Sports season
The 2018–19 Conference USA men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in late December and concluded in early March.
Old Dominion won the C-USA regular season championship by two games. The conference used a regular season schedule format which the conference hoped will increase NCAA Tournament berths. whereby the 14 teams played each other once with a second game for travel partners in the first seven weeks of C-USA play.[ 1] After those 14 games, the league standings determined the matchups for the rest of the regular season.[ 2] The teams were divided into two groups of five (teams in first through fifth place and 6–10) and a group of four (11–14).[ 3] During the final three weeks, teams played within their respective grouping for the last four games of conference play. Home and away games within the groups were determined by a preset formula. C-USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod said that "With the goals to improve seeding and increase the number of teams that advance to the postseason, we viewed this as a great opportunity to enhance our top teams' resumes by providing them additional quality games within their conference schedule."[ 4]
The C-USA tournament was held from March 13–16, 2019 at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas . Old Dominion defeated Western Kentucky in the Tournament championship game. As a result Old Dominion received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament . No other C-USA teams received an NCAA Tournament bid.
Head coaches
Coaching changes
Following a loss to Lamar on November 27, 2017 that saw UTEP drop to 1–5 on the season, head coach Tim Floyd announced that he was retiring effective immediately.[ 5] [ 6] The school had previously announced a new athletic director, Jim Senter , a week prior, but Floyd said that had nothing to do with his decision.[ 7] [ 8] Assistant Phil Johnson was named interim head coach of the Miners the next day.[ 9] On March 12, 2018, the school hired Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry as the new head coach of the Miners.[ 10]
On December 14, 2017, head coach Mark Price was fired by Charlotte after a 3–6 start to the season and was replaced by Houston Fancher .[ 11] Houston Fancher was named interim coach for the remainder of the season.[ 12] On March 6, 2018, new athletic director Mike Hill fired Fancher.[ 13] On March 19, the school hired Virginia associate head coach Ron Sanchez as the school's new head coach.[ 14]
March 16, 2018, Florida Atlantic head coach Michael Curry was fired after four seasons.[ 15] On March 22, it was announced that the school had hired Florida assistant head coach Dusty May as head coach.[ 16]
Middle Tennessee head coach Kermit Davis left the school on March 19, 2018 to accept the head coaching job at Ole Miss .[ 17] [ 18] On March 24, the Blue Raiders named UNC Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt as the team's new head coach.[ 19]
On April 2, 2018, FIU fired head coach Anthony Evans after five seasons.[ 20] [ 21] On April 20, the school announced VCU associate head coach Jeremy Ballard was hired as the new head coach.[ 22] [ 23]
Coaches
Notes:
All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
Year at school includes 2018–19 season.
Overall and C-USA records are from time at current school and are through the end of the 2018–19 season.
Preseason
Preseason Coaches Poll
Source[ 24]
Rank
Team
1.
Western Kentucky (9)
2.
Marshall (5)
3.
Old Dominion
4.
North Texas
5.
UTSA
6.
Louisiana Tech
7.
Southern Miss
8.
UAB
9.
Middle Tennessee
10.
FIU
11.
UTEP
12.
Florida Atlantic
13.
Charlotte
14.
Rice
() first place votes
Preseason All-C-USA Team
Source[ 24]
Regular season
Conference matrix
This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.
Charlotte
FIU
Florida Atlantic
Louisiana Tech
Marshall
Middle Tennessee
North Texas
Old Dominion
Rice
Southern Miss
UAB
UTEP
UTSA
Western Kentucky
vs. Charlotte
–
1–0
0–1
0–1
1–0
2–0
1–0
2–0
2–1
1–0
0–1
1–1
1–0
1–0
vs. FIU
0–1
–
1–2
0–2
2–0
0–1
0–2
1–0
0–1
1–0
1–0
1–0
1–0
0–1
vs. Florida Atlantic
1–0
2–1
–
1–1
2–0
0–1
0–2
0–1
0–1
1–0
1–0
0–1
1–0
1–0
vs. Louisiana Tech
1–0
2–0
1–1
–
1–1
0–1
1–1
1–0
1–0
1–1
0–1
0–1
0–1
0–1
vs. Marshall
0–1
0–2
0–2
1–1
–
0–1
1–1
0–1
1–0
1–0
1–0
0–1
1–0
1–1
vs. Middle Tennessee
0–2
1–0
1–0
1–0
1–0
–
1–0
1–0
2–0
1–0
0–2
0–3
0–1
1–0
vs. North Texas
0–1
2–0
2–0
1–1
1–1
0–1
–
1–0
0–2
0–1
1–0
0–1
1–0
1–0
vs. Old Dominion
0–2
0–1
1–0
0–1
1–0
0–1
0–1
–
0–1
1–1
1–1
0–1
1–1
0–2
vs. Rice
1–2
1–0
1–0
0–1
0–1
0–2
2–0
1–0
–
0–1
1–0
1–1
1–0
1–0
vs. Southern Miss
0–1
0–1
0–1
1–1
0–1
0–1
1–0
1–1
1–0
–
1–1
0–1
0–2
2–0
vs. UAB
1–0
0–1
0–1
1–0
0–1
2–0
0–1
1–1
0–1
1–1
–
0–1
1–1
1–1
vs. UTEP
1–1
0–1
1–0
1–0
1–0
3–0
1–0
1–0
1–1
1–0
1–0
–
2–0
1–0
vs. UTSA
0–1
0–1
0–1
1–0
0–1
1–0
0–1
1–1
0–1
2–0
1–1
0–2
–
1–1
vs. Western Kentucky
0–1
1–0
0–1
1–0
1–1
0–1
0–1
2–0
0–1
0–2
1–1
0–1
1–1
–
Total
5–13
10–8
8–10
9–9
11–7
8–10
8–10
13–5
8–10
11–7
10–8
3–15
11–7
11–7
Postseason
C-USA Tournament
Only the top 12 conference teams were eligible for the tournament. Old Dominion defeated Western Kentucky in the tournament championship game.
First round Wednesday, March 13 ESPN+
Quarterfinals Thursday, March 14 Stadium/Facebook
Semifinals Friday, March 15 CBSSN
Championship Saturday, March 16 CBSSN
1
Old Dominion
57
8
Louisiana Tech
56
8
Louisiana Tech
57
9
Florida Atlantic
56
1
Old Dominion
61
5
UAB
59
4
UTSA
76
5
UAB
85
5
UAB
70
12
Middle Tennessee
61
1
Old Dominion
62
2
Western Kentucky
56
2
Western Kentucky
67
10
North Texas
51
7
FIU
57
10
North Texas
71
2
Western Kentucky
70
3
Southern Miss
59
3
Southern Miss
82
6
Marshall
73
6
Marshall
82
11
Rice
65
* denotes overtime period.
NCAA tournament
Seed
Region
School
First Four
First round
Second round
Sweet 16
Elite Eight
Final Four
Championship
14
South
Old Dominion
N/A
eliminated by (3) Purdue 48–61
References
^ Martin, Nick. "Conference USA Is Completely Revamping Its Conference Schedule Setup And It's Just Brilliant" . Deadspin . Retrieved May 30, 2018 .
^ "C-USA basketball schedule altered to match best teams late" . USA TODAY . Retrieved May 30, 2018 .
^ "To chase NCAA bids, C-USA will shuffle basketball schedule -- with season in progress" . charlotteobserver . Retrieved May 30, 2018 .
^ "Radical changes coming to Conference USA men's basketball schedule" . WTKR.com . May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018 .
^ "UTEP's Tim Floyd, a former coach of the Chicago Bulls, announces his retirement" . CBSSports.com . Retrieved November 28, 2017 .
^ "UTEP's Floyd retires after Miners fall to 1–5" . ESPN.com . Retrieved November 28, 2017 .
^ "Citing 'new world of college basketball,' Tim Floyd abruptly retires from coaching" . kansascity . Retrieved November 28, 2017 .
^ Villasana, Jose (November 28, 2017). "UTEP's new athletic director: We are going to engage our community" . KVIA . Retrieved November 28, 2017 .
^ Dauster, Rob. "UTEP announces that Phil Johnson will replace Tim Floyd" . Yahoo Sports. Retrieved November 28, 2017 .
^ Broaddus, Adrian (March 12, 2018). "UTEP hires Fresno State's Rodney Terry as their new basketball coach" . theprospectordaily.com . Retrieved March 12, 2018 .
^ Reed, Steve (December 14, 2017). "Charlotte fires basketball coach, former NBA star Mark Price" . The Charlotte Observer . Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2017 .
^ "Charlotte 49ers interim coach Houston Fancher: 'I ... hurt in my heart for Mark (Price)" . charlotteobserver . Retrieved March 21, 2018 .
^ "Why new 49ers AD's first act was firing interim basketball coach Houston Fancher" . charlotteobserver . Retrieved March 21, 2018 .
^ Goodman, Jeff (March 19, 2018). "Charlotte hires Virginia assistant Ron Sanchez as head coach" . ESPN.com . Retrieved March 19, 2018 .
^ Richardson, Shandel (March 16, 2018). "Florida Atlantic fires men's basketball coach Michael Curry" . Sun-Sentinel . Boca Raton, Florida . Retrieved March 16, 2018 .
^ Richardson, Shandel. "FAU names former Gators assistant Dusty May as new men's basketball coach" . Sun-Sentinel . Retrieved March 22, 2018 .
^ "Ole Miss announces Kermit Davis as Rebels' next coach" . ESPN.com . March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2018 .
^ "Ole Miss formally introduced Kermit Davis as its new men's basketball coach late Monday evening" . Retrieved March 21, 2018 .
^ Goodman, Jeff (March 24, 2018). "Nick McDevitt joins Middle Tennessee St. after lengthy run at UNC Asheville" . ESPN.com . Retrieved March 24, 2018 .
^ "FIU parts ways with coach Evans" . gwinettprepsports.com . April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018 .
^ Burke, Peter. "FIU parts ways with basketball coach Anthony Evans" . www.local10.com . Retrieved April 23, 2018 .
^ Epps Jr., Wayne (April 20, 2018). "VCU associate head coach Jeremy Ballard headed to Florida International" . Richmond Times-Dispatch . Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
^ Times-Dispatch, WAYNE EPPS JR. Richmond. "VCU associate head coach Jeremy Ballard headed to Florida International" . Richmond Times-Dispatch . Retrieved April 23, 2018 .
^ a b "MBB: WKU Tabbed Preseason Favorite" . Conference USA . Retrieved October 18, 2018 .
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