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Unable to come out ahead in Saturday's epic double overtime thriller with Marshall, the Rice Owls opened their 2012 Conference USA slate with a defeat to fall immediately to the bottom of the West division.
The Owls joined the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and Tulane Green Wave as the only teams in the conference to already drop a league game, as teams get fully prepared to enter the heart of conference play this weekend. Sitting atop the East standings alongside Marshall sits East Carolina Pirates, who dealt Southern Miss a 10-point loss in Week 3.
Already 0-3 on the young season, the Houston Cougars will face Rice this weekend after getting the week off following a 37-6 shellacking at the hands of UCLA. The Cougars continue to be humbled by opponents in 2012 after finishing 13-1 overall last year, and could face a Rice team hungry for revenge after last season's 73-34 final score.
Here are the updated C-USA standings after four weeks of action:
| C-USA East |
Team | Conf. Rec (Overall) |
| 1 | East Carolina |
1-0 (2-2) |
| 2 | Marshall | 1-0 (2-2) |
| 3 | UCF | 0-0 (2-1) |
| 4 | UAB | 0-0 (0-3) |
| 5 | Memphis | 0-0 (0-4) |
| 6 | Southern Miss |
0-1 (0-3) |
| C-USA West |
Team | Conf. Rec (Overall) |
| 1 | Tulsa |
1-0 (3-1) |
| 2 | Southern Methodist |
0-0 (1-2) |
| 3 | UTEP | 0-0 (1-3) |
| 4 | Houston | 0-0 (0-3) |
| 5 | Rice | 0-1 (1-3) |
| 6 | Tulane |
0-1 (0-3) |
Head over to SB Nation's college football hub for more news and analysis from around the league, and be sure to stay with SB Nation Houston for more Conference USA coverage throughout the season.