The regular season is over and the seedings for the Conference USA Tournament are now set. Standing on top of the mountain are the UAB Blazers who will be aiming for their second-straight conference title and NCAA Tournament berth. But there’s no telling how things will turn out for them this time around especially with other contenders like Middle Tennessee, Louisiana Tech and Old Dominion lurking behind them.
Read on below for a closer look at the C-USA tournament. And while you’re at it, you might as well check out our previews for the other conference tournaments: Big Sky, Big South and America East.
March Madness News & Predictions
- 2016 March Madness Sleepers Predictions and Picks
- 2016 March Madness Longshots and Best Long Shots Picks and Predictions
- 2016 March Madness Preview
- 2016 NCAA March Madness Expert Picks
2016 Conference USA Tournament Preview
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UAB Blazers
The Blazers, who finished the regular season on a five-game winning streak, will definitely be relying on Brown, in particular, to continue leading an offense which has averaged 77.8 PPG this season. He’s managed to score in double-figures in the past 15 games, including a solid 17-point performance during their regular season finale versus FAU.
Lee, meanwhile, is gradually heating up as he’s posting 12.2 points with 6.4 rebounds in the Blazers’ winning streak. But it’ll be interesting to see how Brown and co. will fare especially with the pressure mostly on them from now on.
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders are certainly still holding some ill-feelings towards the Blazers, who defeated them in the championship game last year. The Blue Raiders should arguably have a better chance of beating the defending champions this time around thanks to a much-improved Reggie Upshaw.
Upshaw is tallying 13.5 points with 8.7 rebounds this season and capped of his junior campaign with a 22-point and 13-rebound output against FIU on Saturday. If Upshaw remains this lethal moving forward, the Blue Raiders’ chances of winning the C-USA trophy will be really high.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
A gut-wrenching loss to WKU in their final regular season game wasn’t the way that the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs hoped to end their 2015-16 campaign. But nonetheless, they should be pretty content of finishing as the third seed.
Erik Konkol, who replaced Michael White as the new head coach of the Bulldogs over the summer, has done a good job of maximizing the capabilities of his team. In particular, the pair of Alex Hamilton and Erik McCree has considerably improved under his guidance.
Hamilton leads Louisiana Tech in scoring with 20.0 points on 50.4 percent shooting, while McCree trails him with 16.5 points per game. And if it still isn’t obvious, the Bulldogs’ fate will be determined by the performances of these two players.
Sleeper
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are only 8-10 in conference play, which is good for the eighth seed, but they might just be able to surprise us in the tourney.
The Hilltoppers ended the regular season on a high note by winning four out of five games. Their latest win on Saturday proved to be the biggest one, as they defeated Louisiana Tech, 96-90, in overtime. Starring in that win was the pair of Aaron Crosby and Justin Johnson. Both combined for 44 points and 14 rebounds to lead the way for the Hilltoppers.
Expect Crosby and Johnson, who are averaging 13.5 and 15.0 points, respectively, in the regular season, to continue playing aggressive and ultimately guide the Hilltoppers’ offense (76.5 points per contest) throughout the tournament.
Long Shot
Florida Atlantic Owls
Despite finishing with two more wins this season, the Florida Atlantic Owls chances in the C-USA tournament continue to be bleak. They own a mediocre 5-13 conference record and are fated to face last-placed UTSA in the opening round.
Speaking of which, the Owls should at least be able to win this matchup, as they successfully swept their regular-season series with the Roadrunners. Look to FAU’s promising freshman in Jeantal Cylla to pour on the points once again.
Cylla is only averaging 9.9 points this season, but has managed to put up 22 or more points in the two meetings versus Texas-San Antonio. He’s also averaging 11.0 points in his last five outings.
Writer’s Prediction
UAB wins its second-straight C-USA title.
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