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Conference USA Basketball 2022: New Year, Non-Conference Roundup

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Conference USA Basketball is just beginning conference play. Here’s where each of the teams stands entering the New Year.

Team Preseason Pick KenPom ’21-’22 Record
Charlotte 7 209 8-5
FAU 9 206 7-6
FIU 13 243 9-4
LA Tech 2 79 11-3
Marshall 4 155 7-7
MTSU 14 200 9-4
North Texas 6 74 8-3
Old Dominion 5 189 6-8
Rice 8 185 7-5
Southern Miss 12 286 3-9
UAB 1 48 12-3
UTEP 10 178 7-6
UTSA 11 306 7-6
WKU 3 106 8-6
Kenpom rankings and standings as of 1/2/2022

Key Storylines

Frontrunners living up to expectation

Louisiana Tech and UAB were the only teams to receive any first-place votes in the league’s preseason poll. While much of the remainder of the conference was a mixed bag, it seemed almost certain that these two squads would be good. So far, that appears to be the case. Both narrowly missed on a handful of Power 5 marquee wins, but they enter conference play relatively unscathed and clear favorites to cut down the nets in Frisco.

True contenders?

That next tier of teams is where things get interesting. North Texas had high hopes following their NCAA Tournament run last season, but the Mean Green did have to do some reloading. They started conference play with a bang, demolishing Rice. They could play a factor in the conference title race if that team shows up night after night.

Western Kentucky and perhaps Marshall might be the only other dark horses remaining. KenPom doesn’t have any other C-USA schools in the top 175 right now. That middle tier featuring teams like rice, Charlotte and MTSU could make for good parity down the stretch.

Make or break

The most telling storyline over the next few weeks could be which teams play themselves out of the hunt early. Southern Miss wasn’t projected to be very good this year. At 3-9 entering conference play, they join Old Dominion as the only two teams that failed to reach C-USA play with at least a .500 non-conference record.

UTSA, UTEP, Rice and FAU all seem like teams that could go either way depending on the night. That could make the next several weekends important for seeding purposes down the line.

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Rice Basketball: Owls ice cold in C-USA opening loss to UNT

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The men’s Rice basketball squad opened conference play on Saturday while the women were delayed. Here’s what we learned from the men’s loss.

Rice Basketball

Rice basketball wasn’t in sync in their return from COVID-19 postponements, falling to North Texas on the road in their first conference game.

Things got off to an innocent enough start for Rice Basketball at the Super Pit on New Year’s Day. The Owls traded baskets with the North Texas Mean Green early and trailed by one-point following a layup from Carl Pierre with 10:52 to go in the first half. Rice would go almost six minutes of game time before their next field goal.

As the Rice offense wilted, North Texas caught fire. The Mean Green went on a 24-6 run from that point onward turning a close game into a blowout before Rice could get their bearings straight. Rice collectively shot a dismal 31.8 percent from the field and made just three of 14 attempts from three.

What they’re saying

“I thought our guys came out and defended well. They executed the game plan defensively. I thought our communication defensively was really good. We just couldn’t get a rebound. (North Texas) is a very good team. They are on their home court. They are tough and well-coached. They played better and deserved to win.”  – Scott Pera on the team’s performance 

Key takeaway

Poor shooting nights happen and we’ve seen enough from this team to know a 21.4 percent outing from deep isn’t likely to become a frequent occurrence. But it wasn’t just bad shooting that turned a tough game into a rout. Rice was gashed on the glass from start to finish.

North Texas outrebounded Rice 56-30. They edged Rice in offensive rebounds 28 to nine. Rice had nine second-chance points. North Texas had 23. The Mean Green shot 39.2 percent from the field — a subpar shooting night — but they made it for it with their aggression on the boards. The shooting will bounce back. Rice absolutely must do something to ensure the rebounding improves with it

Up Next: vs Middle Tennessee – Thursday, Jan. 6 at 7:00 p.m.

Rice Women's Basketball

Rice women’s basketball has yet to begin conference play. Their New Year’s Day contest against North Texas was postponed.

While the men were able to get back to the court on Saturday, the women were unable to open their conference schedule as had been previously scheduled. We detailed more of the unique challenges facing Lindsay Edmond’s club in our December Subscriber Q&A.

Up Next: at Middle Tennessee – Thursday, Jan. 6 at 6:00 p.m.

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Rice Basketball navigates COVID-19 — December 2021 Patreon Q&A

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Both Rice basketball programs have missed multiple games because of COVID-19 issues. Is there an end in sight?

It’s been a quiet month on the court for Rice basketball. COVID-19 issues within both the men’s and women’s programs have forced both squads to cancel multiple games. Is there an end in sight? What’s next for both teams? We’ll provide some updates below.

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Rice Football 2021 Team MVP: Jake Bailey

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The glue guy for a revamped offensive attack, Jake Bailey’s consistency and big-play ability led to him being named our 2021 Rice Football Team MVP.

There are countless ways to determine what “most valuable player” actually means. Raw numbers tell one story. Anecdotes and narrative can tell another. Then there’s that feeling on one’s gut. The kind one gets when you just know that one particular player contributes more to his team than one can distill down into one statistic or any singular storyline. For Rice football in 2021, the answer to all of those questions was Jake Bailey.

In modern football, MVP honors seemingly always default to quarterbacks. Rice had four different signal-callers appear in crucial moments this season. Wiley Green won the biggest game. Jake Constantine won the most. Luke McCaffrey and TJ McMahon accounted for perhaps the most improbable comeback.

But the only unifying factor among those four passers was the constant churn. In large part because of injuries, no one player in that room consistently put the team on his back every single week and found ways to will them to victories. Jake Bailey did.

Despite being knocked out of the UTEP game in the second half and missing the finale against Louisiana Tech entirely, Bailey still led all Rice pass-catchers in receiving yardage. He scored twice and had on remarkable endzone grab that would have been a touchdown called back by a questionable penalty. The raw numbers were good, really good.

When those catches game were perhaps even more important. Bailey led all Rice players in third-down receptions (17) and third-down receiving yards (209). He caught five passes on fourth down. All five moved the sticks, including a diving 36-yard stretch on a scramble from Constantine to help Rice mount a fourth-quarter comeback bid.

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It probably shouldn’t be surprising Bailey became the focal point of the Rice offense. Head coach Mike Bloomgren noted Bailey was “becoming somebody the quarterbacks trust completely” in the early portions of fall camp, adding that Bailey was the kind of player that was always “finding a way to get open.”

There was a period of time when the Jake-to-Jake connection between Constantine and Bailey was the most productive dynamic on the entire roster. With Constantine at the controls and the pocket wavering, he’d often roll out and immediately fix his eyes on Bailey, who was seemingly always ready to make a play and move the sticks.

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That almost innate connection is part of what Bailey so effective on the gridiron. “It was never scripted,” Bailey said of one such schoolyard play. “There’s no formula for it, but it’s always great when it can work out and be something big.”

Big might be the perfect word to describe the size at which Bailey played. Standing 5-foot-10, there were only five players on the roster with a listed height shorter than Bailey. Yet Bailey never let that stop him. If anything, his stature aided his quickness and made him just that more difficult to bring down in the open field.

Bailey is one of the most dynamic playmakers Rice football has at its disposal, and the talented wideout still has two more seasons of eligibility remaining. As a redshirt sophomore, he’s taken home our Rice Football Team MVP honors. The rise of Jake Bailey might only be beginning. Those are some lofty expectations, but Bailey says he’s ready to embrace them.

“When there’s pressure in the situation that means you’re doing something important. That means you’re doing something where people have to look at you, expect from you. It’s always a great place to be. I think pressure is a privilege,” he said. Here’s to seeing where that pressure leads him in 2022 and beyond.

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Rice Football 2021 Defensive Player of the Year: Elijah Garcia

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A veteran leader and one of the most consistent players on the roster, defensive lineman Elijah Garcia is our 2021 Rice Football Defensive Player of the Year.

The pandemic altered everyday life as we know it with ripple effects spreading far past the gridiron. In 2020, there were real questions about whether or not the games would be played. One year later, the question turned to who’d be available to play. Granted an extra year of eligibility by the unprecedented COVID year, defensive lineman Elijah Garcia is our 2021 Rice Football Defensive Player of the Year

There was a time when Garcia didn’t believe he’d still be on campus in the fall of 2021. Whatever doubts had lingered were erased midway through the 2020 campaign when Rice upset Marshall on the road behind a stellar defensive effort. Garcia had four tackles and a pass deflection in that game, the moment he would go on to describe made his decision to return for one more season “a no brainer.”

When it was clear he’d be back on campus, the focus returned to getting better. That drive had always been a part of what made Garcia tick, dating back to his arrival on campus. When he arrived, there were stalwarts like Zach Abercrumbia blocking his path to playing time. Then De’Braylon Carroll and Izeya Floyd both arrived in the 2019 recruiting class. If Garcia wanted to see the field, he’d have to earn it. He did.

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Defensive line coach Cedric Calhoun put Garcia on notice when Carroll and Floyd arrived. Garcia responded by winning the starting job and leading all interior linemen with 50 tackles. He progressed to finishing second on the team in tackles in 2020 and one-upped that mark this season, racking up a team-best 67 tackles as well as career highs in sacks (five), quarterback hits (nine) and total pressures (33).

Those gaudy numbers didn’t come as a surprise to those who knew Garcia best. In the lead-up to the season, defensive coordinator Bryan Smith said Garcia was “just scratching the surface” of how good he could become.

His play spoke for itself, but Garcia did a fair amount of talking, too. Although he wasn’t named one of the team captains during the preseason, Garcia was the man asked to take the mic frequently during postgame press conferences. On those hard nights, he showed composure and poise. He was a leader, on and off the field.

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“In life, things are not always going to go your way, but what matters is the fight you have in you,” Garcia said following the loss to Western Kentucky that officially took six-wins and a bowl berth off the table. He’d recovered a fumble and registered six tackles during the contest. Another strong showing regardless of what the final box score reflected.

The stat sheets don’t offend do many favors to players of Garcia’s position. They do so much more to impact games than making tackles. Forcing double teams, opening up gaps for teammates to get pressure are as important to a team as tallying sacks of one’s own. Garcia had always been an asset in the former skills, this year he added the numbers, too.

Garcia is off to test the professional waters now, but that’s not that surprising. NFL scouts have been in and out of practices throughout the fall watching Garcia go through his paces.

If the growth he’s exhibited throughout his collegiate career is any indication, those scouts might not have seen the best version of Garcia that exists quite yet. He’s always had one more gear. His work on the field this season earned him our 2021 Rice Football Defensive Player of the Year honors. And the best might still be yet to come.

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