Boca Raton Bowl 2018: 5 Bold Predictions for UAB vs. Northern Illinois
5. The C-USA remains winless in bowl games
Lost in the much deserved praise for UAB winning the C-USA in just its second season back from the program shutdown is the fact that the weakness of the C-USA as a whole aided the Blazers in their path to the crown.
As impressive as their conference title is, it’s also indictment of the strength of the conference that they were able to jump back in after two years off and immediately ascend to the top of the standings.
The C-USA was probably the worst FBS conference in 2018, and bowl season has done nothing to dispute that so far. I always advise against drawing too many conclusions from bowl records due to all the mitigating factors that go into the actual games, but the results have been telling for the C-USA so far.
The conference is off to an 0-2 start to the bowl season, with MTSU and North Texas getting manhandled by Appalachian State and Utah State, respectively. Both the Mountaineers and Aggies were dealing with interim coaches after Scott Satterfield and Matt Wells departed for greener pastures in Louisville and Lubbock, and yet that distraction didn’t stop either from running roughshod over their C-USA foes.
If UAB isn’t able to beat Northern Illinois in Boca, I think there’s a real possibility that the conference finishes winless in bowl games this year, with a 1-5 or 2-4 finish looking like the best they could hope for.
FIU is nearly a touchdown underdog against Toledo in the Bahamas, while Marshall is a slight favorite over South Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl, and Louisiana Tech is a pick-em against Hawai’i, but both teams are playing what amounts to true road games in games in their opponents’ home stadiums.
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The Blazers represent the conference’s best chance of any type of bragging rights, but I expect the Huskies to come away with a narrow victory to further shove the C-USA down the cellar.