The key for the non-BCS: Just win

This article is pretty complimentary of ECU and C-USA:

ECU was one of two teams to garner attention out of Conference USA last season. Tulsa started its season 8-0 before struggling at Arkansas in a game that crushed its hopes for BCS equality. But the efforts of both teams still put the spotlight on Conference USA, if only for a moment, and other teams shined as well. Conference USA finished with four teams with eight or more wins, two with 10 or more wins, providing hope that Conference USA might be the next conference to join the BCS-busting movement.

'You got to go undefeated to get there, that's kind of the blueprint of what everybody's done,' Holtz said. 'It's going to be hard to do in this league. I certainly don't want to take anything away from the other leagues. But that's what somebody in this league, in order for us to get into a BCS game, is going to have to do. I think the league is getting better and I'd love to be the one to start it.'

Unlike the MAC and Sun Belt, C-USA doesn't face a lot of the monetary and scheduling restrictions. East Carolina has had little trouble getting home-and-home or neutral site games with big schools mostly because those games have become rivalries. Kansas comes to UTEP this season, Texas Tech to Houston, Virginia to Southern Miss and Mississippi to Memphis. While not every school is getting BCS teams in their home stadiums, Conference USA scheduling is much closer to the Mountain West and WAC than either the Sun Belt or MAC.

So, you know, we've got that going for us.

The President And The Pirate

From CBS News:

Pity the poor historian a couple hundred years from now, at a loss to figure out why Barack Obama, an American president at the start of the 21st century, was photographed meeting in the Oval Office with – a pirate.

Here's the rest of the story.

Liberty Bowl

You have got to be kidding me:

"No doubt, the Autozone Liberty Bowl is right up there with Memphis's other great gifts to America: Elvis, rock 'n' roll and the blues, and of course our world-famous barbecue."

~Memphis Mayor Dr. Willie Herenton



East Carolina tight end Davon Drew (3) gains 42 yards on a pass play as he is chased by Kentucky cornerback Trevard Lindley, right, during the first quarter of the Liberty Bowl NCAA college football game in Memphis, Tenn., Friday, Jan. 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

ECU bowl projection

Dec. 31, Armed Forces: Air Force (MWC) vs. East Carolina (C-USA)

via SI.com

Greenville C-USA Championship Game Scenario

The experts at Pirate Booty have crunched the numbers, and we've discovered a scenario in which ECU would host the C-USA championship game in Greenville. It's a pretty unlikely scenario.

First here are the rules:

Home field for the C-USA Championship Game will be awarded to the team that posts the highest regular season winning percentage against conference opposition. The first tiebreaker is the winner of a head-to-head match-up. If the two teams did not play during the regular season, the team with the highest BCS ranking would receive the nod.

Tulsa has a better BCS record than ECU, and Houston's already beaten us. So, Rice is our best hope.

This whole scenario assumes that ECU wins out (@Southern Miss, @UAB, UTEP). Although we can still win the C-USA East with one more loss, we need to win out so we have a higher BCS ranking than our C-USA West opponent.

Then, Rice needs to beat Houston on its last game of the season. A Rice loss vs. Marshall is preferable to help keep to their BCS ranking lower than ours. ECU should have a higher ranking regardless because of two wins over Top 25 teams.

Meanwhile, Tulsa (@Houston, Tulane, @Marshall) needs to lose 2 of its last 3. So, it's a slim chance.

Houston needs to beat Tulsa at home, but lose to UTEP at home or to Rice on the road.

Recap for this weekend:

ECU wins at Southern Miss
Tulsa loses at Houston
Rice does not play

Tulsa?

Um, Tulsa is ranked No. 22 in the nation and just beat UTEP by 42 points. Oh, and they're 7-0. That kind of snuck up on me. Well, if we can make it to the championship game, we'll likely be facing a worthy opponent.

One yard punts

From Denny O'Brien:

ECU also can’t afford to punctuate important defensive stops with deflating 15-yard penalties. Nor can the Pirates expect the defense to compensate for costly turnovers or one-yard punts.

Well said.

Uh, yeah, season over

41-24? Seriously? A truly pathetic performance.

Pirates Seek $35 Million for Ship

I find it amazing that pirates still exist. I wonder if they have a plank and make people walk off it into the slashing jaws of the sharks that follow the ship. From the New York Times:

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somali pirates in a hijacked ship carrying more than 30 battle tanks were steaming toward a notorious pirate den on Saturday, and they vowed not to release the ship until a $35 million ransom was paid, Somali and Kenyan officials said.

According to Mohamed Osman Aden, a Somali diplomat in Kenya, the Ukrainian-owned vessel was headed to Xarardheere, on the barren Somali coast. Xarardheere is an isolated fishing village that has thrived on organized crime and has frequently been used as a pirate hide-out.

Mr. Mohamed said that while the cargo in this case was extremely unusual — 33 Soviet-designed T-72 tanks and a large supply of ammunition and grenade launchers, all intended for the Kenyan military — the tactics were pretty typical.

“These guys just want the money,” he said.

Fearless Football Forecast Week #5

RON:

Ok, so we are not going to win the mythical national championship, but we can still accomplish a new milestone- win CUSA. We are still the class of the league and should handle Houston well in front of a SOLD OUT Dowdy-Ficklin. Look we are 3-1, 1-0...ranked in the Top 25 and can move back up the polls with a solid win here.

I think the Pirates take care of business on Saturday and improve to 4-1 and 2-0 on the season with a solid win over Houston - 35-21.

ROBB:

Yay. C-USA championship. (Don't care.) Don't get me wrong, it'll be great for the program to do it, Go Pirates! and all that crap. I will still be rooting for us to win every game. And maybe we'll win out and have a great season with just one loss. Just like 1991. That would be great. I'm just not amped up for a C-USA title. That's like Michael Phelps winning bronze in the Special Olympics.

We crush Houston, 45-12. And cover.