Conference USA Power Rankings Week 1: Marshall on Top
Last year during hoops season, we began a power rankings of all the teams in the Sun Belt to help bring a bit of analysis and opinion to the site, and it worked out pretty well, plus was pretty fun! So, I thought “why stop a good thing?” and not only brought the power rankings to Conference USA and added football to the equation, but also expanded who was able to vote. No longer is it a three-person panel, we have upwards of 20 different C-USA blogs who have casted their vote, and here is how the CUSA blogesphere sees the conference after the first week of play:
| Team | Rank | Previous Rank | Record |
| 1 | N/A | 1-0 | |
| 2 | N/A | 1-0 | |
| 3 | N/A | 1-0 | |
| 4 | N/A | 1-0 | |
| 5 | N/A | 0-1 | |
| 6 | N/A | 1-0 | |
| 7 | N/A | 1-0 | |
| 8 | N/A | 1-0 | |
| 9 | N/A | 0-1 | |
| 10 | N/A | 1-0 | |
| 11 | N/A | 0-1 | |
| 12 | N/A | 0-1 | |
| 13 | N/A | 0-1 |
WKU received only 11.76% of the first place vote, which actually tied with UTSA. Running away with first place was Marshall (76%).
Naturally, everyone had the right to submit their ballot however they wanted to. Here is how Wave the Red Towel submitted, plus a short explanation as to why.
| Team | Rank | Previous Rank | Record | The Story So Far |
| 1 | N/A | 1-0 | In my honest opinion, while I do support the Tops, it’s incredibly difficult not to see them as the best team from week one. They were one of the few, if not the only, teams who played somewhat of an “equal,” opponent, and completely wiped the floor. | |
| 2 | N/A | 1-0 | UAB obliterated our old friends from Troy, and it was convincing enough to have them take our second spot in the voting. | |
| 3 | N/A | 1-0 | UTSA went on the road to Houston, who was celebrating the opening of a brand new stadium, and shut them out for 58+ minutes. If they had succeeded, it would have been the first shutout of the Cougars since 2000. 2000. | |
| 4 | N/A | 1-0 | It was looking scary in the early going, but the heavily favored Herd did pull off the win over Miami (OH). And, yes a win is a win, they were easily outplayed by three underdogs and didn’t get the season started like everyone believed they would. | |
| 5 | N/A | 1-0 | MTSU did what they were supposed to do and walloped Savannah State. Whether you like them or not, there’s no reason they should be any higher on anyone’s ballot. | |
| 6 | N/A | 1-0 | The Miners almost blew it against New Mexico, but they escaped with the victory. | |
| 7 | N/A | 1-0 | Kind of along the lines of MTSU, but the Monarchs defeated Hampton, which is exactly what should have happened. | |
| 8 | N/A | 0-1 | The Mean Green have a lot of talent, but it wasn’t on display against the in-state power house Texas. But, having said that, they had to open the season against freaking Texas. | |
| 9 | N/A | 0-1 | The Bulldogs played the other half of the Red River Rivalry, but didn’t fare much better. LA Tech’s running game was virtually non-existent, but they did pass for over 170 yards, which is a solid game no matter who the opponent is. | |
| 10 | N/A | 0-1 | Rice kept it close with Notre Dame until about half time, then the Fighting Irish ran away with it. But, Rice will bounce back and they’re a team no one is going to want to play come late October. | |
| 11 | N/A | 0-1 | The Golden Eagles were unable to score against a second-tier SEC team in Mississippi State. | |
| 12 | N/A | 0-1 | The Owls allowed a Big 10 record number of yards to Nebraska, and had Fox Sports One’s “The #1,” (best play) against them. But, they did score! | |
| 13 | N/A | 0-1 | The Panthers lost to Bethune-Cook. For the second year in a row. I’ll let that speak for itself. |
How do you feel our rankings, or the rankings of the group were? Who would you move? Where and why? Let us know below or on twitter at @WaveTheRedTowel with the hashtag “#CUSARank.”