2007 Conference USA Basketball Tournament: First Round Preview

Last year, number one seed Memphis rolled right through the Conference USA tournament in front of its home crowd.

This time around, Memphis comes into the tournament with a 29-game winning streak at home and currently hold the nations longest win streak with 18 in a row. I recently had the opportunity to ask Tigers’ coach John Calipari about the upcoming tournament and here is what he had to say.

Memphis' Fed Ex Forum will play host to the 2007 Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship beginning Wednesday.

"It should be an exciting tournament. Every team coming in knows that, if they can put together three or four days of great basketball, they can earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Our overall league was better this year than last season, and that is reflected in the RPI numbers. On an average, teams in our league increased their RPI by 25-30 spots. Our league was competitive all year long and I expect that to continue into the tournament."

Coming into this week's Conference USA tournament, Memphis is the clear-cut favorite once again and the league understands that. What is hard to understand, though, is who will challenge John Calipari and his Tigers. As seen in the last week of the season, there is much parity in the league as the second seed through the eleventh spots are very balanced. Rice underachieved at the end of the season while falling to a seven seed. On the other hand, Tulane executed and defeated two seed UCF on the way to its first top four finish in sometime.

Here is a look at the first round match-ups and the prospective ones throughout the remainder of the tournament.

First Round - Wednesday, March 7

(7) Rice vs. (10) UTEP @ NOON (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

The Rice Owls have been plagued by injuries this season as Owl players have missed a total of 33 games as a result of being sidelined due to them. Willis Wilson’s club is the seventh seed for a second consecutive season. After playing in the NIT last season, UTEP experienced some struggles as well this year after suffering some critical losses.

All-American candidate Morris Almond leads the Owls. He is third in the nation in scoring, as he is posting 26.6 points per game. Look for UTEP to double team Almond and for the Owls to take advantage of the wide-open lane with several easy lay-ins due to the Miners focusing their defensive attention on Almond. Rice has had the same mentality all year and that is that if a team is going to double up on Almond then it is going to get some easy baskets as a result.

UTEP certainly has the ability to take home the victory in this match-up that is surely going to be one of the best contests of the first round. The winner of this contest will have their hands full in the second round, as they will be forced to play No. 2 seed UCF. The Golden Knights are leading the league in shooting percentage from the field, from behind the arc and from the line.

Regular Season: Rice 1-0— UTEP 67 @ Rice 73 (1/24)

#6 Southern Miss vs. #11 SMU @ 2:30 p.m.

Regular Season: USM 1-0; Southern Miss 57 @ SMU 56 (1/10)

This match-up features a hot young team in Southern Miss squaring off against SMU, which is coming off of near upset of Memphis this past week. The Golden Eagles and Mustangs are each coached by former National Coaches of the Year in Larry Eustachy and Matt Doherty. The Golden Eagles do not have a senior on their squad and are led by freshman sensation Jeremy Wise. Wise was named the Freshman of The Year in Conference. Wise and Sai'Quon Stone have propelled Southern Miss into a tie for fourth in the league standings and an overall record of 19-10.

Head Coach Matt Doherty is optimistic to say the least about the tournament and rightfully so.

"Look what we did against Memphis. If we play up to our potential, we could make a run in this event," Doherty said. “Look at these two teams match-up earlier this season in January and you will see a perfect example of the how even this conference is from the two seed down.”

Southern Miss has been most impressive recently as they notched a win over Houston, led UCF most of the way on the road and pushed the 2006 champ to the limit before losing by three in the final seconds. SMU was down by one to Memphis with 14 ticks left on the clock this week, but the Mustangs likely lack the necessary consistency to win four games on consecutive days.

#8 Marshall vs. #9 UAB @ 6:00 p.m.

Marshall , which is in its second season in CUSA, will face one of the league’s orginal members in UAB. The Blazers come into the tournament with most of their players from last season’s NCAA tournament squad (that pushed Kentucky to the brink in the first round) returning while being led by former Indiana coach Mike Davis. The Blazers look to use that experience to their advantage, as they play against Marshall. Sophomore forward Markel Humphrey and Mark Dorris, both of whom are in their second season in the green and white, lead the young Thundering Herd.

Marshall is coming into the tournament with a 12-18 record, their second twelve win season in as many years. Look for experienced UAB to take this first round match-up, which will set up a rematch of last year's championship game against Memphis. UAB, which is led by All-Conference-USA guard Paul Delaney, is too talented to lose in the first round. Marshall will be outcoached and outtalented, as they will fall in the first round for a second consecutive season.

Regular Season: split 1-1; UAB 54 @ Marshall 61 (2/3), Marshall 57 @ UAB 70 (2/24)

#5 Tulsa vs. #12 East Carolina @ 8:30 p.m.

Tulsa comes into this game with what would appear to be the best chance of advancing to the quarterfinals. East Carolina brings to the tournament only one victory on the season away from Greenville, NC and only one win in conference play (UTEP). Count on East Carolina putting up a fight, as they hung with second-seeded UCF on Saturday night for the majority of the game. Tulsa and Tulane met once this season in a game that was decided with two seconds remaining when the Golden Hurricane knocked down a three-pointer to pull out a 79-78 victory over the Green Wave.

Regular Season: Tulsa 1-0; ECU 49 @ Tulsa 67 (1/10)