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2010 Conference USA Tournament Preview

Tue 9th, March 2010

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - For the first time in five years, someone other than Memphis is the top seed in the Conference USA Tournament, as the Texas-El Paso Miners won the regular-season title with a 15-1 finish. Winners of 14 straight games, the Miners captured their first-ever C-USA regular- season title and a first-round bye.

Memphis meanwhile, was denied its fifth title in a row, but didn't fall far, finishing second in the league at 13-3. UAB and Marshall also earned first- round passes after identical 11-5 showings, with the Blazers taking the third seed and the Thundering Herd the fourth.

Tulsa, the host of this event, is the fifth seed and final team with a winning league record at 10-6. The sixth seed went to Southern Miss, which posted a level 8-8 mark within the conference. The final six teams also had losing marks in league play and were seeded based on their finishes.

The team that emerges with the title gets to represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament.

Getting the 15th annual C-USA Tournament started on Wednesday is the seventh- seeded Houston Cougars and 10th-seeded East Carolina Pirates. The Cougars are paced by the nation's leading scorer in Aubrey Coleman, who averages 26.0 ppg. Houston, which won the lone regular season meeting with East Carolina, went 7-9 in conference play this season. The Cougars are 8-12 all-time in this tourney, reaching the finals in 2007. On the flip side, East Carolina posted just a 4-12 league mark, and the Pirates are 0-6 all-time in the SBC Tournament.

First-round play will continue with the sixth-seeded Southern Miss Golden Eagles clashing with the 11th-seeded Tulane Green Wave. The Eagles won both regular-season meetings with Tulane and have won two straight games heading into the postseason. USM is 9-12 all-time in this tourney and still in search of its first finals appearance. For Tulane, it has won four straight first- round games in the C-USA Championship, helping the program to a 7-14 all-time mark. The Green Wave however, possess the conference's second worst regular- season record at 3-13.

The fifth-seeded Tulsa Golden Hurricane host the 12th-seeded Rice Owls in the third game on Wednesday. The host school has appeared in the last eight championship games, so that is certainly good news for Tulsa. The Hurricane have appeared in each of the past two championship games, coming up short both times against Memphis. Tulsa took the only meeting with Rice during the regular season after defeating the Owls in the quarterfinals of last year's event. Speaking of Rice, it won just one of 16 league games and brings a seven-game slide into the postseason.

The first round comes to a close with the ninth-seeded UCF Knights taking on the eighth-seeded SMU Mustangs. The Ponies went 7-9 during the regular season in conference action, while the Knights finished 6-10. SMU, which has improved its win total by five games this season, captured the lone meeting during the season with the Knights. Both clubs are just 1-4 all-time in this event, so this is a good chance for one program to make a little noise.

The quarterfinal round begins on Thursday, as second-seeded Memphis awaits the winner of the East Carolina/Houston matchup. After four straight regular- season titles, including three consecutive perfect campaigns, the Tigers settled for a second place finish under first-year head coach Josh Pastner. Memphis came on strong down the stretch and the team is now in search of its fifth straight title in this event. Memphis, which is the only active member to have captured the C-USA Tournament, has won 15 of its last 16 games in this tourney.

The third-seeded UAB Blazers will take the floor in the second quarterfinal round game against either Tulane or Southern Miss. For the sixth time in seven years, the Blazers finished in the top four of the C-USA standings, although they dropped their last two games. Still, UAB is 23-7 overall and even spent time in the Top 25 this season. The Blazers are 13-14 all-time in the C-USA Championship, reaching the finals on two occasions.

The quarterfinals continue when the fourth-seeded Marshall Thundering Herd square off against the victor of the Rice/Tulsa pairing. With a 23-8 mark, Marshall recorded its highest win total since the 1987-88 season. The Herd also earned its first tourney bye since joining the league in 2005. Marshall however, has won just once in four prior appearances in this event.

The top-seeded Texas-El Paso Miners will make their first appearance in the final game of the quarterfinals against the survivor of the UCF/SMU contest. The 21st-ranked Miners are just one of three teams in C-USA history to win 15 league games, as they earned their first outright conference title since 1986-87. This is the fifth C-USA Tournament appearance for UTEP, which reached the semifinals in 2006 and 2008.