And this year, we have Houston, another program with some tradition, and Southern Mississippi, the alma mater of a certain quarterback who now plays in Green Bay.

This is a conference on the rise, and could be the next group of teams to break into the BCS party, maybe as early as next season.

When the teams take the field on Friday night, it will be a showcase for C-USA offensive player of the year Kevin Kolb. Kolb had some early Heisman talk about him, but his team’s performance didn’t help him. Losing three straight to Miami, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Southern Mississippi will do that to an award chase.

However, the loss to Southern Mississippi was their only blemish in conference and Kolb ended the season with over 3000 yards passing and 25 touchdowns. He is a legitimate NFL prospect, and has thrown for 3000 yards in three of his four seasons. This game will be his tryout for the scouts who have been following him all year. He will have to show he can do it in the big game, something that will be important at the next level.

Before you think that Houston is all about passing the ball, the two running backs would like to talk to you. Both Anthony Alridge and Jackie Battle had over 800 yards rushing this season and Battle led the team with 12 touchdowns. This is a high powered offense that Southern Mississippi was only able to hold to 27 points the first time around.

It is no surprise that Houston can score, with one of the best offenses in the country. However, they did lose that first game against the Eagles. And a lot of that loss could be attributed to the play of Jeremy Young who had three touchdowns (2 passing, one rushing) in that game. The defense for Houston will have to concentrate on stopping Young, who has already shown he knows how to play in a big game.

The Eagles also feature a 1000 yard rusher in freshman Damion Fletcher. He is the leading touchdown scorer for Southern Mississippi and had 80 yards in the first game between these two. He is also only a freshman which means we will likely be hearing his name mentioned in bigger circles in a few years.

I honestly can’t see a reason why Houston won’t win the rematch. The first time was a fluke and Houston didn’t do a good job of containing Young. Remember that this was also the third game of the losing streak. That had to play on Houston’s mind.

Southern Mississippi has the second best defense in the conference, but I think this time around, Kevin Kolb has some extra incentive, like a few million dollars for a good draft slot. If he can avoid the pass rush of the Eagles (24 sacks this year), this one goes the Cougars’ way.

Houston takes this, 35-28.