Conference Power Rankings: Big Ten Better than Expected in Week 1
8. Conference USA
The Conference USA had a very strong showing in some of its bigger games over the weekend, and like the Mountain West, it didn’t run from competition either. The conference went undefeated against non-Power Five FBS schools, the only bad loss being by Florida International to Bethune-Cookman. And FIU could be the worst team in the conference anyway.
Live Feed
Busting Brackets
Immediately, the conference made an impact Friday night after a blowout win by Western Kentucky against defending MAC champion Bowling Green, 59-31. That same night, UT-San Antonio’s blowout win at Houston put the rest of the non-Power Five conferences on notice.
The success carried into Saturday, with UAB blowing out Troy, Marshall beating Miami (Ohio), and UTEP beating New Mexico on the road. So what if Nebraska blew out Florida International, Mississippi State blew out Southern Miss, and Oklahoma blew out Louisiana Tech? This is a conference that didn’t back down from competition and nearly beat everybody on the same or lesser playing field.