Yep, I agree that this will be a down year for the east. However, the way I see it is that the dominoes could be aligned just right for USF to knock them all down. Aside from their Nov. 4th date, I think it’ll be a cakewalk for them.
As for the 3 game stretch (UH, Tulsa, UCF), I don’t think it’ll end up being such a juggernaut. I don’t see it being as simple as “plug n play” for Tulsa. They lost a very good QB and a couple key big play receivers. Although they will have a damn good OL, I see Tulsa taking one step backwards for a year as I think they’ll struggle to put points on the board against quality defenses. I don’t see them giving USF much of a game. Nor do I see it with UCF this year. I think they are also a year, or two, away for reasons mentioned in a previous post. I think we are the only legitimate threat on their path, and we obviously are not in the east division so It’s USF’s for the taking.
I also agree with you in that CS could rise from the ashes, so to speak. USF is a much better fit for him than UT was. He is in very fertile recruiting grounds and kids tend to trust the guy. I could see Strong doing really well at South Florida and then, after a few years, moving on to Florida State or some SEC program out that way. I don’t think his stop at Texas will end up being indicative of CCS’s head coaching abilities. At all. As you alluded to, with a good OC in place, he’ll continue to climb.
With all that said, I get all the hype in regards to USF. They make me really nervous. Especially if they find a rb who even approaches Mack’s ability, which will take some pressure off of Flowers, making him all the more dangerous. Strong will assemble a “strong” defense. USF is a little more like us in that they get the kids who were snubbed by bigger programs, who are not entitled s*#%s, and therefore have a chip on their shoulders. UT was too white collar for blue collar Strong to succeed. USF is the opposite. Also of note, USF’s team speed is going to be eye opening. Of course some things have to come together for them to be as good as advertised, but if those things do come together, watch out. Now that I’ve made them sound similar to our 2015 Coogs, I hope I’m dead wrong about them!!!