2008 Non BCS Teams Football Preview

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Maddux Sports offers previews from the six major conferences—ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10 and SEC. Those six conferences account for 65 of the top teams in NCAA football. What follows in this section are 20 teams from conferences that we do not cover entirely. These leagues are not as dominant as the other six, but they do contain clubs that can contend with the 65 others and that you’re likely to see in bowl games.

This year, Conference-USA (C-USA) and the Mountain West Conference (MWC) each contribute five clubs to our list. That’s half of The Rest of the Best. The MWC includes BYU, Utah and TCU, while C-USA offers Tulsa, Houston and Memphis, amongst others.

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) provides four solid teams that include Fresno State and Boise State. Three from the Mid-America Conference (MAC) occupy 20 of the spots with the Central Michigan Chippewas being the most prominent.

Finally two independents—Notre Dame and Navy—and one Sun Belt team—the Florida Atlantic Owls—round out the 20 teams.

Each and every one of these clubs will provide their share of big plays, season-changing moments and emotional victories and defeats. Lookout for these dark horses of the NCAA.

The Rankings for 2008 of the Best of the Rest

1) BYU Cougars (12th nationally and first MWC)
2) Fresno State Bulldogs ( 23rd nationally and first WAC)
3) Boise State Broncos (31st nationally and second WAC)
4) Tulsa Golden Hurricanes ( 35th nationally and first C-USA)
5) Utah Utes (39th nationally and second MWC)
6) TCU Horned Frogs (44th nationally and third MWC)
7) Houston Cougars (50th nationally and second C-USA)
8) Memphis Tigers (52nd nationally and third C-USA)
9) UCF Knights (56th nationally and fourth C-USA)
10) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (57th nationally as an Independent)
11) Central Michigan Chippewas (66th nationally and first MAC)
12) Ball State Cardinals (68th nationally and second MAC)
13) East Carolina Pirates ( 69th nationally and fifth C-USA)
14) Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (70th nationally and third MAC)
15) Navy Midshipmen (71st nationally as an Independent)
16) Nevada Wolf Pack (73rd nationally and third WAC)
17) New Mexico Lobos (75th nationally and fourth MWC)
18) Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (76th nationally and fourth WAC)
19) Air Force Falcons (80th nationally and fifth MWC)
20) Florida Atlantic Owls (83rd nationally and first Sun Belt)