Only half the conference is in action tonight. East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Mississippi, Tulsa and UCF are off.


**Tip-Off at 7:05pm CT**
in Dallas,
SMU (13-14, 3-9)...RPI: #213 (SOS: #234)
Rice (5-21, 1-11)...RPI: #312 (SOS: #140)

*This game will be televised on Time Warner Texas. This is a battle between the two worst teams in the conference. SMU comes into this game having lost four of five overall and four consecutive at home. Rice has lost six straight and has not won away from home all year (0-12 in both road and neutral contests). Against teams rated #201 or worse in the RPI, SMU is 9-2. Against those same teams, Rice is 4-5. In their previous meeting this season @ Rice, SMU won by 22.


**Tip-Off at 7:05pm CT**
in New Orleans,
Tulane (18-9, 6-6)...RPI: #151 (SOS: #242)
UAB (13-14, 5-7)...RPI: #167 (SOS: #116)

*This is an interesting game between two teams that have been playing better of late. Tulane has won four of five overall and four of their last five at home. UAB is 5-2 over their last seven games and are 2-1 in their last three road games. On the year, Tulane is 9-3 at home, 4-2 in C-USA home games. UAB is 3-9 in true road games, 2-4 on the road in C-USA. Against teams rated between #101 and #200 in the RPI, Tulane is 3-4. Versus those same opponents, UAB is also 3-4.


**Tip-Off at 8:05pm CT**
in El Paso,
UTEP (14-12, 7-5)...RPI: #97 (SOS: #62)
Houston (15-10, 4-8)...RPI: #202 (SOS: #291)

*Both UTEP and Houston have been struggling. The Miners are losers of four of their last five. UH has gone 2-4 over a tough stretch in which they have played only twice at home. UTEP is a strong 12-2 at home this season (5-1 in C-USA play). Houston is a respectable 4-6 in true road games, but just 1-5 away from home in league games. Against teams rated outside the top 200 of the RPI, the Miners are 5-1. The Coogs are 1-4 vs. the RPI top 100. In their earlier meeting, Houston pounded the Miners in Hofheinz, winning 79-61.

I will say SMU, UAB and Houston; because Rice doesn't have much this year. Tulane is in CUSA West, which is really weak and overrated in comparison to CUSA East And Houston just beat UTEP by a bunch just a few weeks back.

**FINAL**
in New Orleans,
Tulane- 71 (18-10, 6-7)
UAB- 76 (14-14, 6-7)

*It has been a long road back, but UAB no longer has a losing record. The Blazers have won 6 of their last 8 overall and 3 of their last 4 on the road. They now finish the regular season with home games against SMU and UCF and a road game at Memphis. Tulane loses for just the second time in their last 6 games. This is also their first home loss this month. Tulane's remaining regular season games are @ Tulsa, @ ECU and Houston.


**FINAL**
in Dallas,
SMU- 67 (14-14, 4-9)
Rice- 55 (5-22, 1-12)

*As expected, SMU handles the Owls fairly easily. It's the first home win for the Mustangs since January 12. Rice loses their seventh straight game. They fall to 0-13 away from home this season. SMU finishes the year with @ UAB, @ Tulsa and UTEP. Rice has UTEP, @ Houston, Tulsa.

**FINAL**
in El Paso,
UTEP- 63 (15-12, 8-5)
Houston- 53 (15-11, 4-9)

*The Miners get their revenge on the Coogs. UTEP improves to 13-2 at home. Houston has now lost three straight and falls to 1-6 on the road in C-USA play. UTEP's final three regular season games are @ Rice, Memphis and @ SMU. Houston finishes with Marshall, Rice and @ Tulane.

Conference USA Standings (after action from Wednesday 02-27-13)
1. #19/#17 Memphis^...13-0...24-4...Sat game: @ UCF (8-5)
2. Southern Miss...10-3...21-7...Sat game: East Carolina (7-6)
3. UCF...8-5...19-9...Sat game: #19/#17 Memphis (13-0)
3. UTEP...8-5...15-12...Sat game: @ Rice (1-12)
5. East Carolina...7-6...16-10...Sat game: @ Southern Miss (10-3)
6. Tulane...6-7...18-10...Sat game: @ Tulsa (6-7)
6. Tulsa...6-7...14-13...Sat game: Tulane (6-7)
6. UAB...6-7...14-14...Sat game: SMU (4-9)
9. Marshall...5-8...12-16...Sat game: @ Houston (4-9)
10. Houston...4-9...15-11...Sat game: Marshall (5-8)
11. SMU...4-9...14-14...Sat game: @ UAB (6-7)
12. Rice...1-12...5-22...Sat game: UTEP (8-5)

^Clinched the regular season championship and #1 seed in the C-USA tournament

*If the regular season ended today, Memphis (1), Southern Miss (2), UTEP (3), East Carolina (4) and UAB (5) would receive first round byes in the Conference USA tournament in Tulsa.

If the 2013 Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship were held today, this is how the teams would be bracketed:

Day 1
-#6 Tulane vs. #11 Rice
-#7 Tulsa vs. #10 SMU
-#8 Marshall vs. #9 Houston

Day 2
-#1 Memphis vs. winner of #8 Marshall vs. #9 Houston
-#2 Southern Miss vs. winner of #7 Tulsa vs. #10 SMU
-#3 UTEP vs. winner of #6 Tulane vs. #11 Rice
-#4 East Carolina vs. #5 UAB

Day 3
-Winner of #1 Memphis vs. #8 Marshall/#9 Houston plays the winner of #4 East Carolina vs. #5 UAB
-Winner of #2 Southern Miss vs. #7 Tulsa/#10 SMU plays the winner of #3 UTEP vs. #6 Tulane/#11 Rice

Day 4
-Championship Game

Thanks JMS. You make it so much easier for us lazy ones, who cross our fingers hoping someone will put this stuff together for us.

Those brackets look interesting.

(02-28-2013 12:15 AM)RUNVSFD MINER Wrote:  Thanks JMS. You make it so much easier for us lazy ones, who cross our fingers hoping someone will put this stuff together for us.

Those brackets look interesting.

Thanks, RUNVSFD MINER. The C-USA tournament ought to be a good one. I'm hoping Marshall gets pushed over to the other side of the bracket away from us. They worry me.

A USM vs. UTEP semifinal on your side would be a good one. Hopefully a little more scoring than the game in Hattiesburg though.

Just a small correction, Memphis has only clinched a tie for the Regular Season Championship. However, they have clinched the # 1 seed. If Memphis were to lose there next three, and Southern Miss win the next three, officially they will be tied for the Regular Season Championship. Fat chance this happens though.

We will miss you, JMS!

I hope the seeds stay as they are. I don't want to see Tulsa or UAB get the 6th seed.

(02-28-2013 10:05 AM)stinkfist Wrote:  We will miss you, JMS!

Thanks, stinkfist. With the way the Big East (or whatever it will be called) continues to decline and decay by the day, maybe we will be in the same conference again soon.

Hopefully someone will take over this thread idea that is still in CUSA. Probably would be cool to expand it to football and baseball as well. As long as we call it the JMStiger thread .

Also UAB is sitting on the 5 seed which is amazing compared to where we were a month ago.

For our slim at-large tournament hopes, I hope we draw Tulsa first, UTEP second, and Memphis is the championship game at the conference tournament.