USA Today 1-130 Post Spring Ball

[TheColonyEagle]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2018/05/07/college-football-post-spring-1-130-re-rank/586148002/

CUSA:

17 FAU

44 Marshall 

     58 North Texas

     61 La Tech

64 MTSU

     68 Southern Miss

89 WKU

92 ODU

     94 UAB

97 FIU

     102 UTSA

123 Charlotte

     124 Rice

     130 UTEP

Notables:

69 Arkansas

87 SMU

118 LIberty

 

 

[Salsa_Verde]

North Texas surprised a lot of people last year. Dare I say...maybe some teams didn’t take North Texas seriously. That is not going to be the case this upcoming season. 

[Wag Tag]

Wow!! That is impressive! GMG 

[Harry]

That’s encouraging!

[DeepGreen]

What makes Marshall so special?  Name recognition?

[Felozano]

Exciting stuff!  

[James]

Definitely a step in the right direction! Let's shock the world!

[Venson]

Great to see us get some recognition. Started last year in the 100s. Now let's go get those wins and continue to move up.

[untjim1995]

Never forget that just two years ago, we were either dead ass last or close to it in every one of these lists. SL and company have us considered in the top 60 FBS schools in the country now.

Always remember where this thing has been built up from, just to appreciate the journey even more.

[UNTLifer]

5 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

What makes Marshall so special?  Name recognition?

My thoughts as well.

[oldguystudent]

At #102, UTSA is primed and ready for that breakout 11-0 season. 

[MrStrange18]

Interesting that UAB is ranked so low.  Seems like a lot of folks think they are a potential L for us. 

Also, interesting to note that we are finishing 2 spots ahead of Troy who whooped us. 

Love that we are getting some props though!  Just win baby!

BEAT SMU!

[MeanGreenTexan]

13 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

What makes Marshall so special?  Name recognition?

Especially with the departure of Litton.  As of now, they have a RSFr penciled-in as the starter.

[TheColonyEagle]

13 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

What makes Marshall so special?  Name recognition?

I was surprised by that too...

All indications are they have the best defense in the conference. I guess that's where they're coming from. They did nearly knock off FAU last year...should be a good matchup this year as well.

[TheColonyEagle]

Another observation. The West has four solid teams at the top in us, La Tech, USM and UAB. Not a lot of daylight between us. I don't know if UAB has a soph slump this year or not but I like that we get the other two at Apogee. 

Great home conference schedule this year. Really important games.

Can't wait for this season...

 

[Aldo]

Re: Marshall

They had the #1 recruiting class 2014, 2015, and 2016 in CUSA.

Obviously development is important but on paper they've got the pieces. The run D is elite and the pass D is solid.

[UNTLifer]

3 hours ago, TheColonyEagle said:

I was surprised by that too...

All indications are they have the best defense in the conference. I guess that's where they're coming from. They did nearly knock off FAU last year...should be a good matchup this year as well.

True, but FAU is returning almost their entire defense, which worries me more than their offense now that Lil' Briles is gone.

 

[MeanGreenTexan]

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

True, but FAU is returning almost their entire defense, which worries me more than their offense now that Lil' Briles is gone.

 

The conference MVP is on that offense...   and Kendall wasn't the only coordinator they lost.    Chris Kiffin is now on staff with the 49ers.

Both sides of the ball at FAU are worrisome.  But as long as Singletary is still there, I'm more worried about the offense.

That offense was the cause of forcing us into a one-dimensional game both times, of course making their well-coached defense look amazing.

[BTG_Fan1]

18 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

What makes Marshall so special?  Name recognition?

Solid and very young OL with experience, a QB transfer that had a P5 offer (Tennessee) and a few more G5’s.. a solid defense as well

[TheColonyEagle]

I do think Marshall being good is good for the conference....

[aztecskin]

5 hours ago, Aldo said:

Re: Marshall

They had the #1 recruiting class 2014, 2015, and 2016 in CUSA.

Obviously development is important but on paper they've got the pieces. The run D is elite and the pass D is solid.

They lost both coordinators though. The LB coach was promoted but that is hit-or-miss. Lost the QB, and TE of an offense that had trouble moving the ball. I'm pretty down on Marshall. 

[Harry]

1 hour ago, TheColonyEagle said:

I do think Marshall being good is good for the conference....

The only issue I have with Marshall is that they (like USM) always want to move to greener pastures and don't seem satisfied with C-USA which I totally get BTW...  in terms of commitment and facilities etc they seem to be at the top of the conference. I know they have an IPF and seem to be building facilities necessary to compete and grow.

The more I think about it, the entire conference needs to take the attitude of let's make this the best conference it can be.

[Aldo]

2 hours ago, aztecskin said:

They lost both coordinators though. The LB coach was promoted but that is hit-or-miss. Lost the QB, and TE of an offense that had trouble moving the ball. I'm pretty down on Marshall. 

I would be more concerned about the coordinators than Litton and the TE. I think they can replace Litton.

[outoftown]

Like every season there are some very questionable points on these lists, the fact that UNT is for once ranked better does not change that. That said, it sure is nice to be among the better G5s on this list rather than in the 100s.

Apparently, UNT is a solid favorite over SMU. I don't feel like I will be equally confident about that one until I see it happen.

[aztecskin]

On 5/8/2018 at 9:28 PM, outoftown said:

Like every season there are some very questionable points on these lists, the fact that UNT is for once ranked better does not change that. That said, it sure is nice to be among the better G5s on this list rather than in the 100s.

Apparently, UNT is a solid favorite over SMU. I don't feel like I will be equally confident about that one until I see it happen.

This is the right way to look at this.

The specific ranks of the teams are not as important as the general tier of perception. Right now we aren't considered the worst of the worst, which is certainly a change.