass and try to believe that he\u2019ll use his awful finish to last season as motivation for this year. We\u2019ll even give the nod to the Cougars as the conference\u2019s best team. But then who? And, besides Keenum, how many big-name stars can name out of CUSA?<\/p>\n

Southern Miss wide receiver DeAndre Brown\u2019s a nice player, so is UTEP\u2019s senior quarterback-running back combination of Trevor Vittatoe and Donald Buckram. But, overall, CUSA\u2019s talent level seems to have dropped.<\/p>\n

Will the questionable talent be evident when it\u2019s time to step out of conference? CUSA teams went 4-24 against BCS competition last season, but were 17-9 against non-BCS opponents. The most impressive of those non-BCS wins may have been SMU\u2019s 45-10 drubbing of a red-hot Nevada team in the Hawai\u2019i Bowl. The Mustangs were 12.5-point underdogs.<\/p>\n

While June Jones has SMU on the rise, there are bunch of programs on the decline and a few that are having trouble finding their way out of rock bottom.<\/p>\n

Two-time defending conference champion East Carolina must replace a ton of talent, including a proven coach in Skip Holtz with an unproven one in Ruffin McNeill. Marshall and Memphis also made coaching changes.<\/p>\n

UAB stuck with Neil Callaway, despite his three-year 11-25 record. Tulane resided to keep Bob Toledo and his 9-27 mark for a fourth year. There have been exactly 0 signs of either of those programs turning things around.<\/p>\n

Some pundits are touting Tulsa, UTEP, Central Florida and even Rice as possible contenders. Again, when a program like Rice is believed to have enough talent to compete for a conference title, it really puts into perspective the league\u2019s overall strength.<\/p>\n

To summarize, CUSA is poised to take a step backwards this season. Handicappers who correctly gauge just how far the league\u2019s teams will fall stand to make a profit.<\/p>\n

Conference USA Odds & Ends<\/strong><\/h3>\n

(ATS records from last three years)<\/p>\n

Houston Cougars<\/strong>
\nATS: 17-20 (Home: 8-5. Away: 7-12)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: Under coach Kevin Sumlin, the Cougs are starting to build a significant home-field advantage at Robertson Stadium. Houston is 7-1 ATS at home in Sumlin\u2019s two seasons.<\/p>\n

Tulsa Golden Hurricane<\/strong>
\nATS: 17-20-1 (Home: 9-8. Away: 6-12-1)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: In coach Todd Graham\u2019s first two seasons, the Golden Hurricane was ultra-explosive. Tulsa averaged 47 points per game in 2009. But last year, trying to work in a new quarterback, the Golden Hurricane scored just under 30 a game.<\/p>\n

Now, with a year under his belt, quarterback GJ Kinne, a Texas transfer, leads a versatile offense loaded with playmakers like wide out Damaris Johnson, who led the nation in total yardage last year. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

UTEP Miners<\/strong>
\nATS: 17-18 (Home: 8-9. Away: 8-9)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: Senior quarterback Trevor Vittatoe has an offensive line made up of five seniors. The Miners have averaged 31.8 points per game in Mike Price\u2019s six seasons. But the defense has surrendered 34.7 in the last four seasons.<\/p>\n

Rice Owls<\/strong>
\nATS: 18-17-1 (Home: 9-8-1. Away: 8-10)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: A conference-high 18 starters, nine on each side, return for the Owls.<\/p>\n

SMU Mustangs<\/strong>
\nATS: 15-19-1 (Home: 4-11. Away: 10-7-1)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: June Jones really got things turned around in his third season at Hawaii. With time to adjust to Jones\u2019 system, the Warriors went 9-3 straight up and 7-4 against the spread in his third year. Now, at SMU, Jones enters his third season with 15 returning starters, including his quarterback and four offensive linemen.<\/p>\n

Tulane Green Wave<\/strong>
\nATS: 13-21 (Home: 5-12. Away: 8-9)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: The Green Wave hasn\u2019t posted a winning ATS record in six years. With only four returning starters on defense and an offense severely lacking playmakers, breaking that streak will be difficult for coach Bob Toledo.<\/p>\n

Central Florida Knights<\/strong>
\nATS: 22-14-1 (Home: 11-6-1. Away: 11-6)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: Since joining Conference USA in 2005, coach George O\u2019Leary\u2019s program has been a cash cow for bettors. The Knights are 26-15-1 ATS in conference play the past five seasons, including a stellar 7-1 ATS mark last year.<\/p>\n

Southern Miss Golden Eagles<\/strong>
\nATS: 20-17 (Home: 7-9. Away: 11-7)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: The Eagles have averaged over 30 points per game in coach Larry Fedora\u2019s two years. But this year, they return only three starters on offense. Only one starter returns on an offensive line that has by far the least amount of career starts in the conference at 26, according to Phil Steele.<\/p>\n

UAB Blazers<\/strong>
\nATS: 16-17-1 (Home: 7-5-1. Away: 9-12)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: UAB has had trouble competing with teams from BCS conferences in coach Neil Callaway\u2019s three seasons. The Blazers are 0-7 against BCS conference teams under Calloway, losing by an average margin of 21 points in those contests.<\/p>\n

Marshall Thundering Herd<\/strong>
\nATS: 15-13-1 (Home: 6-8-1. Away: 8-10)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: The Herd\u2019s top cornerback DeQuan Bembry was dismissed from the team after a July arrest, leaving new coach Doc Holliday with just four viable options at corner on the roster.<\/p>\n

East Carolina Pirates<\/strong>
\nATS: 20-19-1 (Home: 9-7-1. Away: 8-11)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: New coach Ruffin McNeill inherits a team with a conference-low eight returning starters, including just two on defense. McNeill, a former assistant under Mike Leach at Texas Tech, spent the offseason installing his version of Leach\u2019s \u201cAir Raid\u201d offense. Walk-on Brad Wornick appears to be the favorite to start at quarterback, but Boston College-transfer Dominique Davis also will get a look.<\/p>\n

Memphis Tigers<\/strong>
\nATS: 13-20-1 (Home: 7-8. Away: 6-7-1)<\/p>\n

Thing to remember: First-year coach Larry Porter has stressed that his defense will be the strength of his team. Filtering the coach speak out of that, it really means the offense could struggle mightily. During the offseason, he often talked in future tense when addressing the offense, stuff like \u201ceventually our fans will be excited about our offense.\u201d Eventually?<\/p>\n

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2010 Conference USA Football Handicapping preview. Figuring out if or if not Houston is the consensus favorite in Conference USA is the big question as we head into the 2010 CFB betting season…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":21873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[551],"tags":[31568,31569,31343,2390,14279,14274,14275,1565,31570,14800,3202],"class_list":["post-24337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-handicapping","tag-2010-conference-usa-football","tag-2010-conference-usa-football-picks","tag-2010-conference-usa-predictions","tag-ben-burns","tag-ben-burns-articles","tag-ben-burns-cfb-picks","tag-ben-burns-ncaa-football-predictions","tag-college-football-handicapping","tag-conference-usa-football-selections","tag-conference-usa-picks","tag-ncaa-football-handicapping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24338,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24337\/revisions\/24338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}