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Saturday, May 11, 2024
Determining who the very best teams in Conference USA were last year is like trying to find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. Perhaps only Mr. Owl could sort that out in a league that is just way too big because of the chase for football money.
UAB had a week off after their win over UNC, but did well to not enjoy the win too much. They showed it by pulling out a tough one at Northeastern, and now have another week before continuing as the veteran team they are.
A UAB transfer has dragged Saint Joseph’s and coach Phil Martelli into a messy, public spat, and too many people are eager to take sides.
UAB has some problems to fix after losing the team’s first two games of the season. All hope is not lost, however, if the team can make some adjustments fairly quickly.
Coach Mike Davis helped UAB exceed expectations last season, which makes it hard to pick the Blazers to fall too far back in Conference USA in 2011-12.
While NJIT’s losing streak gets plenty of attention, Monmouth also entered Saturday’s game without a win. They were 0-6, albeit against a very difficult schedule, so they were happy to get a win. The least difficult opponent they had played before Saturday is probably FIU, and that was a road game against a team not lacking in talent that has been hit by injuries.
The pre-Season NIT gave us four solid teams for the Thanksgiving week event at Madison Square Garden. Oklahoma captured the championship over Purdue in an overtime contest that had March-like intensity. Taking a look back, each team did several things well yet needs other areas to be addressed.
