UCF trails by 11 in the fourth quarter, then puts together a rally including a 2-point conversion to tie the game and two field goals to go ahead and end up winning 27-21.

UCF is now 7-3 on the season, 6-1 in C*USA to stay essentially tied with Southern Miss for the Eastern Division lead and a berth in the conference championship game.

Is George O'Leary's resume snafu with Notre Dame a few years ago keeping him from consideration as Coach of the Year?

4 turnovers in a row. I do believe that is the first time I have ever seen that.

Bama lost too, I just couldn't pull anyone out today :/

Having just checked the C*USA standings, UCF can do no worse than 5th overall. With the conference having 5 bowl affiliations, it's a done deal the the Golden Knights will be going bowling for the first time in team history.

WOO HOO!!!!!!

Southern Miss falls to Houston 27-24, leaving my UCF Golden Knights in SOLE possession of the Eastern Division lead. A win at 1-8 Rice and we go into the first C*USA championship game. [Insert your own "control their own destiny" cliche here.]

UTEP has not yet locked up the Western Division, but a win against either UAB or SMU will do that. Tulsa is sitting in position to overtake them, but UTEP must lose both games and Tulsa must win against East Carolina and Tulane.

[Assuming UCF beats hapless Rice]
If UTEP loses one of their remaining two games, UCF will host the championship game as the team with the best conference winning percentage. If UTEP wins both games, they will most likely host the game. Both UCF and UTEP would have one conference loss and since they did not play each other during the season the tiebreaker would go to the team with the highest BCS ranking.

UTEP (8-1) has broken into the polls this week at #24 AP and #25 USAToday so with two more wins it would be unlikely that UCF (7-3) could catch them although we did garner some votes in both polls this week.

ESPN has really been ignoring the non-BCS conferences this season (more noticably than in past years) but the race in Conference USA is really heating up.

Jim

UAB is gonna try their best to beat UTEP and send the Championship game to UCF

Please, please, please, please!

I'll host a big Outsports tailgate party at the Citrus Bowl if that happens!

Hackney guaranteed a win... and WE WON!

...but we still only have 5 wins this year :/

Okay, SMU beat Houston yesterday and are on a two-game win streak. If they beat UTEP next week in Dallas, that means my alma mater Tulsa is in the championship game against UCF. Orlando in December would be great (definitely a better venue than Tulsa or El Paso), and the tailgate party Bike Jocks is looking to host would be even better! Please oh please Mustangs beat UTEP....

UCF could face UTEP in the Championship game.....

wouldn't that have an incredible story line for the two coaches involved there.

UCF has George O'Leary, the man forced to resign as Notre Dame head coach after it was revealed that he had lied on his resume.

UTEP has Mike Price, who had to leave Alabama after his roll in the hay with some strippers.

And neither man ever coached a game at either school....what a strange thing that fate could bring these two guys together with such high stakes.

Okay guys, I'm back from Charlotte and it's time to cheer out loud here.

The headline in the paper here on Sunday (finally getting prime coverage) simply said "BELIEVE IT!"

UCF has gone from 0-11 in 2004 to 8-3 this year winning the Conference USA Eastern Division. After losing their first two games of the season to extend the nation's longest losing streak to 17 games, the Golden Knights have gone an amazing 8-1 which included 4-0 at home and 4-1 on the road.

Not bad for a team with just 7 seniors.

As if winning the division weren't enough, UAB goes and beats UTEP to give UCF the best conference record meaning they will host the championship game. Early predictions are for the largest crowd at a UCF game. Tickets go on sale Tuesday meaning a two buying period rather than just one week which could have happened.

There's a chance my father and I will be put in charge of a tailgate party for our football officials association. Unfortunately that could conflict with an Outsports tailgate party (although I'm sure you guys wouldn't mind some of the eye candy they'd provide). If anyone ends up coming, let me know and I will definitely arrange something.

All I can say is that Saturday was an exciting day for me... UCF wins, UTEP loses, and then meeamee loses. Life is good.

Jim

p.s. Thanks, BamaBlazer!

[ November 20, 2005, 07:31 PM: Message edited by: BikeJocks ]

Fresno State today accepted a bid to the Liberty Bowl to face the Conference USA champ. Paul Pinegar will attempt to become the first quarterback in the history of college football to start -- and win -- four consecutive bowl games. Apparently 7 QBs in history have led their teams to 3 straight bowl wins but no one has ever done it 4 times in a row.

The story from the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

---------------
It was this past August, the phone in AutoZone Liberty Bowl director Steve Ehrhart’s office rang.

On other end was Fresno State football coach Pat Hill.

"He just wanted us to keep an eye on his team," Ehrhart said. "He felt he’d have a good team and he wanted to be seen on a national stage."

After seeing the Bulldogs play twice the last two weeks in person, including Saturday’s 50-42 loss to No. 1 Southern Cal, Ehrhart knew he couldn’t wait any longer.

So Tuesday afternoon, Liberty Bowl associate executive director Harold Graeter traveled to Fresno to extend Hill and Fresno athletic director Thomas Boeh an invitation to play in the 47th annual AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31.

Fresno State, ranked No. 16 in the polls, is 8-2 overall and 6-0 in the Western Athletic Conference with two games left. The Bulldogs can clinch a share of the WAC title at Nevada on Saturday in a game televised on ESPN2 before closing the regular season at home against Louisiana Tech on Dec. 2.

The bowl opponent for Fresno is still up in the air. The bowl gets the first choice from Conference USA, which will probably be the league champion emerging from the first C-USA championship game.

East Division champion Central Florida has already qualified for the game. If UTEP wins at SMU on Saturday, it will qualify for the title game as the Western champion. Otherwise, Tulsa will be the West rep.

Fresno’s performance against USC convinced Ehrhart to extend the bowl’s at-large bid.

Fresno State held a 21-13 halftime lead over USC, and led 42-41 with approximately six minutes remaining in the game. The Bulldogs' 42 points were the most scored against a Pete Carroll coached team and the most the Trojans allowed at the Coliseum since 1976.

"The game was a shootout like our Boise State-Louisville game last year," Ehrhart said. "Fresno State played so gallantly and with such excitement that I felt we had to get them to Memphis."

Fresno State is led by senior quarterback Paul Pinegar, who is ranked 13th nationally in passing efficiency. A four-year starter, Pinegar has thrown for 8,523 career yards and 76 TDs, including 2,359 yards and 22 TDs this season.

The AutoZone Liberty Bowl will be Fresno State’s seventh straight bowl appearance. The Bulldogs have won three straight bowls over Virginia, UCLA and Georgia Tech.
---------------

EEKS!

Seriously. I want us to win the C*USA big time, but if it means having to face the Bulldogs in our very first bowl game, I'm not so sure it's worth it. I mean, I'd at least want us to have a chance to win the game.

CBS Sportsline picks O'Leary as Coach of the Year

The UCF website is saying that Sports Illustrated has done the same, but I can't find anything on the SI site to back that up.

Oh, and in two days over 22,000 have been sold for the C*USA Championship game. I have one of them.

From the Football Writers' Association of America:

TULANE TO RECEIVE FWAA COURAGE AWARD

Even though The Green Wave officially had 6 home games this season, those games were played in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Ruston, Monroe, Lafayette, and Mobile.

Tulane will reopen for the spring semester, but there is no word on their situation for the 2006 football season. The mens basketball team is at Texas A&M now, but will move back to campus after Christmas.

It was a wild weekend in the C*USA with a divisional title or bowl eligibility on the line at every game.

First there was a game delayed almost three months. You could call it the "Katrina Bowl" - Southern Miss vs. Tulane. This game was supposed to be played on Sept. 4 but a little bit of rain and wind got in the way. USM wins 26-7 to become bowl-eligible. This was supposed to be a big season for Tulane, but their season was turned upside down and they persevered to a 2-9 record and a place in the hearts of football fans around the country.

UAB travelled to Greenville with the intent of becoming bowl eligible themselves, but the East Carolina Pirates outpassed (and intercepted) Darrel Hackney to win 31-23. Both teams ended up 5-6.

Another team looking to go bowling was Memphis. They welcomed Marshall, who's disappointing 4-6 season thus far pushed them into the role of spoiler, not a familiar position for the Herd. A tough year got worse for Marshall who was used to going to conference championship games in the MAC as the Tigers romped 26-3. Memphis becomes bowl-eligible at 6-5, Marshall stays home at 4-7.

The Bayou Bucket was on the line in Houston, Texas. But that wasn't all. UH was looking to go bowling, Rice was looking to get out of the cellar. No dice. The game went as expected and the Cougars cruised to a 35-18 win ending the season at 6-5. Rice stays in the cellar at 1-10 (but hey, they did better than Temple!).

The final game of the weekend had the biggest impact. UTEP has been favored to win the West Division and the conference championship pretty much from the beginning. With only a loss to Memphis on the way to an 8-1 record, the Miners looked to be on track to prove the pundits true. They just had to win one of their last two games to sew up the divisional title. But the couldn't do it. First they lost to UAB, then they ran into a resurgent SMU. The Mustangs won their last three games to finish 5-6. UTEP was the first C*USA team to become bowl eligible, but by falling in their last two games the "Redemption Bowl" (Mike Price/UTEP vs. George O'Leary/UCF) won't happen. Instead, Tulsa will come to Orlando for the championship game. The Miners finish at 8-3.

The stage is now set for the Golden Hurricane to meet the Golden Knights for the conference championship.

Memphis is bowl eligible, so I wouldn't be surprised if they end up in the Liberty Bowl

doesn't the Liberty Bowl take the C-USA champ?

No, they have first choice of bowl-eligible C*USA teams. They do not have to take the conference champion. Likewise, the GMAC Bowl, listed as C*USA #2, simply has second choice, they are not required to take the second place team.

There was a lot of talk in Fresno tonight that the Liberty Bowl may take Memphis no matter what happens in the C-USA championship game tomorrow. After Fresno State's implosion and 3 straight losses, I know of very few Bulldog fans who are going to the game (probably will be 500 or less), and the Liberty Bowl folks are really worried about attendance. Memphis may be the only way to ensure a decent-sized crowd.

ESPN did say during the Fresno-LaTech game that 50,000 tickets had already been sold for the Liberty Bowl so they weren't worried about that end, but they have a chance to give local wonderboy DeAngelo Williams, the #1 rusher this year, one more "home" game to close out his college career.

[Edited to add] And if UCF does end up at the Liberty Bowl, after the way Fresno State played last night, I'm not afraid of that match-up anymore.

[ December 03, 2005, 05:35 AM: Message edited by: BikeJocks ]

That 50,000 ticket sales figure is deceiving. What they said in Fresno was that 15,000 tickets had been reserved for each participating school and that approximately 20,000 tickets are corporate giveaways. That's where the 50,000 figure comes from. There is no way Fresno State comes close to selling 15,000 tickets (or even 1,000). I believe Fresno is obligated to purchase 5,000 of the 15,000 set aside so you can expect 4,000 to be given to charities in the Memphis area.

There was a local newspaper story today that implied Central Florida will be selected if it wins the C-USA title, but Memphis will be selected if Tulsa wins.

Tulsa vs. Fresno St

You let the EASTSIDE down UCF wink

Sorry BamaBlazer. We tried, we really did.

ESPN is now announcing that the Liberty Bowl has extended their bid to Tulsa, and that the GMAC Bowl is going to UTEP. The Hawaii Bowl has next pick, and local radio was saying after the game that they REALLY wanted UCF if they didn't win today. Damn, and I wanted to try to go to UCF's first bowl game, but I already have plans to visit my brother in St Louis for Xmas so going to Honolulu for a Christmas Eve game just isn't going to happen.

So the current matchups are:

Liberty Bowl: Tulsa vs. Fresno State
GMAC Bowl: UTEP vs. Toledo
Hawaii Bowl: (probable) UCF vs. Nevada

I wish I could go to UCF's first bowl game

Christmas in Hawaii? Damn skippy I'd like to go to that one. Might not be a huge group of followers going out for the game though. UCF fans aren't used to waiting until the first week in December to make Christmas vacation plans.

Well UCF fans, you now have a USM alum living among you in Orlando.

Yo, Bike! What's the plan for CUSA...you guys gonna move the championship game to a neutral site or is it gonna be home field forever? I hated watching those MAC champ games in which one of the teams is a true home team.

Yo collegeguy! Be sure to change your profile so that people know you're in ORL, not ATL. Also, it appears that you're from May-retta. Which HS?

I guess that would depend on some neutral site with a decent enough stadium to step up and make the offer. This was C*USA's first championship after all.

Sprayberry, class of 96