Conference USA Preview

The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518.   Blue Ribbon Forecast No. American Division Team  '01-02 Conf. Rec. (Overall) 1. Marquette  13-3 (26-6)  2. Cincinnati  14-2 (30-3)  3. Louisville  8-8 (18-12)   4. Charlotte  11-5 (18-11)  5. Saint Louis  9-7 (15-16)  6. DePaul  2-14 (9-19)  7. East Carolina  5-11 (12-18)  Louisville G Reece Gaines Craig Jones/Getty Images No. National Division Team  '01-02 Conf. Rec. (Overall) 1. Memphis  12-4 (22-9)  2. TCU  6-10 (16-15)  3. Tulane  5-11 (14-15)   4. South Florida  8-8 (19-12)  5. Southern Mississippi  4-12 (10-17)  6. Houston  9-7 (18-14)  7. UAB  6-10 (13-17)  Marquette G Dwyane Wade Craig Jones/Getty Images

All-Conference Team Did You Know? G: Reece Gaines SR, Louisville G: Dwyane Wade JR, Marquette F: Jason Maxiell SO, Cincinnati F: Bingo Merriex SR, TCU C: Earl Barron SR, Memphis Player of the Year Reece Gaines SR, Louisville Newcomer of the Year Greg Johnson JR, Southern Mississippi Top Backcourts 1. Marquette 2. Louisville 3. Saint Louis Top Frontcourts 1. Cincinnati 2. Marquette 3. Memphis 2002-03 Conference Tournament March 12-15, Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY 2001-02 Champions Cincinnati (American, overall and conference tournament) Memphis (National) 2001-02 NCAA Tournament Postseason Record 7-6 (.538) NCAA Cincinnati (Second round) Charlotte Marquette NIT Memphis (Champion) Louisville (Second round) South Florida Houston Cincinnati has won either the conference regular-season or tournament championship in each of the last 11 years. Five times during that span, the Bearcats won both titles. A year ago, Cincinnati won its seventh straight regular-season championship and the league tournament   Charlotte (five) is second only to Cincinnati (seven) among Conference USA members in NCAA Tournament appearances since the league began. The 49ers are one of only 21 teams in the country to have played in the NCAAs in five of the last six years   Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins won his 500th career game when the Bearcats defeated Boston University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last March. Huggins, 500-171 entering his 22nd season, is the 95th coach in NCAA history to win at least 500 games. Huggins' .744 winning percentage is second among active coaches only to Roy Williams of Kansas (.807)   Four league schools have new coaches this season. Former Connecticut assistant Dave Leitao takes over at DePaul. Neil Dougherty, who formerly worked for Williams at Kansas, succeeds Billy Tubbs at TCU. Brad Soderberg supplants former boss Lorenzo Romar after the latter left Saint Louis for Washington, his alma mater. Finally, Birmingham native Mike Anderson, a long-time assistant at Arkansas, returns home to replace Murry Bartow at UAB   South Florida junior swingman Jimmy Baxter defended his C-USA high jump title last May. The track and field All-American won with a jump of 7-0.50   Memphis is the only team in Division I to finish the last two seasons with a win in its last postseason game. The Tigers defeated Detroit in the third-place game of the NIT in 2001, then won the event in 2002   After just three seasons on the job, Marquette coach Tom Crean has already sent two assistants on to head-coaching jobs. Tim Buckley (Ball State) was the first to leave, in 2001, followed by Tod Kowalczyk (Wisconsin-Green Bay) after last season

 

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