Toyminator's 2000-2001 Conference USA Preview

Conference USA's first National Championship was in the bag last season until Cincinnati's All-Everything Kenyon Martin went down with a season ending injury. Let's face it...the Bearcats were the best team in the country last season, but fate bitch-slapped them once again and Coach Bob Huggins will have to wait a few more years for another shot! This season's squad will have a number of new faces, but as always, they will be the team to beat, despite the fact that Depaul might have more talent. The Blue Demons should have their best season in ages, but will still be a step behind the Bearcats thanks to their coaching nightmare on the sidelines, Pat Kennedy. In fact, look for a rejuvenated Memphis program to be Cincinnati's biggest threat to conference supremity in the next few years. Coach John Calipari has yet to coach a game for them, and he's already improved the team immensely by adding loads of talented players. And watch out next year when prep phenom Dujuan Wagner lights up the nation (assuming the NBA doesn't swipe him first)!

Two other teams to watch are South Florida & Charlotte. The Bulls should be the other favorite (besides Memphis) to win the National Division, thanks to their talented pair of forwards, B.B. Waldon & Altron Jackson. I haven't figured out which one is the better NBA prospect, but both will be playing at the next level in the near future. Charlotte dropped the UNC- prefix, but added a number of high quality newcomers to an already decent group of returnees. In fact, if Cincinnati and/or Depaul falter for just a sceond, the 49ers could sneak away with the American Division title! All in all, the conference is stronger overall and thus, should be much more competitive (and entertaining) this season.

ON THE RISE: Memphis
Like, duh! When you convince an exceptional college coach like John Calipari to take over your program, it's pretty much assured that things will be getting much better...real soon! The Tigers already had some quality players, such as Kelly Wise & Courtney Trask, but Coach Cal didn't take long to attract a number of high profile recruits for this (and next) season. Now it's just a matter of getting them to play like a team, which should not be too much of a problem for Calipari. With all this talent, this team could sneak into the Top 25 this season already!

IN DECLINE: Tulane
With most of their top players and head coach gone from last season's surprising squad, there won't be another repeat this time around! The Green Wave have some really bad shooters on their team, and its defense won't be able to carry them like they did last season. New coach Shawn Finney will have a hard time keeping this program out of the basement, where its spent way too much time in recent years!

1. CINCINNATI

Strengths: Solid defense that forces many turnovers. Good rebounding team. Good ball handling & distribution. Team quickness.
Weakness: Lost a ton of talent & leadership. Very inexperienced & thin frontcourt.
Outlook: Coach Huggins will have quite a challenge on his hands! But there's almost an entire JUCO All-Star team coming in, and this program (along with Oklahoma) historically has had good success with JUCO players. They'll be beatable, but they'll still be good!

2. DEPAUL

Strengths: Solid frontcourt with good inside scoring & rebounding. Good team defense. Lots of young talent.
Weakness: Big hole at SG. Too many turnovers. Lack of frontcourt depth. Coaching.
Outlook: If freshman Andre Brown is eligible, this team may be good enough to topple the Bearcats. If not, then they'll have to keep an eye on Charlotte coming up from behind! Either way, it should be a good season for Blue Demon fans!

3. CHARLOTTE

Strengths: Good backcourt, who can handle the rock. Good team defense. Lots of quality players on the bench.
Weakness: Poor shooting team. Little inside scoring. Inexperienced bench.
Outlook: Backcourt will be stable, so its up to their inexperienced, yet talented, frontcourt to produce. If someone can step up, the new look 49ers will make some noise in the conference & maybe in the NCAA Tournament.

4. MARQUETTE

Strengths: Excellent team defense. Good rebounding team. Good 3-pt shooting team.
Weakness: Struggle offensively. Poor ball handling & distribution. Poor FT shooting team.
Outlook: Coach Crean is starting to rejuvenate this program, but it will take awhile to get some talent to arrive in Milwaukee. NIT is possible.

5. LOUISVILLE

Strengths: Solid backcourt. Good team defense.
Weakness: VERY inexperienced frontcourt. Little returning talent. Poor rebounding team. Poor 3-pt shooting team.
Outlook: The Cards will be doing some serious rebuilding this season, especially in the frontcourt where freshman rule. Backcourt is good enough to squeak out some wins, but this team may not be playing anywhere in March.

6. ST. LOUIS

Strengths: Good team defense that forces many turnovers. Good young coaching staff.
Weakness: Pitiful offense, without a leader to turn to. Commit way too many turnovers.
Outlook: Without Justin Love putting up about 20 a night, this team will struggle to score points. No surprise tournament run this season!

1. MEMPHIS

Strengths: Big, talented frontcourt. Quick, aggressive defensive team. Lots of capable bodies coming off the bench!
Weakness: Despite size, need to rebound better. Too many turnovers. Poor FT shooting team.
Outlook: A real coach + talented players + weak division = division title. Seems like a simple equation, but first this team must come together and play like one. That will be Coach Calipari's biggest challenge this season.

2. SOUTH FLORIDA

Strengths: Explosive offense with lots of talented wing players. Good rebounding team. Good 3-pt shooting team. Experience.
Weakness: Poor team defense. Poor FT shooting team. Better ball handling needed.
Outlook: Should be the favorite to win the division, but they seem to underachive each season. Plenty of talent, but still some questions remain at PG & C positions. Even if division title eludes them, should at least be a bubble team.

3. SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

Strengths: Excellent team defense. Good FT shooting team. Good experience.
Weakness: Struggle to score points. PG - poor ball handling & distribution.
Outlook: I admit I was really off last season when I predicted it could get ugly in Hattiesburg. Well, it did...just for other teams! So I won't make the same mistake again, but I still don't see them much more than a .500 team.

4. HOUSTON

Strengths: Young, talented frontcourt. Good depth in backcourt.
Weakness: Pitiful team defense. Too many turnovers. Poor rebounding team.
Outlook: The Williams/Ford combination down low will be tough to stop! Unfortunately, the Cougars can't stop anyone on defense, so it doesn't really matter. New coach Ray MacCallum may help improve that area, but someone in the backcourt needs to step up as well!

5. UAB

Strengths: Good experience. Lots of promising newcomers.
Weakness: Poor shooting team. Undersized frontcourt. Poor team defense.
Outlook: If Ransom is lost for the season, then the Blazers will be very thin up front and could get beaten up all season. If he's healthy, they could jump up a few places in the standings.

6. TULANE

Strengths: Good team defense.
Weakness: Poor offense. Poor ball-handling team. Horrible FT shooting team. Very inexperienced.
Outlook: There's little left for their young coach Shawn Finney, so just forget about them for a couple a years!

You are visitor number since 9/25/00

Last updated on 9/30/00 by toyminator@prodigy.net