It seems like once we all kind of jointly decided that Conference USA wasn’t a very good league, it immediately got a lot more interesting – in more of a mid-major kind of a way. And, this year was no exception. Once we realized that Memphis wasn’t a top-10 team or that Marshall was a top-25 team, the conference immediately got a lot more interesting in trying to sift through the UCFs and Southern Misses, as well as the UABs, UTEPs, and Tulanes of the world. And, what we have here is a pretty intriguing tournament at The Pyramid in Memphis, as exemplified by the fact that all of the top four seeds have at least two people picking them to win the whole thing (though more than half of the field does have #1 Memphis).
Championship Picks
12 for #1 Memphis
4 for #2 Southern Miss (J, Lil Lohse, Lynch, Primm)
2 for #3 Tulsa (Mac, Rikey)
2 for #4 UCF (Dave, KA)
Biggest Upsets
R1 – #12 Tulane (Bry, RDoc)
QF – #8 UTEP (J, KA)
SF – #6 Marshall (Lohse)
Previous CTC Champions
2011 – Lynch
2010 – Lohse/Teddy
2009 – Bry
2008 – Ina
#7 Rice vs. #10 East Carolina
This is one of the best teams in Rice history, led by everyone’s favorite Iranian, Arsalan Kazemi. ECU had one stretch where it looked like they might actually compete in this year’s C-USA, but before and since, they just haven’t been very good. 2nd-seeded Southern Miss is next in line for the winner here. This is a rather popular upset pick here, as only 8 people have 7th-seeded Rice winning this game (Alexi, Doogan, Gross, KA, Mac, Rikey, Scoot, Waters). But, those that believe, believe strongly, as Gross, KA, and Mac all have the Owls beating S. Miss in the quarters. No one has ECU in the semis.
#6 Marshall vs. #11 SMU
The Thundering Herd was picked to finish 2nd in the preseason by just about everyone (except those bold prognosticators that had them winning the conference), but it just hasn’t worked out this year. They still have the talent, so anything can happen, but this team was supposed to be a borderline Top 25 team. SMU stinks. They scored 67 points earlier this year…IN TWO GAMES. Yes, that’s right, they lost to Rice on February 11th, 43-39 and then, 4 days later, they lost to UAB 47-28. 67 points in TWO games…wow. #3 Tulsa awaits the winner. J and KA are the only two with the big upset pick of SMU here, and neither of them have the Mustangs going any further. An SMU win here, though, would really blow up some brackets, as 11 people have Marshall in the semis (Alexi, Bry, Dave, Doogan, Gross, Lohse, Lynch, Primm, RDoc, RSmith, Teddy). Gross and Lohse both have the Herd thundering into the finals.
#8 UTEP vs. #9 Houston
The Miners, who have made the past two NCAA tournaments, fell on some hard times this year, but have been playing better lately. Houston has been up-and-down, mostly down this year. The winner here will get #1 Memphis tomorrow. 8 people have the mild upset of Houston here (Bry, Dave, Gross, Lil Lohse, Lohse, RSmith, Scoot, Waters). This game is huge for J and KA, as they both have UTEP beating Houston today and Memphis tomorrow. No one has Houston in the semis.
#5 UAB vs. #12 Tulane
On December 3rd, Tulane beat Georgia Tech 57-52, to improve to 9-0. The only other undefeated teams in the country were Syracuse, Kentucky, and Murray St. After that, they finished their last 5 non-conference games with 3 more wins. They entered conference play at 12-2, with their only losses on the road against a good Wofford team and #1 Syracuse. They lost their first conference game by 7 at UCF (no real shame in that) and then lost in OT to S.Miss, by 1 point to Rice, and by 4 at Tulsa. They picked up two wins and then lost by 2 in OT at UTEP. It looked like they were just snakebitten. Well, they’ve only won 1 game since and haven’t even been competitive. UAB had a very similar story in losing a lot of close games to good teams early in conference play, but where Tulane turned south, UAB really came together and looked like one of the best teams in the conference in the second half. Now, the two get together, battling for the right to play UCF in the quarters. Bry, Doogan, and RDoc all went for the longshot upset of Tulane. Alexi, RSmith, and Scoot have UAB going to the semis.
