Mainstays

Tulane Green Wave 59 (2-4, 1-3)
UAB Blazers 55 (5-2, 3-1)
Without a doubt the shocker of the week, UAB's defense is crushed by the Green Wave. UAB's defense hasn't been particularly strong all year, but who would have guessed that it would break against Tulane, who scored their first I-A win of the year this week. UAB's offense but up some outstanding numbers, outgaining the Wave both in the air and on the ground for 649 yards, but some penalties and good ball control by Tulane kept them one step ahead of the Blazers.

Cincinnati Bearcats 49 (3-4, 2-2)
Memphis Tigers 10 (5-2, 2-2)
Coming off two straight losses (the latter to the previously winless Army Black Knights), this is exactly what Cincinnati needed. The Bearcat offense controlled the air and the ground while their defense kept an offense that ran up 90 points in the last two games to just over 200 yards and 10 points. Memphis still has an impressive 5-2 record and still has the chance to regroup with a week off, but they've got Louisville and Southern Miss back-to-back after that. Cincinnati, meanwhile, still has three of the top four teams in the conference to play (TCU, Southern Miss, and Louisville) and it would almost take a miracle for this inconsistent team to get in to a bowl.

Southern Miss Golden Eagles 51 (5-1, 4-0)
East Carolina Pirates 10 (1-5, 1-3)
Southern Miss extends their conference winning streak to 13 games with the help of a strong running game and a couple turnovers (including an unsuccessful fake punt trick play). ECU lost this one everywhere, but particularly on the line, giving up seven sacks and rushing for negative yardage with thirteen tackles with lost yardage. Southern Miss still has a tough schedule in front of it, but one that inexplicably does not include Louisville. Absent a trip-up by the Cardinals, Southern Miss may well be headed for an undefeated season in the conference and a 10-1 record without a trip to the Liberty Bowl.

Texas Christian Horned Frogs 34 (4-3, 2-2)
Houston Cougars 27 (1-6, 1-3)
TCU will leave Conference USA without having lost to their only in-state conference rival. Houston went down in style, but couldn't get within a touchdown until there was no time left to score it, in the last few seconds of the game. Nonetheless, Houston managed to come numerically closer to winning this year than they did last, and in a year of constant lows, that's... something. With the combination of this game and their impressive showing against Southern Miss two weeks ago, they may... no, really, this season is has just been a disaster. TCU, meanwhile, brings their conference record to 2-2, but a bowl game is going to be a challenge with Cincinnati, Southern Miss, and Louisville still on the schedule.

Outgoing

#18 Louisville Cardinals 41 (5-1, 3-0)
South Florida Bulls 9 (2-4, 1-3)
This one was not as close as its score makes it out to be. Louisville QB Stefan LeFors through 21/26 for 242 yards, replaced intermittently by freshman Brian Brohm, who himself threw for more yardage than South Florida did all game.


Incoming

Navy Midshipmen 14 (6-1)
Rice Owls 13 (3-4)
The good news for Rice is that they were one botched extra point away from taking a now bowl-eligable team in to overtime. The bad news is the botched extra point and their first losing record of the season. Making a bowl this year is nigh impossible, making keeping their last bowl appearence over forty years past.

UTEP Miners 44 (5-2)
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 27 (4-4)
With Houston's utter collapse, UTEP is truly positioning itself to be the power of the New Conference USA's west division. This is particularly impressive given that they are the first team to beat Louisiana Tech that isn't a BCS powerhouse. Even more impressive, UTEP's toughest games are behind them and they're almost certain to be bowl eligable. Whether the West-centric WAC will give them a bowl, on the other hand...

Nevada Wolf Pack 54 (4-4)
Tulsa Golden Hurricane 48 (1-6)
Tulsa took the game in to overtime and came within a whisker of their first I-A win of the season and almost did it against a decent Nevada team. Combine this with their near-miss last week against Boise State and Tulsa may be able to pull a couple wins out of the weak remainder of their schedule (which includes, incidentally, all three teams that will be joining Tulsa in the upcoming C*USA West).

Marshall Thundering Herd 48 (4-3)
Buffalo Bulls 14 (1-7)
Marshall extends it's winning streak to four games, outstripping their prior 3-game losing streak for their first winning record of the season. Marshall's languishing offense finally came alive - albeit against one of the worst teams in I-A football. In any case, Marshall is positioned to put up another respectable year, though they'll probably be spending Christmas at home for their last year in the bowl-anemic MAC.

Miami (OH) Redhawks 43 (5-3)
Central Florida Golden Knights 7 (0-7)
Central Florida has lost it's last 11 games now and have only won 2 of their last 17 games. Last week they gave Buffalo their third win in three years. The Redhawks haven't been able to replicate the success they had last year - but against UCF, did they really need to?

[Click below for the conference standings]

Team & Mascot	Conf W	Conf L	Tot W	Tot L
Southern Miss Golden Eagles	4	0	5	1
Louisville Cardinals	3	0	5	1
UAB Blazers	3	1	5	2
Memphis Tigers	2	2	5	2
TCU Horned Frogs	2	2	4	3
Cincinnati Bearcats	2	2	3	4
Tulane Green Wave	1	3	2	4
South Florida Bulls	1	3	2	4
East Carolina Pirates	1	3	1	5
Houston Cougars	1	3	1	6