Conference USA Power Poll – Houston Cougars are for real

Conference USA bettors haven’t had a great start to the 2009 NCAA football betting season, but there are still a few teams that are lighting it up on the scoreboard. Find out who those teams are with this week’s BetOnline.com power poll… 

1: Houston Cougars (1-0 ATS, 2-0 SU) (LW: 2) Even though they didn’t play a game, the Cougars had a fantastic week. Both conference rival, Tulsa and fellow BCS hopeful BYU were defeated, allowing them to move up in the polls. Houston’s schedule has enough bulk on it left to crack the BCS if it can run the table, but these next two games are going to be very difficult to survive. 

Up Next: Home vs. Texas Tech (-1) 

2: UCF Knights (2-0 ATS, 2-1 SU) (LW: 5) This UCF squad looks a lot better now than it did two weeks ago when it had to rally to beat FCS Samford. The Knights knocked off Buffalo 23-17 for an important win, but can they really become bowl eligible this year? It’s going to take at least one major upset for that to happen in all likelihood, and ECU looks like a potential candidate this week. 

Up Next: Away @ East Carolina (+10) 

3: Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-1 ATS, 2-1 SU) (LW: 1) If Tulsa hoped to crack into the BCS this season, those hopes were crushed by Oklahoma in an embarrassing 45-0 defeat last Saturday. The mighty offense of the Golden Hurricane only managed 269 yards of offense, and the defense allowed six touchdown passes by backup QB Landry Jones. Imagine how bad this game could’ve been if QB Sam Bradford was healthy? This week should be a “get better” game. 

Up Next: Home vs. Samford (OTB) 

4: SMU Mustangs (1-1 ATS, 2-1 SU) (LW: 3) For HC June Jones, a victory against Washington State would’ve been huge on Saturday afternoon. Still, the program came up just short of its first win against a BCS opponent in seemingly forever, and now it’ll get a week off before facing a nearly impossible task in Fort Worth. 

Up Next: Bye 

5: Marshall Thundering Herd (1-1 ATS, 2-1 SU) (LW: 11) Marshall put on its best show of the 2009 season on Saturday when it beat Bowling Green 17-10 as short underdogs. It’s amazing that this team is 2-1 in spite of the fact that it ranks 101^st in the country in points scored (19.3 per game) and 97^th in points allowed (30.0 per game). Both of those numbers will have to improve if there’s a bowl game in the Thundering Herd’s future. 

Up Next: Away @ Memphis (+3) 

6: UAB Blazers (1-2 ATS, 1-2 SU) (LW: 4) There really wasn’t a whole heck of a lot that went right for the Blazers in their 27-14 loss to Troy last week. The offense managed just 285 yards of total offense, while the defense allowed 551 yards, including 413 through the air. It’s a real possibility that UAB can head west this week to the Lone Star State and take down a BCS scalp, but it’ll require a great game from QB Joe Webb. 

Up Next: Away @ Texas A&M (+15.5) 

And the rest… 

7: Memphis Tigers (1-2 ATS, 1-2 SU) (LW:

8: UTEP Miners (1-2 ATS, 1-2 SU) (LW: 9)

9: Rice Owls (1-2 ATS, 0-3 SU) (LW: 12)

10: Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (0-2 ATS, 3-0 SU) (LW: 6)

11: East Carolina Pirates (0-2 ATS, 1-2 SU) (LW: 7)

12: Tulane Green Wave (0-2 ATS, 0-2 SU) (LW: 10)