Team Rankings 39-30

With teams 55-40 in the books, lets take a look at teams 39-30 in the quest to decide who is #1 among the MAC, WAC, MWC, CUSA, Sun Belt, Army, Navy, and BYU. 

39. Idaho--The Vandals struggled to a 2-10 season last fall with a killer 6-game losing streak right in the middle. The Vandals may have some positives to look at in 2012 simply for the fact that 4 of the 9 losses were by 7 or fewer points. The offense must score more points after only averaging 20.3 last fall while giving up 33.3 points per game.

38. Buffalo--The Bulls went 3-9 in 2011 during a season that reminded many of the old days where Buffalo was one of the worst teams in the country. Of the three wins, one came versus 1-11 Akron, another came versus FCS opponent Stony Brook, and the third came as a stunner beating MAC runner up Ohio 38-37. 6 of their 9 losses were by 14 or more points.

37. Army--The Black Knights combined the worst passing attack in the nation with the best rushing attack  but were unable to have a second straight bowl season falling to 3-9 in 2011. Army played a tough schedule with 6 bowl teams to play but lost all 6 with a 3-point loss to San Diego State being the only close game. The 2012 schedule is slightly easier but it will be very difficult for the Black Knights to become bowl eligible again this fall.

36. San Jose State--The Spartans had a solid 2011 season going 5-7 but were devastated by two separate 3-game losing streaks in the season. The 5 wins may have been more of a product of their schedule last fall as all 5 wins came versus teams with losing records. The Navy, Hawaii, and Fresno State wins were marred by all three teams having down years.

35. Colorado State--The Rams started 2011 winning 3 of 4 games including an overtime win over Utah State. After the great start, CSU went downhill quickly losing their final 8 games by an average margin of 36-20 with a 63-13 drubbing by the hands of Boise State. The Rams will struggle to beat their 3 wins of 2011 with a new coaching staff in 2012.

34. Troy--After an impressive 6-year reign as the Sun Belt Champs, the Trojans fell badly in 2011 with a 3-9 record. Troy again had a good passing game but the inability to run the ball, score regularly, or stop anyone from scoring landed them near the bottom of the Sun Belt. With a week 2 matchup versus Louisiana, the Trojans will find out quickly that climbing back up the Sun Belt is not an easy task.

33. New Mexico State--The Aggies were a very much improved team in 2011 going 4-9 with 2 other losses coming by 6 or fewer points. The defense was a letdown giving up a staggering 36.8 points per game while the offense could only muster 24.5 per game. With a tough non-conference slate this fall, it will be hard for the Aggies to improve to any more than 5 wins.

32. Miami (OH)--The RedHawks went 4-8 in 2011 but endured a three game losing streak to start the season and another to end the season. In between Miami (OH) went 4-1 with the only loss coming to Toledo. With an easier 2012 schedule, anything fewer than 5 wins would be a disappointment for the RedHawks.

31. Louisiana-Monroe--The Warhawks seemed to be right on the cusp of getting to that elusive .500 record last fall. With 6 of their 8 losses coming to bowl teams and another loss to a 7-5 team, the Warhawks only had one loss that was unexpected. With an easier non-conference schedule this fall, ULM could be the Sun Belt team to watch this year.

30. Kent State--The Golden Flashes looked very bad early in the season starting 1-6 and being outscored 28-10 during that portion of the schedule. Kent State rebounded and went 4-1 in the final 5 games with their only loss coming to a very talented Temple squad to end the season.