Toyminator's 2002-2003 Conference USA Preview

Despite their unrelenting desire to create a power football conference, Conference USA will always be a basketball conference first! In fact, things are getting better at many of the basketball programs in this conference. With coaches like Bob Huggins, John Calipari, Rick Pitino & Tom Crean on the bench, this conference can arguably claim to be one of the top coaching hotbeds in the country! These guys are also doing it on the recruiting trial! This season's class, which is top notch, is just a prelude to next season's outstanding class! Already, the top big men in the country (Kendrick Perkins, James Lang, & Martin Iti) have selected Memphis, Louisville & UNC-Charlotte respectively! So the rest of the country better watch out! CUSA's future is so bright....well you know the rest!

As for this season, it should be much more competitive than the "chase Cincy" scenario of most years! Marquette is quickly becoming a national player, and may topple the Bearcats for the conference title this season! The Bearcats are always tough, yet the media constantly underestimates them year after year! They've got a great recruiting class coming in that could make some noise in year's to come! Of course, Louisville and Memphis continue to improve and should be Bubble teams come March. It's great to have Coach Cal & Coach Pitino back in the college game! The rest of conference isn't too bad, but most of them won't be heard from much this season!

ON THE RISE: Louisville
Nothing's changed since last season, as the Cards are quickly becoming a force in CUSA! Coach Pitino had a decent first season, but look for further improvement now that the players know what they're doing! Reece Gaines will be one of the top seniors in the country and Marvin Stone one of the top transfers, giving the Cards their first real inside threat in years. They got a real shot at making the Big Dance this season! Meanwhile, with some top recruits coming in next year, it should be a joy to watch Louisville, Marquette & Cincinnati battle for the conference title year after year!

IN DECLINE: UAB
Last season looked promising on paper, but things fell apart quickly on the court for the Blazers! The talent was there, but other than Will Campbell, nobody else on this team played with any heart, and it resulted in many bad losses! Thus, Coach Murry Bartow "resigned" (ya!) and unknown Mike Anderson takes over a team with little left! It will take awhile for him to get enough quality recruits in this program before it turns the corner and can compete again in this conference!

1. MARQUETTE

Strengths: Excellent team defense that forces many turnovers. Good rebounding team. Good shooting team. Tough at home.
Weakness: Poor ball handling & distribution. Thin, inexperienced bench.
Outlook: Coach Crean is quickly building a strong program up north! This team isn't quite as good as last season's but look for them to squeek out a conference title over the Bearcats!

2. CINCINNATI

Strengths: Stifling team defense. Good rebunding team. Limit their turnovers. Good 3-pt shooting team. Lots of depth. Excellent coaching.
Weakness: Weak backcourt. Questionable centers.
Outlook: Last season, Coach Huggins proved once again he's one of the best coaches in the game. He gets the most out of his players, period! Despite losing a number of talented players, don't count out the Bearcats! They'll be Top 25 all season long again!

3. LOUISVILLE

Strengths: Aggressive, quick team defense that forces many turnovers. Potent team offense. Deep bench. Good coaching.
Weakness: Poor rebounding team. Weak at PG - poor ball handling & distribution. Poor FT shooting team.
Outlook: The Cards are rising quickly under Rick Pitino and will be close behind Cinci & Marquette! Had PG Carlos Hurt not been booted, I believe they would have easily got an NCAA bid. Now, I believe they may lie squarely on the Bubble come March!

4. CHARLOTTE

Strengths: Good backcourt - handle & distribute ball well. Balanced offense. Decent team defense.
Weakness: Weak frontcourt with little inside scoring. Questionable 3-pt shooting team without Thomas.
Outlook: The 49ers are always tough but will slide a bit this year because of the strength of this division. If the frontcourt can come around, the NIT will be calling!

5. ST. LOUIS

Strengths: Excellent team defense. Good 3-pt shooting team. Very deep & experienced.
Weakness: Weak offense. Terrible ball handling & distribution. Poor rebounding team.
Outlook: Virtually everyone is back from last season, so that should be a good thing right? Well, Coach Romar took off for Washington, so they make take some time to adjust to a new system. If they can do that, the NIT is a possibility.

6. DEPAUL

Strengths: Solid froncourt. Good rebounding team. Loss of Sawyer & Kennedy.
Weakness: Poor shooting team. Weak backcourt, especially PG. Poor ball handling & distribution. Poor team defense.
Outlook: Hallelujah! Depaul has been exorcised from the real Blue Devils: Pat Kennedy & Imari Sawyer. Not having them around will make this team better already, along with Andre Brown's continued improvement down low. But, there's still a lot of work to do if they want to move up in the standings!

7. EAST CAROLINA

Strengths: Decent frontcourt that can score and rebound. Lots of experience.
Weakness: Poor shooting & rebounding team. Poor ball handling & distribution. Weak on offense & defense. Road woes!
Outlook: A decent team, but I don't think they will ever move up much in this division!

1. MEMPHIS

Strengths: Good shooting & rebounding team. Quick, aggressive defensive team. Good ball handling & distribution.
Weakness: Lost a lot of scorers! Poor FT shooting team. Very inexperienced. Inconsistency!
Outlook: Coach Cal can't seem to get a team on the floor that will win games on a consistent basis! Well, this season all his stars are in the NBA and all that's left are some scrappy players. That may be the formula that finally gets this team into the Big Dance!

2. TCU

Strengths: High powered offense with tons of scorers! Good ball handling & distribution.
Weakness: Poor team defense. Very small frontcourt that may struggle rebounding the ball.
Outlook: Billy Tubbs is gone, but the Horned Frogs are still going to be putting lots of points on the board! In this weak division, that may be enough to contend for the crown!

3. SOUTH FLORIDA

Strengths: Good ball handling & distribution. Good 3-pt shooting team. Solid bench.
Weakness: Poor team defense. Limited offense. Horrible FT shooting team.
Outlook: The Bulls have underachieved for years now, so I don't expect anything to change this season. However, if McDonald continues his improvement and Baker is as good as reported, they could move up and challenge Memphis.

4. TULANE

Strengths: Strong frontcourt. Good balanced offense. Lots of experience.
Weakness: Defense sucks! Very sloppy with the ball. Poor 3-pt & FT shooting team.
Outlook: Tulane is slowly improving every year and could surprise a few folks this season. If they only learn to play some defense now and then, they could seriously move up in this division!

5. HOUSTON

Strengths: Good shooting team.
Weakness: Pitiful team defense. Poor ball handling & distribution. Little frontcourt depth.
Outlook: The Cougars showed some improvement last season, but got hit hard during the offseason by stupidity! If Kevin Gaines doesn't return to school, they won't have a PG and will struggle big time!

6. UAB

Strengths: Solid team defense that forces many turnovers.
Weakness: Weak frontcourt, small backcourt. Struggle offensively. Poor ball handling & distribution.
Outlook: The Blazers tanked last season and it resulted in Murry Bartow getting the boot! It's still got some players to keep it out of the basement, but this program will take some time before turning around!

7. SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

Strengths: Good team defense. Deep frontcourt.
Weakness: Pitiful offense. Poor shooting & rebounding team. Poor ball handling & distribution.
Outlook: Hey, I actually got this right last year! I predicted them last, and that's where they ended up! Wow, I'm starting to know this team! Well, why stop when you're on a roll? Plus, nothing's changed since last season, so there's no reason not to predict them here again!

You are visitor number since 10/3/02

Last updated on 10/4/02 by toyminator@prodigy.net