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2009 Conference USA Men’s Basketball Tournament Predictions

Written March 10, 2009 by Jason Lowry

C-USA Basketball The 2009 Conference USA Men’s Basketball Tournament is just around the corner as first round action starts this Wednesday with the bottom 8 teams taking the floor, as the top 4 seeds receive a bye to the 2nd round. The tournament will be played at the FedexForum in Memphis, Tennessee, which gives quite the advantage to the No.1 seeded Memphis Tigers, who come into the tournament already the heavy favorites, as they are the #5 team in the country. While Memphis is a lock for the NCAA Tournament, the rest of the conference likely still has some work to do, and nearly every other team will need to win this tournament to get the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Here is a look at my 3 favorites to win the Conference USA tournament, and a sleeper I feel could sneak into the title picture. Bet C-USA Basketball Tournament at Bookmaker.com.

1. Memphis Tigers (28-3, 16-0 C-USA)

It would be a complete shock for any team not named Memphis to win the tournament this week, as the Tigers are far superior to any other team in this conference. The Tigers haven’t lost a game since the end of December, and that includes wins over non-conference teams like Cincinnati, Tennessee, and Gonzaga. Look for the Tigers to roll through this tournament and secure at worst a No.2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers will expect a solid tournament from their leading scorer Tyreke Evans, who comes in averaging 16.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game.

2. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (22-9, 12-4 C-USA)

The Golden Hurricane come in winners of 5 straight and will look to make it out of the bottom part of the bracket to potentially meet the Tigers in the finals. The Golden Hurricane played the Tigers twice during the regular season, and while the first matchup was close, losing by just 1 at home, the Golden Hurricane got destroyed at Memphis 63-37 in the second meeting. If the Golden Hurricane are going to somehow win this tournament, they are going to big time performances from both Jerome Jordan and Ben Uzoh.

3. UAB Blazers (21-10, 11-5 C-USA)

The Blazers also get the luxury of being on the bottom half of the bracket, but that means in order to get to the finals they will have to get through a very good Tulsa team. The Blazers played the Golden Hurricane just once during the regular season, losing by one point at Tulsa, so they have to have plenty of confidence they can beat them on a neutral court. The Blazers have 3 players averaging over 14.5 points per game, but the go to guy is senior Robert Vaden, who leads the team with a solid 17.5 points per game.

Sleeper: Texas-El Paso Miners (19-11, 10-6 C-USA)

The Miners earned the No. 4 seed in the tournament, but have a very tough task ahead of them, as they will face up with Memphis in the semifinals if they can get by their first opponent. The reason I like the Miners as my sleeper pick in this conference, is they played Memphis very good during the regular season, and while they ended up losing by 7 this team was in it all along and had a 3 point lead going into the 2nd half. The Miners have a big time scorer in Stefon Jackson, who leads the Miners with a very nice 23.8 points per game, and they will need that and much more if they are going to get by Memphis and the rest of Conference USA.

Prediction: Memphis Tigers

For those of you looking for some help on betting college basketball this tournament season, check out our expert NCAA basketball picks and get the latest college basketball odds for all the tournament games at Betfirms.

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