With a new season comes new hopes for the members of the Conference USA. In 2018, the resurrected UAB Blazers took home the conference hardware in what was nothing short of a story-book accolade for a program that not too long ago folded its tents. This year, the conference looks to be competitive as we have seen the defending champions come in priced at +1000. Among the notable favorites to win are Florida Atlantic, Florida International, North Texas, and Southern Mississippi. Here are our analysis and breakdown of the conference. Bet365 provides the odds.
CONFERENCE-USA VALUED FAVORITE
NORTH TEXAS +450 – When looking at the favorites to win this conference, North Texas returns the most offensive weapons to its stead. The Mean Green boasts a top-three Quarterback, Running Back, and Wide Receiver in its ranks with respect to the rest of the talent in the Conference-USA. The Mean Green are the only team in the Conference USA with this kind of luxury. There is little doubt that the scoreboard with light up in Denton, as signal-caller Quarterback Mason Fine (Over 3,700 passing yards and 27 TD's), Half Back DeAndre Torrey (a 1,000 all-purpose yard and 15 TD contributor in 2018), and Wide Receiver Rico Bussey (a 1,000-yard and 10 TD receiver in 2018) lead an offense that lead the C-USA in scoring in 2018 at 34.6 points per game. The Mean Green were also relentless in the passing game as they led the conference and finished 12th in the FBS averaging 306.8 yards per game through the air. The key is whether North Texas’ defense can make the stops it needs to secure much-need wins. UNT’s passing defense finished 100th in the FBS in 2018 giving up 254.8 passing yards per game. As a result, North Texas lost its three regular-season conference games by a combined 13 points. Should the Mean Green augment their passing defense, this team could take a notable step forward in 2019. Be that as it may, their offensive weapons make them too good to resist at this figure.
CONFERENCE-USA TOP CONTENDER
MARSHALL +550 – The Thundering Herd are a hard team to turn away at this price because they have since established themselves as a rubric for consistency under coach Doc Holliday. Last year, Marshall flirted with a ten-win campaign when it finished 9-4 with a thrashing of South Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl. Much of Marshall's offensive nucleus returns in 2019, including four starters on the offensive line, Quarterback Isaiah Green and Running Back Tyler King. Defensively, the Herd returns six starters that anchored a defense responsible for putting some stingy numbers; most notably Marshall's rushing defense finished eighth in the country giving up just 104.2 rushing yards per game. The chink in Marshall's defensive armor was their pass defense which gave up a 73rd ranked 234.5 passing yards per game. Three of the four starters from last year’s secondary return to Huntington and should their experience pay dividends in regards to their output, the Herd could find itself with an improved conference record (they were 6-2 in 2018) which can put them in position to vie for a Conference USA title and give takers an opportunity to green up.
CONFERENCE-USA TOP DARK HORSE
UAB +1000 – Last year, we were on-board with UAB as our top dark horse to win the Conference USA and were delighted to cash a ticket with the Blazers at 20:1. This year, the reigning and defending champions come in priced as dark horse yet again. The Blazers remain one of the "feel-good" stories of college football and Coach Bill Clark returns with a blueprint for success that he can easily replicate. Leading the charge is a standout running back in Spencer Brown who compiled 1,227 yards on the ground and 16 touchdowns in 2018. Brown will get a heavy dose of action for an offense that returns just two other starters besides him. While this would generally be a cause for alarm in many instances, no one has had an answer for Brown, who is on a trajectory to set school records. With Clark and Brown steady in the fold, there is no reason to rinse, wash, and repeat this dark horse bet now with backing a potentially undervalued returning champ.
CONFERENCE-USA FUTURE ODDS BY MYBOOKIE.AG
- Florida Atlantic +333
- North Texas +450
- Florida International +500
- Southern Mississippi +500
- Marshall +550
- Louisiana Tech +800
- UAB +1000
- Middle Tennessee State +1200
- Western Kentucky +4000
- Charlotte +5000
- Old Dominion +6600
- Rice +10000
- UTSA +15000
- UTEP +20000