Conference Tournament Preview: Conference USA

History: Conference USA often feels like the island of misfit toys. The last time a current league member won the championship was in 2017 when Middle Tennessee cut down the nets. The Blue Raiders are the only current league member who has ever won this championship. Since 2017, Marshall, Old Dominion, North Texas, UAB, and Florida Atlantic have won.

Returning Champion: Florida Atlantic. The Owls, 18-2 in conference play, won the title by 22 over UAB. That catapulted them to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament, where they lost a heartbreaker to San Diego State.

Format:  All nine schools make the field. The #8 and #9 seeds play in the first round for the right to take on the #1 seed.

Favorite:  Sam Houston (20-11, 13-3)

This was Sam Houston’s first year in Conference USA, and they made it count. The Bearkats won their final seven games.

Nothing stands out about them. They didn’t win any big games in the non-conference and are mid-pack in most categories. That said, the roster is loaded with juniors and seniors, and they swept the league’s second-best team (Louisiana Tech) during the regular season.

Contenders: Louisiana Tech (22-9, 12-4), Western Kentucky (19-11, 8-8), Liberty (18-13, 7-9)

Live Long Shot:  New Mexico State (13-18, 7-9)

Preview:

Louisiana Tech is a Top 100 team in the NET. In the non-conference, they own an impressive win over fellow mid-major McNeese, a team that lost three games. They finished the season on a 6-1 run, though the one less was to Sam Houston. The Bulldogs, a constant presence in the NCAA Tournament between 1984 and 1991, haven’t played in the Big Dance since. This squad is one of the top defensive teams in the country. They allow only 64.4 points on 39.1% shooting. Offensively, they are a decent 3-point shooting squad led by Isaiah Crawford (16.5 points/41.1% from three) and Tahlik Chavez (13.8 points/40.8% from three).

Western Kentucky is the highest-scoring squad in the conference, averaging 80.2 points on 46.7% shooting. When the Hilltoppers were a member of the Sun Belt, they were dominant, making the NCAA Tournament 12 times in 28 years. They were consistently in the Top 25 during this period and won several NCAA Tournament games. They enter the tournament on a 4-game losing streak.

Liberty continues to put up solid campaigns. This was their first year in Conference USA after winning 20+ games in seven straight seasons while playing in the Big South/Atlantic Sun. This sharpshooting squad ranks 12th in 3-pointers made (10.2), 18th in attempts (27.7), and 43rd in percentage (36.6%). The Flames won the mid-major laden Mrtyle Beach Invitational, where they defeated Furman, Wichita State, and Vermont. 

New Mexico State was a WAC beast for many years. Their first year in Conference USA didn’t go quite as well, as a recent 2-8 stretch buried them in the league standings. As the #6 seed, they will take on Western Kentucky in the first round, a squad they split with. The Aggies played a strong non-conference slate but didn’t come close to any significant wins.

Bottom Line:

Sam Houston and Louisiana Tech are the two best teams, though Western Kentucky‘s ability to score and Liberty‘s ability to shoot are scary.

Winner: Louisiana Tech doesn’t lose for a third time, defeating Sam Houston in the championship game.