College Football Preview, 2007 Preseason C-USA Football Poll

C-USA Announces 2007 Preseason Football Poll
Houston and Southern Miss Selected to Rematch in C-USA Championship Game
CUSA Press Release
July 24, 2007

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.

Tulsa was voted a close second in the West after finishing third in 2006 with an appearance in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. TU finished the season 8-5 and won eight games or more in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1982-83 and made back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time since 1964-65. Senior quarterback Paul Smith returns to lead the Golden Hurricane offense. Smith enters his final campaign in second place on the school's career total offense list and also ranks second on the all-time passing yardage list and is third in touchdown passes.

SMU, coming off its first non-losing season since 1997, was chosen to finish third in the West. The Mustangs are led by sophomore quarterback Justin Willis. Willis re-wrote the SMU annals last season and earned C-USA Freshman of the Year honors. He broke the 38-year old school record for touchdown passes with 26 in 2006 and his quarterback rating for the season was 158.4, good for 10th-best in the nation.

East Carolina was picked to come in second in the East. The Pirates made their first bowl appearance since 2001 a year ago when they played in the inaugural Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala. ECU returns 73 percent of its letterman and nearly 60 percent of its starters in 2007. Senior running back/wide receiver Chris Johnson was a first team all-C-USA selection as a return specialist last season and was chosen to the preseason list as a kick returner in 2007.

UCF was tabbed to take third in the East. The Knights finished in fourth in 2006 after advancing to the inaugural C-USA Football Championship Game and the school's first-ever bowl appearance in 2005. Junior running back Kevin Smith has rushed for 2,112 yards in his first two seasons at UCF and ranks eighth among all Division I juniors in total rushing yards and sixth in average yards per game at 96.0. The Knights will open their brand-new on-campus stadium, Bright House Networks Stadium, on Sept. 15 in a nationally-televised game against Texas.

The 2007 C-USA Football season kicks off on Thursday, August 30 when Tulsa travels to Louisiana-Monroe in a game that will be televised by ESPN2 at 6 p.m. CT. Nine more games will take place on Saturday, September 1, with five of the contests set to air on national television. SMU will take on Texas Tech on Monday, September 3 on ESPN to round out the full slate of opening weekend games.

2007 CUSA Coaches Poll: