C-USA upsets could lead to bubbles bursting

TULSA, Okla. — With an Aubrey Coleman splash, Memphis' NCAA Tournament bubble may have burst.

The Houston guard cleverly stepped and then leaned his way through a double team to drain a banker from the right baseline to give the 2010 Conference USA Tournament its first true upset.

And, in the process, possibly give the Tigers their first NCAA Tournament-less March since the 2004-05 season.

Seventh-seeded Houston nipped second-seeded Memphis 66-65 in a C-USA quarterfinal game Thursday at the BOK Center.

The Tigers (23-9) now have to nervously wait until Selection Sunday to find out their postseason destination.

"It's very hard," said Memphis guard Willie Kemp, who was a member of the Tigers' national runner-up team in 2008. "The last couple of years we were in the NCAA Tournament.

"This year, losing in the (quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament), it's kind of hard."

During a Wednesday news conference, Marshall head coach Donnie Jones made the pitch for C-USA to be a multi-NCAA Tournament bid league.

He said UTEP, the conference's regular season champion and No. 21 team in the country, is a lock and then weighed the résumés of UAB and Memphis.

"UAB's had a great year," Jones said. "I know they've lost a couple here late, but they've had themselves some quality wins and their RPI's been very high all year long.

"Memphis has played as well as anybody here as of late, and I think they've moved themselves into position to gain an at-large bid."  

Then Thursday happened.

Approximately two hours after the Tigers were bounced, the third-seeded Blazers stubbed their postseason toe by falling to six-seed Southern Miss 58-44.

"We don't deserve (to play in the) NCAAs, we don't deserve (to play in) the NIT playing like this," said a dejected UAB coach Mike Davis.

Joe Lunardi, ESPN's resident "Bracketologist," updated his mock NCAA Tournament bracket Thursday morning before any game tipped off.

He listed Memphis as one of his last four teams in the "Big Dance" and had UAB as one of his last eight out.

Helped by key nonconference wins over Horizon League champion Butler and Big East-foe Cincinnati, the Blazers (23-8) have a league-best RPI of 40.

The Miners (25-5) are next at 41 and Memphis, with its best win coming at UAB on March 3, has an RPI of 46.

"(Memphis is) deserving of an NCAA bid," said Houston coach Tom Penders after his win over the Tigers. "If they're not one of the top 30 teams in the country, then that's a damn shame."

The Tournament selection committee takes into account teams' "good" wins — such as victories over teams with an RPI of 40 or better — and "bad" losses — such as defeats to teams with an RPI of 100 or worse.

  Memphis has now lost to Houston twice this season. The Cougars (17-15) have a lowly RPI of 161.

  Penders said his team's subpar record is not a total reflection of its ability, and thus, the Tigers should not be penalized for losing to them. 

  "People are going to look and (say), ‘Well Houston beat them twice,'" Penders said. "We can beat anybody. We can beat anybody — there's no question in my mind.

  "We've just had our ups and downs, a lot of injuries, a lot of illnesses."

  C-USA has not placed multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament since 2006 when Memphis and UAB went dancing.

  Of course, any team that wins its conference tournament receives an automatic bid.

Andrew Ramspacher can be contacted at ramspacher@marshall.edu.