Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Marshall Basketball: Important C-USA Games Wednesday Night (3/2/11)

If you are like me and want Marshall to earn a bye in the Conference USA Tournament you should be rooting for the following outcomes tonight.

Memphis @ East Carolina: Memphis (9-5) is right above Marshall in the conference standings while ECU (7-7) is right below. Being tied with Memphis is better than the Tigers being a game up so root for ECU. If Marshall and Memphis finish with identical league marks the tiebreaker would be based on each schools record against the conference champion. Memphis would get the tiebreaker if UAB or Southern Miss win the championship while Marshall would benefit if Tulsa or UTEP grab the number one spot.

SMU @ UCF: Sorry folks but root for Central Florida again, a SMU loss coupled with a Marshall win would put the Mustangs two games behind MU.

UAB @ Southern Miss: Marshall is not going to catch UAB in the standings. Even if they lose tonight UAB has ECU at home Saturday, a near certain win. Besides, UAB holds a tiebreaker over Marshall. Root for Southern Miss to lose, a Golden Eagles loss coupled with a Marshall win puts both teams at 9-6 in conference. Southern Miss travels to Tulsa for a tough matchup Saturday so Marshall overtaking USM is a real possibility.

Tulsa @ Rice: Rice might be empty calories but an Owls victory would help Marshall. A Tulsa loss and Marshall win evens both schools conference record at 9-6. As mentioned above Tulsa host Southern Miss Saturday. If both schools lose tonight Saturday’s matchup becomes an elimination game. Who ever losses would finish below Marshall if the Herd wins out.

To review, hope for the following outcomes tonight:

East Carolina over Memphis

Central Florida over Southern Methodist

Alabama Birmingham over Southern Mississippi

Rice over Tulsa

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