Conference USA releases preseason polls

The 2006 Conference USA Football Championship game featured Houston and Southern Miss battling for the league title and the two squads are favored once again for a title shot in 2007, according to the league's 12 head coaches. The Golden Eagles were picked to win the East Division crown, garnering 69 of a possible 72 points. The Cougars were picked to win the West, earning 63 points, edging 2005 champion Tulsa by one point.

Southern Miss was picked to finish second in the East Division in last year's poll, but behind freshman running back Damion Fletcher, the Golden Eagles finished the year 6-2 in the league and advanced to the second annual C-USA Football Championship game. USM fell 34-20 to Houston, but rolled to a 28-7 win over Ohio in the GMAC Bowl. The bowl win was the team's third straight and Southern Miss closed out its 13th straight winning season with a 9-5 record, the schools fourth nine-win season since 1997.

Houston won the 2006 C-USA Championship game and faced South Carolina in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Despite losing a 44-36 shootout, the Cougars finished the season 10-4, the most wins since 1990 when the team went 10-1. The league title was the first for UH since winning inaugural C-USA Championship in 1996. Senior running back Anthony Alridge returns for the Cougars after shattering the conference's yards per carry average of 7.78 in 2006. The Texas native rushed 95 times for 959 yards, good for a 10.1 average.

Complete release

Conference USA television lineup

Conference USA has announced its updated television schedule for the 2007 football season. The schedule features more than 50 games to be nationally or regionally, a new league record. National games will be-televised on CSTV, ESPN, ESPN 2, Fox Sports Net and the NFL Network. Included are a number of unopposed windows that provide tremendous exposure to C-USA, as well as several exciting league match-ups, and many challenging non-conference contests.

This season marks the third year of C-USA's partnership with CSTV: College Sports Television. CSTV and Conference USA signed a six-year initial term in 2005 that includes significant national and regional exposure for football, men's and women's basketball and other C-USA sports. CSTV, the fastest growing independent cable network, has agreements with distributors that serve more than 65 million households nationwide. It deals with the top six distributors - Comcast, DirecTV, Time Warner, Charter, Cox and Adelphia, among others.

Conference USA will also be featured on ESPN and its family of networks, having at least 19 regular season contests televised this fall, including 10 games as part of its contract with the network and additional non-conference games that have been selected by the network through agreements with other conferences. The third annual Conference USA Championship Game will be televised by ESPN or ESPN 2 on Saturday, December 1.

"We are very pleased to have so many of our football games on television and distributed to our fans throughout the nation," said Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky. "We are looking forward to a great conference race this fall and we're glad that people around the country will be able to watch so many of our games."

Complete release

UTEP preview

After opening the last two seasons to great expectations, UTEP enters 2007 as a mystery team.

When the Miners launch their 90th season of football at home against New Mexico on Sept. 1, they will not only have a new quarterback under center, but a quarterback who will be making his first collegiate start as well.

Gone are record-setting signal-caller Jordan Palmer and wide receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr., along with 25 other seniors who were largely responsible for UTEP winning 21 games over the last three years.

Fresh faces will be prevalent on both sides of the ball in 2007. The defense, in particular, will be overhauled with only three starters coming back.

The Miners' offensive line returns virtually intact, and UTEP has a talented nucleus of returning skill players including tight ends Jamar Hunt and Jake Sears, wide receiver Joe West and running backs Donald Buckram, Marcus Thomas and Jason Williams.

The defense is expected to receive a major boost from the return of linebacker Jeremy Jones, who missed most of the 2006 season with a broken leg. Jones was a second team All-Conference USA selection in 2005, when he led the Miners with 130 tackles and 14.5 tackles for losses. UTEP also has one of the nation's top free safeties in Quintin Demps.

UTEP finished 5-7 last season. If the Miners are to contend for their third bowl bid in four years this fall, they will need to upgrade their ground game. UTEP ranked 116th out of 119 Division I-A schools last season, averaging 57.6 yards rushing per game.

Complete preview

UCF preview

The 2007 football season will be a historic one for the UCF Knights as the team moves on campus to play its home games for the first time in school history. After 28 seasons at the Florida Citrus Bowl, the Knights will open Bright House Networks Stadium on Sept. 15 against national-power Texas in a game to be televised at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2. With 19 starters returning, including nine on defense and eight on offense, UCF will look to make its first season at the 45,000-seat venue a special one.

The catalyst for the offense will be the run game and featured back Kevin Smith enters his junior season with 2,112 rushing yards and a spot on the preseason Conference USA first-team. His rushing total through his first two seasons was the most by a sophomore in UCF history. The steadying force for the defense will be a veteran secondary that features four returning starters who are all members of the junior class. Strong safety Sha'reff Rashad led the team with four interceptions and 10 pass break-ups in 2006 and will help anchor the secondary along with free safety Jason Venson and cornerbacks Joe Burnett and Johnnell Neal. The quartet has combined for 78 starts in their, respective, UCF careers. Neal is the lone member of the foursome to start all 25 games over the past two seasons.

Complete preview

UAB preview

It remains to be seen whether the UAB Blazers will improve on their disappointing 3-9 season of last fall. After all, the Blazers lost seven starters on both sides of the ball, and a senior class that numbered nearly 30 players in 2006. But those who have observed closely in the months since Neil Callaway was named UAB's head coach last December have seen a new air of enthusiasm over the program. It started with a demanding offseason strength and conditioning program and continued through spring practice.

Callaway made it clear early to his players the expectations he and his staff would have when it came to their level of commitment on and off the field.

"We want to create a mindset of how we want to do things and I think we're off to a good start," said Callaway. "We're not where we want to be, but I think we've got a good start on things."

Instilling a dedicated work ethic and a discipline were at the top of the list of priorities for Callaway and his staff.

He knew he had to start spring practice with some form of a depth chart, but he also made it clear everyone was starting over and the field for playing time was a level one.

"Everybody is starting with a clean slate," Callaway said after one of the team's first practices. "Our philosophy will always be that the best guys are going to start, and if you're good enough to play, you're going to play. It doesn't matter whether you're a freshman or a senior."

Complete preview

Tulsa preview

Some things change. Some things remain the same. A new coaching staff is the most obvious difference for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

The other most notable change in 2007 will occur on the offensive side of the ball with the "no-huddle spread" offense, while Tulsa's 3-3-5 defense remains the same from a year ago when the Hurricane led Conference USA in total defense, allowing its opponents just 296 yard per game.

This seasons Hurricane team is led by first-year Head Coach Todd Graham. It may be his first season as head coach, but he's a familiar face to Tulsa players. Graham helped rejuvenate the Tulsa program as defensive coordinator fro 2003-2005, when the Hurricane made two bowl game appearances in three years.

Graham inherits 36 lettermen and 11 starters to a team that finished with an overall 8-5 record and its third bowl game in four seasons.

Complete preview

Tulane preview

Holy Toledo! This often-used phrase will perhaps take on a new meaning this season in New Orleans as Bob Toledo begins his first season as the head coach of the Tulane Green Wave football program. Toledo's vision and energy have created a new wave of excitement not only in the New Orleans community, but with Tulane alumni throughout the country since his arrival to the Tulane campus on December 11, 2006.

Toledo brings more than 30 years of collegiate coaching experience to the Green Wave football team, including head coaching stints at UCLA, Pacific, Cal Riverside, and distinguished credentials from Texas A&M, USC, New Mexico and Oregon. He has coached in 13 bowl games, including seven of the traditional New Year's Day bowls, and has developed players into Heisman Trophy finalists, Outland Trophy winners, All-Americans, national champions and NFL Hall of Famers during his collegiate coaching career.

As Tulane begins its 113th season of football, the expectations for the 2007 squad are high and the Green Wave will feature an exciting team that will have an offense capable of a smash-mouth running game or the finesse of the West Coast passing attack. Regardless of its philosophy, Tulane should be a much improved unit on all three phases and will keep fans on the edge of their seats with plenty of gadget plays and trickery.

A total of 48 letterwinners (22 on the offensive side, 24 on defense and two specialists) return for the Green Wave, including 15 starters with five on offense, eight on defense and two specialists. On the roster this season are a total of 30 players who have seen time as regular starters or have been part time starters during their career.

Complete preview