The Conference USA was overturned by conference realignment at the beginning of this decade, but in the end, actually gained more teams than they lost. One of the teams that transferred to C-USA was Middle Tennessee. In 2016, the Blue Raiders exploded onto the national scene as a dangerous mid-major when they toppled national title contender Michigan State in the first round as a 15 seed. They staged another upset last year, brushing aside Minnesota as a 12 seed. This year, Middle Tennessee may end up in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens in the C-USA tournament, but that is a theory they would not want to test.
The top twelve teams in the conference made the tournament out of a possible fourteen. The top four teams received a bye to the quarterfinals. The entire tournament will take place at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas.
First Round-Wednesday, March 7th
#9 Southern Miss vs. #8 Florida International
#12 UTEP vs. #5 UTSA
#10 Louisiana Tech vs. #7 North Texas
#11 FAU vs. #6 UAB
Quarterfinals-Thursday, March 8th
#8 Florida International vs. #1 Middle Tennessee
#5 UTSA vs. #4 Marshall
#7 Louisiana Tech vs. #2 Old Dominion
#6 UAB vs. #3 Western Kentucky
Semifinals-Friday, March 9th
#4 Marshall vs. #1 Middle Tennessee
#6 UAB vs. #2 Old Dominion
Final-Saturday, March 10th
Middle Tennessee should be safe for the tournament if they make it to the final. Still, I don't expect the Blue Raiders to leave that to chance and will get the automatic bid by winning this game.
Old Dominion 62, Middle Tennessee 69
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