Conference USA engineered nearly a complete makeover this year, expanding to 16 teams (FIU is academically ineligible for postseason play, so the tournament only has 15) – the biggest of any conference in the country this year – as they seemingly took on all comers.  And, the 2014 season resulted in a very interesting season, actually, including a 4-way tie for 1st-place with UTEP (who happens to host the conference tournament) just a game back.  Old standbys Southern Miss and UTEP were still there and very much in contention for this tournament.  La Tech, who is loaded, ended up getting the #1-seed and looks like the best team (though, Southern Miss still might have something to say for that).  Tulsa – led by up-and-coming coaching star, Danny Manning – came out of nowhere like a miracle (sorry…).  Another team coming from nowhere – by way of the Sun Belt, actually – was Middle Tennessee.  The Blue Raiders finished strong and nearly won the league, finishing 13-3 in their C-USA debut.  This league is so incredibly wide open (probably the most wide open of any tournament) and should be interesting tournament all the way through.  I am glad that C-USA isn’t trying to be a major conference any more.  That ship has sailed.  Now, they are just an all-around decent mid-major league that happens to be too big right now, but whatever.  Either way, this tournament should be interesting – at least as it goes for the top 5 teams.

The CTC completely reflects the wide-openness of this tournament among the top 5.  #4 Southern Miss was actually the most popular champion pick, though barely a quarter (8) of the field picked them.  #1 La Tech is right behind with 6 championship picks.  Middle Tennessee had 5 and Tulsa 4.  The hosts and 5th-seeded UTEP have 2 people picking them.  Wow!  No team has more than 7 people taking them to win the title.  And, there are crazy upset picks, as well.  7 people took last-place Rice in the opening round.  Three people picked 14th-place Marshall to win two games – and one of them has them winning a 3rd.  One person even has #11 Florida-Atlantic winning four straight games to make the championship game.  This is gonna be nuts!  RDoc – astoundingly – nailed a perfect C-USA bracket last year and is the defending champ.  Lohse has the best history here, as the only one to have won this title more than once.

(QUICK NOTE:  Lohse really believes in this “wide open” thing.  If his bracket is perfect, he will have racked up 441 points along the way – and it’s actually not that crazy of a bracket from the looks of it – he even has #1 beating #2 in the championship).

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 15th – 42 points)

#1 Louisiana Tech vs #2 Tulsa
In this wide-open tournament, we get the top four seeds in the semifinals and 1 vs 2 in the championship on Saturday morning.  Danny Manning’s Golden Hurricane of Tulsa outlasted a tough Middle Tennessee team on Friday, while La Tech had one of the more impressive performances of the day in dismantling a really good Southern Miss team.  By the way, every other conference lets the #1 seed play the earliest games possible so as to give them a little added edge that they have earned through the regular season.  But, one of the few conferences that doesn’t do that is the only conference that has their championship before noon the day after the semifinals are played.  Doesn’t make sense that La Tech (who earned the #1 seed) has to play the late game, finish up the game around 9 and then turn around for an 11:30 tip on Saturday.  But, I’m sure there’s money involved somewhere, so whatever.  Either way, start time follies or not, this La Tech team looks like they are clearly the class of this league and will either get the auto-bid or will have Danny Manning representing the conference.

10 people have a shot at championship points here.  6 for La Tech and 4 for Tulsa.  Caleb, GrossJr, Scoot, and Stri all have Tulsa.  Chris, Colton, Doogan, Lohse, Teddy, and WaTers have La Tech.  A La Tech title will give the 2014 C-USA CTC crown to Doogan, while a Tulsa win will create a split title between Caleb and GrossJr.  Either way, it will be a new C-USA winner in 2014.

SEMIFINALS (March 14th – 28 points each)

#2 Tulsa vs #3 Middle Tennessee
A very underrated semifinal double-header awaits us in the C-USA tournament here in El Paso.  The appetizer pits two of the four league co-champs that were the biggest surprises.  Everyone thought that La Tech and Southern Miss would be in a brawl for the title, but these two teams snuck up on people.  Danny Manning’s Golden Hurricane hammered Tulane in the quarters on Thursday, while Middle did the same to Old Dominion.  Now, the two face off with a trip to the finals on the line.  Tulsa won the only regular season meeting of these two at home, 58-53.

This is a gigantic CTC game.  GrossSr is the only one without a horse in this race, as he has lost it with ODU already.  Of the other 24, 13 took Tulsa and 11 took Middle (Alexi, Becks, Chris, Colton, Dave, J, Primm, Stritts, Stumpf, Teddy).  Alexi, Becks, Dave, Primm, and Stumpf all have the Blue Raiders of Mid Tenn going on to win the championship.  Caleb, GrossJr, Scoot, and Stri all have Tulsa winning it, so at least 4 people will lose their champion here.

Tulsa 76 – Middle Tennessee 69

#1 Louisiana Tech vs #4 Southern Miss
On a day where all the big conferences are in action (20 of the AP Top 25 play today), the most underrated game of the day is this one in El Paso.  La Tech versus Southern Miss should be as good as non-power conference basketball gets.  These two teams played once in the regular season – an 80-71 win for SMiss – but La Tech was missing their best player, Raheem Appleby, who is back and healthy now.  This should be fantastic.

6 people (Chris, Colton, Doogan, Lohse, Teddy, WaTers) have La Tech winning this tournament.  GrossJr and Stumpf both have them winning this game before losing in the finals.  8 people (Bry, GrossSr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, Mac, PapaCim, Stritts) have Southern Miss winning this tournament.  Caleb, Dave, and Stri all have them winning here, but losing in the finals.  No matter what happens, 6 people are going to lose a champion here in the semis.  This is as big as it gets in this conference.

Louisiana Tech 88 – Southern Miss 70

QUARTERFINALS (March 13th – 14 points each)

#2 Tulsa vs #7 Tulane
What a great season for Danny Manning and the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa.  They finished in a 4-way tie for first in the conference and took the tiebreaker for second place, which means that they have an auto-bid to the NIT, if they are to lose in this tournament.  This deep team enters the tournament on an 8-game winning streak, though the only quality team they beat in that streak was UTEP in the very building they are playing in on Thursday.  Tulsa plays a hard-nosed, very solid defense and are tough to beat in any capacity.  But, a Tulane team that doesn’t really score well (and gave up 97 to Tulsa in their regular season meeting) probably doesn’t match up well against this team.  The Green Wave did get here with a big come-from-behind win over North Texas on Wednesday, so they are feeling confident.

WaTers is the only one with Tulane here, so he will get 49 free points against the field if Tulane can pull off this upset.  Caleb, GrossJr, Scoot, and Stri all put their C-USA champs on the line here with Tulsa.  Many others have them going to the finals.

Tulsa 70 – Tulane 49

#3 Middle Tennessee vs #6 Old Dominion
What a great inaugural season for the Blue Raiders of MTSU.  They tied for first in the conference and are one of the favorites to win this tournament.  And, they are playing as well as anyone in this league.  They only have one loss since the middle of January and that was on the road at La Tech.  They are incredibly experienced (starting 4 seniors) and really solid all-around.  This won’t be an easy team to send packing.  They take on an ODU team that is also in its first year in the conference and also had a very nice debut.  They continued that nice debut by surviving Marshall on Wednesday night.  Now, the real games begin in C-USA.

5 people (Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, Lazarow, PapaCim) have ODU here, including GrossSr, who has them going to the finals.  Lohse and WaTers have already lost this game with Marshall and FAU.  The other 18 all have Middle, including 5 people (Alexi, Becks, Dave, Primm, Stumpf) that have the Blue Raiders winning this tournament.

Middle Tennessee 62 – Old Dominion 48

#4 Southern Miss vs #5 UTEP
Southern Miss, for a long while, looked like they were by far the best team in this conference.  In fact, their resume is still holding up as a possible at-large team – though, they’d be much better served winning this tournament and not worrying about it.  But, they lost a couple surprises down the stretch and fell into this 4-way tie.  They ended up with the 4th-seed in the tournament, which means that they have to play a de facto road game against UTEP in the quarters, after the Miners took care of ECU in the second round.

10 people (Alexi, Becks, Chris, Colton, Doogan, Gersh, RDoc, Scoot, Stumpf, WaTers) all have UTEP here, including Gersh and RDoc, who have them winning this tournament.  Alexi, Becks, and Scoot have the Miners reaching the finals.  Lohse has already lost with East Carolina, but the other 13 all have Southern Miss here, including 8 of them (Bry, GrossSr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, Mac, PapaCim, Stritts), who have them winning it all.

Southern Miss 64 – UTEP 56

#1 Louisiana Tech vs #9 Charlotte
After a nice second round win for Charlotte over UAB, they have to take a crack at the top team in Conference USA.  Louisiana Tech, who was picked to win this league in the preseason, looks like they might be the best team in the league here entering the postseason, especially because their best player, Raheem Appleby (who is amazing) is just getting healthy in time for the tournament.  If Appleby is back to full strength, then this is clearly the team to beat in this tournament.

Louisiana Tech 86 – Charlotte 65

SECOND ROUND (March 12th – 7 points each)

#7 Tulane vs #10 North Texas
The Green Wave always do this.  They don’t have much talent, but they overperform in either the noncon or conference play underperforming in the other one.  This year it was conference play where the Green Wave – a team with no expectations and even less after a dreadful noncon, they went 8-8 in conference.  This can be explained by the fact that they are VERY young, so maybe it took a little to put it together.  Either way, this might be a team on the rise as they enter the American next year (we can only hope…).  They open their final C-USA tournament against a North Texas team that nearly sleptwalked through a game with Rice, but woke up just in time to win in overtime.  The winner of this game will meet #2 Tulsa in the quarterfinals.

As it is with essentially all C-USA games this year, this is a big one for CTC.  7 people (Becks, Bry, Chris, Dave, Doogan, PapaCim, Stritts) took the decent upset pick with North Texas.  The other 18 all have Tulane, including WaTers, who has them beating Tulsa in the quarters.

Tulane 66 – North Texas 61
North Texas led most of the way only to piss this one away and head home disappointed.  Tulane may have earned this win in the regular season, as UNT had to win an overtime game Tuesday night in advance of a 1:30 tipoff against a Tulane team that earned a bye.  And, it sure looks like the Mean Green may have wore down down the stretch of this one.  The tables will be turned on Thursday, as now the Green Wave will move on to take on a team that had a bye on Wednesday, #2 Tulsa.

7 people missed a decent upset pick here.  WaTers is the most relieved with the Tulane comeback, as he has them beating Tulsa on Thursday.

#6 Old Dominion vs #14 Marshall
ODU had a really nice (and surprising) debut season in Conf USA.  Winning 9 conference games and finishing 6th place (albeit a distant 6th from the top 5) is a nice turnaround for a team that was last-place in the CAA only a year ago.  They open their first CUSA tournament against a Marshall team that upset Florida-Atlantic on Tuesday night.  The winner here move to the quarters to face #3 Middle Tennessee.

Another interesting CTC game here.  Bry, Doogan, Lohse, and Lynch all have Marshall here, with Lohse taking the Thundering Herd to reach the semis.  Stri and WaTers have already lost this game with FAU.  The other 19 all have ODU here.  Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, Lazarow, and PapaCim have the Monarchs reaching the semis.  GrossSr has them going to the finals.

Old Dominion 73 – Marshall 58
ODU wasn’t ready to end their first C-USA season just yet.  Trailing much of the first half and into the second, the Monarchs rallied and actually won comfortably in the end.  Future star, Aaron Bacote, dropped 25 for ODU, who moves on to face another C-USA first year, Middle Tennessee, in the quarters.

4 people (Bry, Doogan, Lohse, Lynch) miss what would have been a giant upset here.  Lohse actually lost a semifinalist here.  Gersh, GrossJr, Lazarow, and PapaCim all keep alive a semifinalist, while GrossSr keeps alive a finalist.

#5 UTEP vs #12 East Carolina
The tournament hosts are the 5th team in a 5-team league this year and, therefore, are saddled with having to play an extra round.  But, I guess being at home evens that out a bit.  UTEP looked like they were on their way to winning this league before the suspension of leading scorer McKenzie Moore (and two backups) for sports gambling (though, there was never any allegation of point-shaving).  They tripped up with Moore at first, but learned to play well without him down the stretch and seem just as good (hey, maybe he was shaving points).  Now, they enter a wide-open tournament with the home court on their side, so who knows.  They start with 12th-seeded East Carolina, who knocked off UTSA on Tuesday, to prolong what will eventually be a disappointing season for the Pirates.  The winner here has to take on #4 Southern Miss in the quarters.

Bry, Lohse, Stri, and Teddy all have ECU here; Lohse has them reaching the semis.  The other 21 all have UTEP, including Gersh and RDoc, who picked them to win the tournament, and Alexi, Becks, and Scoot, who have them in the finals.

UTEP 77 – East Carolina 68
Tournament hosts, UTEP, ran past ECU with relative ease in their second round matchup.  The Pirates of ECU end a terribly disappointing conference season, while the Miners move on to a HUGE quarterfinal matchup with #4 Southern Miss.

Bry, Lohse, Stri, and Teddy miss a nice upset pick here, with Lohse losing a semifinalist.  Gersh and RDoc are the happiest here, as they keep alive their champ.  Alexi, Becks, and Scoot are happy, too, as they keep a finalist.

#8 UAB vs #9 Charlotte
The 8/9 game is a good one for such a disappointing league.  Maybe it’s so good because these teams really never lived up to their expectations.  Charlotte looked so good in the noncon, winning the Puerto Rico Shootout with wins over Kansas State and Michigan.  Yes, that’s right, the 9th-place CUSA team won a tournament that required wins over K-State and Michigan.  What?  Well, what about the 8th-place team?  They had noncon wins over Nebraska and North Carolina.  Yep, the two teams playing in the quarterfinals of the CUSA tournament have 4 wins over tournament teams, two of which will be over teams with top-4 NCAA tournament seeds.  Well, they were a combined 14-18 in conference play, so there’s that.  But, the winner here will move on to face top-seeded La Tech in the quarters.

More of the field took Charlotte here, as only 11 (Alexi, Chris, Dave, Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, Lohse, Mac, Scoot, Stri, Teddy) took the Blazers of UAB.  But, the UAB supporters are more bullish on their pick.  No one has Charlotte beating La Tech in the quarters, but Alexi, Dave, Gersh, and Scoot all have UAB knocking off the Techsters.

Charlotte 80 – UAB 70
In a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicates, Charlotte routs UAB to advance to the quarters to face #1 La Tech.  Thus ends a disappointing season for the Blazers.

14 people hit this minor upset pick.  Alexi, Dave, Gersh, and Scoot lose a semifinalist here.

FIRST ROUND (March 11th – 3.5 points each)

#10 North Texas vs #15 Rice
This Rice program just continues to suffer through miserable season after miserable season with this one being no different.  They actually finished in 16th place, but there is no 16-seed because of FIU’s ineligibility.  They take on the Mean Green of North Texas who joined the mass exodus from Sun Belt to C-USA this year.  UNT – now without the distraction of having a “future lottery pick” on a bad Sun Belt team (Tony Mitchell was actually picked 25 picks after the lottery ended at #37 by the Pistons and is now in the D-League) actually had a decent season and just missed grabbing that final bye.  Playing Rice is one of the closest things to a bye in D-I, though.  The winner of this game moves on the second round to face #7 Tulane.

This – as pretty much every C-USA game is going to be – is a pretty big CTC game right off the bat.  8 people (Lazarow, Lynch, Mac, Primm, RDoc, Stri, Teddy, WaTers) have a huge upset pick with Rice, though they all have them losing to Tulane.  7 others (Becks, Bry, Chris, Dave, Doogan, PapaCim, Stritts) have North Texas winning Tuesday and Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals.  Right away we’ve got intrigue in the “Crazy USA.”

North Texas 63 – Rice 62 (OT)

#11 Florida-Atlantic vs #14 Marshall
FAU’s transition to C-USA was a bit rocky, at first, but they righted the ship and put together an okay first season.  “Okay” is a lot better than anyone would consider Marshall’s season, as the Thundering Herd was downright dreadful at times, finishing in 15th place, despite being picked for the top-half of the league.  With Marshall’s descent and Iowa State’s emergence, maybe DeAndre Kane actually was THAT good…I’ve been saying that on these pages for years.  The winner here will take on #6 Old Dominion in the second round.

Another absolutely crazy game for the CTC.  What is going on here?  Only 9 people (Colton, Gersh, GrossSr, Lazarow, Mac, Primm, Scoot, Stri, WaTers) have the favored Owls of FAU, but Stri has them winning again on Wednesday to make the quarters.  WaTers went nuts for FAU, as he has them winning four games in four days to reach the C-USA championship game on Saturday – that is two full round further than anyone else has them going.  On the other hand, the field kind of went nuts on Marshall, as well.  Aside from the 16 people that have them pulling off this upset, 4 others (Bry, Doogan, Lohse, Lynch) have them pulling off a second upset in the second round over ODU.  Lohse went ever crazier and has them pulling off a third straight upset in beating Middle Tennessee in the quarterfinals.  Just another game in Crazy-USA.

Marshall 63 – Florida-Atlantic 59

#12 East Carolina vs #13 UT-San Antonio
If you had told me that these two teams would be matching up in the C-USA tournament, I would have said “you’re crazy if you think UTSA can pull off enough upsets to meet up with ECU.”  But, conference play changed a lot for both of these teams.  ECU, who played really well in the noncon, including playing Duke tough at Cameron, was one of the last teams in the country to win a conference game.  They finally did and won a couple more to get up to 12th, but what a disappointment.  UTSA, on the other hand, won their first 3 conference games after an absolutely dreadful noncon made them look like one of the worst teams in the USA, not just Conference USA.  But, they returned a little to their losing ways and now have to play a terrible nightcap of a 12/13 game on day one of the C-USA tournament.  The winner of this one will move on the second round to take on #5 UTEP, the tournament hosts.  ECU may still be a mild sleeper pick here, but UTSA is probably one-and-done, at best.

This game seems rather tame compared to the other two – but it isn’t.  6 people (Becks, Gersh, J, Lazarow, Lynch, Scoot) went for a minor upset with UTSA, with none of them picking them over UTEP.  And, then there’s ECU.  20 people have them beating UTSA on Tuesday.  4 more (Bry, Lohse, Stri, Teddy) have them ousting the tournament hosts, UTEP in the second round.  And, Lohse actually has them beating Southern Miss in the quarters before losing in the semis.

East Carolina 79 – UT-San Antonio 76

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 Louisiana Tech (6) – Chris, Colton, Doogan, Lohse, Teddy, WaTers
• #2 Tulsa (4) – Caleb, GrossJr, Scoot, Stri
• #3 Middle Tennessee (5) – Alexi, Becks, Dave, Primm, Stumpf
• #4 Southern Miss (8) – Bry, GrossSr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, Mac, PapaCim, Stritts
• #5 UTEP (2) – Gersh, RDoc

Biggest Upsets

• R1 – #15 Rice (Lazarow, Lynch, Mac, Primm, RDoc, Stri, Teddy, WaTers)
• R2 – #14 Marshall (Bry, Doogan, Lohse)
• QF – #14 Marshall (Lohse)
• SF – #11 Florida-Atlantic (WaTers)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Ina
• 2009 – Bry
• 2010 – Lohse, Teddy
• 2011 – Lynch
• 2012 – Lohse
• 2013 – RDoc (perfect)

2014 Scores