Conference #12 – Conference USA

Conference Winner:  UAB

Last year’s NCAA tournament team was not predicted to go to the dance at all.  This year it’s a little different with Jerod Haase’s team being the hunted and not the hunter.  A round 1 win over #3 seeded Iowa State was huge a blow for the Big 12 and showed the country that C-USA still had some fight in them.  This year UAB looks to be the king of the hill in C-USA will little resistance outside of Old Dominion.  UAB brings back a lot of the firepower that helped them advance to round 2 last year.

Possible At-Large:  Old Dominion

Last year ODU made their debut in Conference USA and turned a preseason last place prediction into an oh-so-close at large bid.  A late collapse prevented them from going to the NCAA but they had a successful none the less.  This year expectations are higher with most prognosticators predicting them as a close 2^nd to UAB.  I believe they are good enough to build a strong at large case but they may be at the mercy of a relatively weak conference.  ODU’s bid status will depend on their non-conference performance and I have them as one of the last 5-6 teams out.