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Conference USA Basketball soars in postseason play

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Conference USA Basketball dominated the postseason, from FAU’s Final Four run in the NCAA Tournament to multiple other championships.

Every Conference USA basketball team that appeared in a postseason tournament this season won at least one game with the majority making deep postseason runs. Here’s where each team in the league finished.

Florida Atlantic (4-1 in NCAA Tournament, Final Four)

Many thought 9-Seed FAU was underseeded when they were matched up with a red-hot Memphis team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Owls backed up those beliefs with a win over the Tigers in the first round before defeating Farleigh Dickinson (which upset Purdue) in the Round of 32 to advance to the Sweet 16.

They weren’t finished, though. FAU beat 4-Seed Tennessee and 3-Seed Kansas State in Madison Square Garden to punch their ticket to the Final Four where they lost on a buzzer-beater to San Diego State, despite holding a double-digit lead midway through the second half.

North Texas (5-0 in NIT)

The Mean Green had a fringe case for the NCAA Tournament but had to settle for a No. 2 seed in the NIT where they’ve made plenty of noise. The Mean Green defeated Alcorn, 3-Seed Sam Houston, 1-Seed Oklahoma State (in Stillwater) and 2-Seed Wisconsin to reach the NIT Tournament Championship Game where they played (and beat) fellow Conference USA representative, UAB.

UAB (4-1 in NIT)

To reach the NIT Championship game along with North Texas, UAB has defeated former C-USA foe Southern Miss in the first round and Moorehead State in the second round, before advancing to topple 2-Seed Vanderbilt and Utah Valley. The Blazers were undefeated against teams outsider their conference in the NIT.

Charlotte (4-0, won CBI)

The 49ers were awarded the No. 3 seed in the CBI Tournament and more than backed it up. Charlotte defeated Western Carolina, Milwaukee and Radford along their way to an appearance in the CBI Tournament Championship game against No. 8 seed Eastern Kentucky. They won that game, too.

Rice (1-1 in CBI)

The only Conference USA squad to lose a postseason game thus far, Rice started their brief CBI run with an upset victory over No. 5-Seed Duquesne before falling to No. 4-Seed Southern Utah in the second round. The Owls erased a 14-point deficit to tie the game in the final seconds but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Add ’em Up

Conference USA Basketball finished 18-3 in postseason play and nearly swept all three major postseason tournaments (NCAA, NIT, CBI). They won a staggering 90 percent of their games against non-Conference USA opponents. One more interesting wrinkle: all five of these postseason-bound teams are moving to the American next season.

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2023 Conference USA Basketball Tournament: Men’s and Women’s Previews

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The 2023 Conference USA Basketball Tournament tips off in Frisco, TX this week. Here’s a preview of the action.

Conference USA Basketball – Men’s Tournament

The Favorite: Florida Atlantic

The nation’s No. 1 team, Houston, is the only program in the nation that has lost fewer games than Florida Atlantic. The Owls shocked many when they ran through Conference USA this season and are deservedly the clear frontrunner to win the conference tournament. An at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament seems probable but is by no means a sure thing at this point, so they should be plenty motivated to finish what they’ve started.

The Contender: UAB

UAB is a different basketball team when Jelly Walker is on the court. Since his return, UAB has lost a grand total of one game (on the road against a good North Texas team). The Blazers have depth, experience and a star. If FAU doesn’t cut down the nets, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see these preseason favorites take home the title.

The Sleeper: Middle Tennessee

The men’s field really feels shallow this season, at least in terms of teams outside the top three who could go on a run and win the tournament. Middle Tennessee might just be the sweet spot. The Blue Raiders were one of very few teams to beat No. 1 Seed FAU in the regular season and they play stingy defense, which always seems to grow in importance in the month of March.

Conference USA Basketball – Women’s Tournament

The Favorite: Middle Tennessee

The only nationally ranked team in Conference USA, Middle Tennessee has had one bad weekend since November. It’s possible they have an off day, but it sure doesn’t seem probable at this point. The Blue Raiders have three of the top 10 scorers in the conference and the conference’s No. 1 scoring defense. Weaknesses are far and few between.

The Contender: UTEP

If anyone can take down to Middle Tennesee, it’s probably one of the two teams to achieve the feat during the regular season. The Miners protect the basketball well and are among the conference leaders in assists per game. While they lack a singular dominant player, they do have a host of players that can score, making them a challenging matchup defensively.

The Sleeper: Rice

Aside from Middle Tennessee, no one has been better since the midpoint of January than the Rice Owls. After beginning conference play 1-4, Rice has won 12 of their last 15 and has won several of those with some of their top players in and out of the lineup. They’re trending toward being back near full strength by the time the tournament comes around, which should scare some of the rest of the pack.

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Conference USA Basketball 2023: Final Weekend Watch List

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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 2023: early-February Roundup

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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 2023: Late-January Roundup

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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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