As you’ll read in Monday’s paper, there were two 100-pound-plus catfish caught during last week’s two-day catfishing tournament on the Mississippi River.

The name of the tournament was actually the “Bass Pro Shops Big Cat Quest National Championship.”

But honestly, I get winded just typing that. So we’ll just call it “the tournament.” Read the rest of this entry »

A recap of what hometown newspapers are saying about Conference USA teams. As always, click on the link to go to the actual story in the actual newspaper.

Before we get started, a note about the conference. It’s a good thing it’s not called Division USA. There is no “D” to be seen. Bah-dum-bum. The five winning teams Saturday averaged … AVERAGED … 49 points. The five losing teams Saturday averaged 26.6 points. That means, the losing teams lost by nearly 23 points per game!

The ECU-Memphis game finished 56-40. Nearly 100 points. And it wasn’t even the highest score of the weekend! That badge of honor goes to Rice 56, UTEP 48. Anyway, on to the games:

ECU 56, MEMPHIS 40: The Tigers gave up 600-plus yards for the second time this year. The lack of tackling is frustrating Tommy West. He even called it pathetic. Chris Johnson’s 301 yards rushing and four TDs were credited to an improved offensive line.

UCF 47, MARSHALL 13: After a tough 4-8 season last year, the Golden Knights have won three straight and are bowl eligible now. A slow start was the problem for the Thundering Herd … again.

RICE 56, UTEP 48: Down 20 in the fourth quarter, Chase Clement and the Owls made the big comeback. Mike Price called it “horrible” after his Miners gathered seven turnovers against a 1-7 team … and STILL lost.

SOUTHERN MISS 37, UAB 7: Thirty first-half points allowed the Eagles to have an easy time with UAB. After seven close losses to USM, the eighth wasn’t close … and few were there to watch.

TULSA 49, TULANE 25: The Golden Hurricane’s victory sets up a big West Division game next week against Houston.