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2008 Conference USA Basketball Tournament Predictions
The Conference USA Tournament is set to take place March 12-15. The tournament will be held at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, which is the home of the NBA Memphis Grizzlies. The 12-team conference will not be bringing to much NBA talent outside of the hometown favorite Memphis Tigers. Conference USA is a 12-team conference that like many other conferences awards its top 4 regular season finishers a free pass on the first day of play, and forcing the rest of the league to win 4 games in 4 days. Memphis will come in, as huge favorites as it finished conference play undefeated. The 2 seed will go to UAB and the 3 seed going to Houston. The 4th seed will likely wind up in the hands of UCF.While Memphis has secured a spot in the tournament even if it were to lose in the first round, they must win in order to get a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This is hugely because the conference is very weak and any loss would send them to a #2 seed without hesitation. The only other team to have a chance at making it to the big dance is UAB. UAB currently has an RPI of 41, but their strength of schedule is not so impressive at 113. While they won’t be hurt by their loss to Memphis in the final game of the regular season, they simply can’t lose to anyone else if they want to remain in consideration. While they got blown out the second time against Memphis, they had them beat in the first match up before letting it get away and losing by 1. So lets take a look at who we think will win the Conference USA Tournament and the team that can help themselves the most.
Winner: Memphis Tigers
This was one of the easiest tournament picks we have had to make. They are simply a class above the rest of the teams in their division. While they finished the regular season in conference play undefeated they nearly did the same in the regular season winning all but a very close game against an excellent Tennessee team. While their conference is weak they had a very impressive non-conference schedule beating teams such as Georgetown, Connecticut, Arizona, USC, Oklahoma, and Gonzaga. All of these teams are tournament bound at the end of the year, and that just lets you know how scary this team really is.
Big Mover: UAB Blazers
The Blazers win this spot basically because they are the only team that can help themselves this weekend. Grant it if Memphis were to get upset then another team would get an automatic bid, but we don’t see that happening at all. While their record is impressive at 22-9, that is mainly because they haven’t played anyone this season. Their most impressive win game against a Kentucky team that was playing like it didn’t have a clue what was going on. Since then Kentucky has got things figured out and are likely on the way to an improbable invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The fact that they have won 9 of their last 12, and two of those losses coming against Memphis, it should help their slim chances. They must make it to the finals of the Conference USA Tournament, and will likely need to play Memphis respectably to have a shot.
For all your conference tournament and NCAA Tournament betting needs go to Sportsbook.com. It’s fast and easy to get going and will have you ready to get going on this year’s action. Be sure to check out some of our featured articles on the top teams in the NCAA and their odds to win it all found at Sportsbook.com. Also, continue to check back for more NCAA Tournament help.
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