Conference USA Basketball Weekly Review

Scores

Tuesday, February 28

Memphis 84 Central Florida 55

Wednesday, February 29

East Carolina 69 Marshall 68 (OT)

UAB 68 Tulsa 64

Southern Mississippi 67 SMU 60

Houston 82 Tulane 53

Rice 68 UTEP 61

Saturday, March 3

Memphis 78 Tulsa 66

SMU 57 UTEP 48

Central Florida 71 UAB 63

Marshall 79 Southern Mississippi 75

Houston 76 Rice 75

East Carolina 66 Tulane 49

It’s a time of tension and profound uncertainty in the town of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. As the Conference USA regular season ends and gives way to the league tournament this upcoming week in Memphis, the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, once thought to be in the NCAA Tournament field, are now very much on the cut line. Southern Miss's loss this past Saturday to the Marshall Thundering Herd means that USM has lost three conference games in the past few weeks, squandering what had been the outright lead in Conference USA and allowing Memphis to win the outright regular-season league championship. More than losing C-USA, however, USM has lost a firm hold on an NCAA ticket, which would be the school's first in just over two full decades. Coach Larry Eustachy has seen his team wilt under pressure and lose the energy that accompanied the team's rise to the top of the C-USA standings. Southern Miss's legs are weighed down by pressure, the team buckling in the late-February/early-March spotlight. Now comes a final, formidable test: pulling together and winning at least two games in the C-USA Tournament to reach Saturday's championship game and give the selection committee reason to include the Golden Eagles in the field of 68. Southern Miss needs two wins this week in Memphis, and if a team other than Memphis or USM wins the event, the Golden Eagles might get squeezed out. Memphis is a lock for the tournament even if it loses this week on its home floor, but USM is not a sure thing for the Big Dance. It has to deliver the goods.

It's true that UAB got into last year's tournament despite losing in the C-USA quarterfinals, but USM can't depend on such fortune this year. The Golden Eagles are the focus of the coming week of C-USA basketball, and everyone around the league knows it. We'll see what this team is made of as it pursues a precious college basketball prize.

Conference USA Tournament Matchups:

First Round:

Game 1: (12) Tulane vs. (5) UAB

Game 2: (9) Houston vs. (8) UTEP

Game 3: (10) East Carolina vs. (7) Rice

Game 4: (11) SMU vs. (6) Marshall

Quarterfinals:

Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. (4) Central Florida

Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. (1) Memphis

Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. (2) Southern Mississippi

Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. (3) Tulsa

Semifinals

Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner

Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner

Championship

Game 11: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner