Conference USA Basketball is wrapping up its conference slate. Here’s where each team stands with two games to go in the regular season.

Team	NET	KenPom	Record
Charlotte	104	112	18-11 (9-9)
FAU	19	31	26-3 (16-2)
FIU	225	223	13-16 (7-11)
LA Tech	165	166	13-16 (6-12)
MTSU	110	121	18-11 (11-7)
North Texas	51	55	23-6 (14-4)
Rice	177	188	17-12 (8-10)
UAB	57	59	22-8 (13-6)
UTEP	193	193	13-16 (6-12)
UTSA	302	300	9-21 (3-16)
WKU	171	172	15-14 (7-11)

Kenpom, NET, and standings reflect games as of 2/26/2023

Key Storylines

Locked In

Following Saturday’s games, there are three teams locked into their Conference USA Tournament seeding regardless of how the final two regular season contests transpire. FAU has clinched the top seed and the regular season championship. North Texas will be the No. 2 seed. On the opposite end of the spectrum, UTSA will officially finish at the bottom of the league and has clinched the No. 11 seed.

Final jockeying

UAB and Middle Tennessee have secured a first round bye. UAB is in the driver’s seat for the No. 3 seed and controls its own destiny. If the Blazers do lose, though, there are some tiebreaker possibilities that would enable Middle Tennessee to sneak ahead of them should the Blue Raiders win out.

After the head-to-head record, the record against the next-highest-finishing conference opponent will be utilized. Should Middle Tennesee and UAB finish with the same record, Middle Tennessee would get the No. 3 seed as each program would be 1-1 against No. 1 seed FAU with Middle Tennesee being 1-1 against No. 2 seed North Texas while UAB went 0-2 against the Mean Green.

Then there’s the battle for the No. 5 seed. If Charlotte wins out, the No. 5 seed is theirs. Rice can get the No. 5 seed if one of two things happen:

• Rice wins out and Charlotte loses out
• Rice and Charlotte finish with the same record (either at 9-11 or 10-10) and Rice beats No. 1 seed Florida Atlantic in their upcoming game

There’s some fuzziness after that, but FIU is mathematically alive for the No. 5 seed, too. FIU would need to win out and have Charlotte lose out plus get some help from Rice and Western Kentucky too. More than likely the No. 5 seed will go to either Charlotte or Rice.

And more moving and shaking

There’s a two-game gap between the current No. 6 seed, Rice, and the current No. 10 seed, UTEP. That means that at this point, it’s nearly impossible to forecast who might be playing who in the first round of the tournament. We’ll know a lot more after the Thursday games and have some further analysis of the Conference USA Basketball Tournament field once it’s set at the end of the weekend.

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Conference USA Basketball is in the middle of the conference slate. Here’s where each team stands in early February.

Team	NET	KenPom	Record
Charlotte	106	119	13-10 (4-8)
FAU	18	34	22-2 (12-1)
FIU	206	211	12-12 (6-7)
LA Tech	143	141	13-10 (6-6)
MTSU	109	120	15-9 (8-5)
North Texas	57	64	19-5 (10-3)
Rice	152	169	15-8 (6-6)
UAB	72	71	17-7 (8-5)
UTEP	174	175	11-12 (4-8)
UTSA	318	317	7-18 (1-13)
WKU	177	168	13-11 (5-8)

Kenpom, NET, and standings reflect games as of 2/6/2023

Key Storylines

FAU mortal

Florida Atlantic suffered its first and only Conference USA loss this past week to UAB. Not only did it knock the Owls from their unbeaten perch in league play, but they dropped from the AP Top 25 as well and saw their possible NCAA Tournament at-large opportunities take a sizable dent in the process. The Owls are by no means out of the driver’s seat in the league, but they’re no longer untouchable.

Just add Jelly

UAB started slowly in conference play and looked mediocre at times in games without their star Jordan “Jelly” Walker on the court. But he returned against Florida Atlantic, paving the way for the Blazers’ upset of the Owls and subsequent win over FIU two days later. UAB is a different team with him on the court and one that will pose a threat to all comers down the stretch.

Separation starting at the top?

UAB’s big weekend elevated the Blazers to 8-5 in conference play, tied for third in the standings with Middle Tennessee. North Texas (10-3) and FAU (12-1) sit above them, but there’s a multi-win gap between that top four and the rest of the conference. Rice and Louisiana Tech are both at .500, but they each still have multiple games remaining against FAU. After a muddled midseason, an upper-tier may be starting to emerge.

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Conference USA Basketball is in the thick of the conference slate. Here’s where each team stands in late January.

Team	NET	KenPom	Record
Charlotte	93	107	13-7 (4-5)
FAU	18	36	19-1 (9-0)
FIU	249	249	9-11 (3-6)
LA Tech	158	154	11-9 (4-5)
MTSU	107	115	13-7 (6-3)
North Texas	62	70	16-5 (7-3)
Rice	140	147	14-5 (5-3)
UAB	83	77	13-7 (4-5)
UTEP	167	180	11-9 (4-5)
UTSA	324	327	7-14 (1-9)
WKU	180	168	11-9 (3-6)

Kenpom, NET, and standings reflect games as of 1/23/2023

Key Storylines

Owls up

Winners of three straight and 13 of their last 16, Rice basketball continues to climb upwards in the standings and the ratings. Their most recent victory, an impressive upset of North Texas in Denton, put the rest of the conference on notice. Their continued ascent to sixth in the league in both Kenpom and NET suggests the Owls’ ascent might have some lasting presence and wasn’t just one good night on the road.

Top of the standings tussle

At this point, the top seed in the conference tournament and potentially NCAA berth is Florida Atlantic’s to lose. The Owls remain undefeated in conference play and the schedule is crossing through the halfway point. Can FAU run the table? It will be tough, starting with a matchup this coming Thursday against Middle Tennesee, currently third in the conference standings.

Middle of the pack movement

The end of January and the beginning of February will serve as time to thin the middle of the pack going forward. Only so many teams will be in the race for a first round conference tournament bye in a few weeks time, making the next few games for each all the more important. Keep your eyes on three intriguing matchups over the next few days: LA Tech vs UAB and Charlotte on Rice on Thursday as well as UAB and Rice on Saturday.

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Conference USA Basketball is in the thick of the conference slate. Here’s where each team stands in mid-January.

Team	NET	KenPom	Record
Charlotte	95	108	12-6 (3-4)
FAU	12	35	17-1 (7-0)
FIU	243	237	8-10 (2-5)
LA Tech	151	145	10-8 (3-4)
MTSU	125	128	11-7 (4-3)
North Texas	48	63	15-4 (6-2)
Rice	166	184	13-5 (4-3)
UAB	76	70	13-6 (4-4)
UTEP	180	187	10-8 (3-4)
UTSA	319	322	7-12 (1-7)
WKU	160	151	11-7 (3-4)

Kenpom, NET, and standings reflect games as of 1/17/2023

Key Storylines

Above the rest

At 17-1 and the only unbeaten team in conference play. Florida Atlantic deservedly checked in at No. 24 in the AP Poll this week. The Owls own two head-to-head victories over North Texas (6-0 in league games against non-FAU squads) and look to be the class of the conference by a sizable margin. How long that lasts will depend entirely upon their ability to endure the strain of the conference slate.

They’ve got a four-game lead on the middle of the pack, but there’s still plenty of basketball still to be played.

Last Minute Rice

Rice basketball has been anything but boring this season, particularly in the last fortnight which included two buzzer-beaters, three overtime games and a streak of six consecutive games that were within a three-point margin at the end of regulation. Oh, and Max Fiedler just recorded the second triple-double in school history along the way.

Divvying out the middle of the pack

As things currently stand, seven of the 11 teams in the Conference USA Basketball standings are within one game of .500. From Rice to UTEP, there’s a log jam of 3-4 to 4-3 teams with preseason frontrunner UAB smack dab in the middle at 4-4. We’re likely going to see some separation in the next few weeks, but it’s hard to say who will emerge from the chaos at this juncture.

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