Where is the Conference USA tournament? Dates, format, venue for the championships
No matter how much success Conference USA has in the postseason, and last year it had a tremendous amount, the men's league is stuck on one bid to the NCAA tournament.
That means the CUSA tournament, which runs from March 12-16 in Huntsville, Ala., is one shot for everyone to grab that ticket and become the tournament's Cinderella.
More: CUSA men's basketball tournament bracket
More: CUSA women's basketball tournament bracket
The tournament has relocated from its previous home in Frisco, Texas, where it was the previous six years, to VBC Propst Arena, which is about halfway between Birmingham and Nashville.
When is the Conference USA basketball championships?
The men's and women's tournaments are at VBC Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala., from March 12-16. Unlike the previous venue in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, there will be one court in Huntsville, so the tournament will stretch through five days.
The venue has an official capacity of 9,000 for basketball.
What is the format?
All nine teams in both men's and women's qualify for the tournament and the men's and women's tournaments follow the same timetable and format. The first day will feature 8 and 9 seeds playing each other for the right to face the No. 1 seed the next day.
On March 13, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds play the 8/9 winner and No. 7 respectively, and the winners of those games then receive a day off. On March 14, No. 4 opens its tournament against No. 5 and No. 3 plays No. 6, with the winner advancing to the semifinals on March 15.
The finals are on March 16 with the winners getting CUSA's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament the following week.
What channel are the games on?
This is where the men's and women's tournaments differ. In both cases, every game in the first two rounds, played out over three days, will be streamed on ESPN+. The CBS Sports Network picks up the men's semifinals, while the women will still be on ESPN+.
For the championship games, the women, then the men, take part in a CBS Sports Network doubleheader at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Mountain time, respectively.
Who gets the byes in C-USA Tournament?
Seven of the nine teams in the men's and women's tournaments, so 14 of the 18 teams coming to Huntsville, get byes, so the better question is who doesn't get them.
More: CUSA women's basketball standings
More: CUSA men's basketball standings
On the men's side, UTEP and Jacksonville State are tied for sixth and seventh, one game ahead of Florida International, with five games to play. The Miners play at Jacksonville State next Thursday (Feb. 29), which could be decisive in the race to avoid what amounts to a play-in game.
For the women, Sam Houston looks doomed to take one of the two bottom seeds. UTEP and Jacksonville State are tied for No. 5 and 6, one game ahead of Louisiana Tech. The Miners are at Jacksonville State and Louisiana Tech this weekend, so that could be decisive.
What's next for the winner?
Despite going 18-3 combined last season in the NCAA, NIT and CBI tournaments (admittedly every team who contributed to that left for the American Athletic), projections at the moment have the winner of the men's tournament getting a 15 or 16 seed in the NCAA tournament.
On the women's side, Middle Tennessee, with a 21-4 record, should get a middle seed if it wins. If it doesn't, it could still have a chance for an at-large bid — making CUSA a two-bid league, but it would be sweating.
Where's Huntsville?
Surprisingly to most people, Huntsville is the biggest city in Alabama, though it's metropolitan area is less than half of Birmingham's. It is nicknamed "The Rocket City" because of its proximity to the Army base Redstone Arsenal, which was integral in American space missions.
Famous people from Huntsville include actress Tallulah Bankhead and Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Dates, format, venue for the Conference USA basketball championships
