Bowl watch discussion for the weekend of 11/19-20 for C-USA and surrounding area.

Army:  With a current record of  2-7, the Cadets of Army won't be bowling (again) this season.

Cincinnati:  Cincinnati, arguably the hottest team in C-USA, would become bowl eligible with a home win this weekend versus South Florida.  The 'Cats stand at 5-4, with two games remaining.  So, a loss this weekend doesn't kill their chances.

Houston:  With a record of 3-7, Houston will be staying home this year.

Louisville:  It's looking more and more like the Cards will represent C-USA in the Liberty Bowl this year.  They are currently 7-1 overall, and travel to lowly Houston this weekend.  After that, they host Cincinnati and then travel to Tulane.  It appears as though Louisville will, at worst, go 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference, giving them the Liberty bid.  It could be an interesting game in Elvisville, as the projections are placing Top-10 Boise State in Memphis for the bowl game.

Memphis: With a big win over USM last weekend, Memphis improved to 6-3 overall and became bowl eligible.  Prognosts have the Tigers travelling to Mobile for the GMAC Bowl.  Mobile is excited about the prospects of the Tigers, given how many Memphians headed to New Orleans last year for the Tigers' bowl game.  The GMAC is the second C-USA bowl pick, and the only game other than the Liberty to offer more than the NCAA-mandated minimum bowl payout (though only slightly more). 

Southern Miss and TCU:  With the loss last weekend, the Eagles remain bowl-ineligible at 5-3.  This week, they  face the Horned Frogs, who are coming off a home loss to Louisville.  The Frogs, though, stand at 4-5, with 2 homestands remaining --- USM then Tulane.  They've got to be feeling decent about becoming bowl eligible at 6-5.  They have good 'thletes at most positions, and could give the Eagles a run for their money.  With a loss, USM's bowl prospects could be dwindling, possible thrusting the AD into minor financial difficulties.  As it stands, the best USM appears to be able to hope for is a trip to Fort Worth, possibly to face Texas Tech (can you smell half-a-hundred or more?).  It's looking more like Hawaii or New Orleans right now, given that the Houston eTV Bowl's report to Ft. Worth on the Eagles won't be positive.

South Florida: Everybody's sleepin' on the Bulls right now, who stand at 4-4, with 2 home games remaining (Memphis and Pitt) and a road trip to Cincinnati.  They aren't out of it by any stretch, but we'll certainly no more after this weekend.

Tulane: The Wave has a mathematical hope still, but must win at TCU and later at home against the Cards.  Not likely, but who knows?

UAB: Finally, the Blazers did it.  After knocking on the bowl door for several years, they reached the 6-win mark last week at home versus Houston.  This week they head to Army.  A win their would make them 7-3 and on a hot streak heading into the Rock.  USM has gotten several breaks to win some very close games against UAB in the past, and payback could be comin' this time.  If the past is any predictor, Thanksgiving week games in the Rock are sparsely attended, and Blazer fans could outnumber all others next week (anyyone remember the Eagle's bungled loss to ECU a few years ago in front of nobody on Thanksgiving?).  We'll see.  Finally, the Eagles also pose a serious threat to USM's invitation to Mobile, given that Mobile businesses would like to have that Birmingham team and it's fans around for a few days.

Till next week.