The ODU Monarchs will be the No. 3 seed in the upcoming C-USA Basketball Championships, March 11-14 in Birmingham, AL. ODU will play the winner of the Charlotte-Middle Tennessee game on Thursday at 3:30 ET.
As the top seed, Louisiana Tech will have a first-round bye at the championship. Other teams receiving first-round byes include No. 2 UTEP, No. 3 Old Dominion and No. 4 UAB, the tournament host. Wednesday's first-round match-ups feature: No. 7 UTSA vs. No. 10 FIU at Noon, No. 6 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 11 Charlotte at 2:30 p.m., No. 5 WKU vs. No. 12 Marshall at 6 p.m., and No. 8 North Texas vs. No. 9 Rice at 8:30 p.m. CT. Coverage of all four first round and all four quarterfinal games will be available on affiliates of the American Sports Network (ASN).
The tournament will get underway on Wednesday when FIU makes its C-USA Championship debut against UTSA at Noon. Both teams closed out the regular season with wins, as Panthers forward Adrian Diaz registered the first triple-double in Conference USA this season and the 16th in league history in a victory over UAB. The Roadrunners edged North Texas, 69-68, in the regular season finale to double its conference victory total from last season and improve its overall win total by six games. UTSA won the regular season meeting, 74-63 in Miami on Feb. 5.
Middle Tennessee and Charlotte meet in the second game on Wednesday. The Blue Raiders finished the regular season on a high note with a win at Florida Atlantic Saturday and a victory Wednesday over the 49ers would assure Middle Tennessee of its fourth straight winning season and seventh in eight years. Charlotte closed out the regular season by defeating Marshall on the way to Birmingham, where the 49ers won the last C-USA Championship played in the Magic City, winning four games in four days in 1999. Middle Tennessee, which was 12-3 at home this season, gained one of those victories over Charlotte, 72-69 on Jan. 24.
WKU will play its inaugural C-USA Championship game against Marshall to open Wednesday evening play at 6 p.m. The Hilltoppers need one victory for its third consecutive 20-win season and posted a 12-6 conference mark during their first year in the league. The Thundering Herd bounced back from a tough start to conference play by going 7-6 in league play down the stretch. The schools split a pair of regular season meetings, with WKU winning 81-62 in Bowling Green on Jan. 4 and Marshall posting an 85-82 victory in Huntington on Feb. 14. The last time WKU and Marshall met in the postseason was Feb. 22, 1952 in Louisville in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
The final game on Wednesday pits in-state rivals North Texas and Rice in the 8-9 game at 8:30 p.m. These are the same teams that opened last year's C-USA Championship, with the Mean Green advancing by one point in overtime. North Texas won both of this year's regular season meetings, taking a three-point decision in Houston on Jan. 10 and winning by 10 points in Denton on Jan. 31.
In Thursday's quarterfinal round, No. 2 UTEP will take on the winner of the UTSA-FIU game at Noon and No. 3 Old Dominion will face the winner of the Middle Tennessee-Charlotte match-up beginning at 2:30 p.m. No. 4 seed UAB will battle either WKU or Marshall at 6 p.m., while top-seeded Louisiana Tech will close out Thursday night against the winner of the North Texas-Rice contest at 8:30 p.m.
All men's championship games will be played at the Legacy Arena at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) in downtown Birmingham, site of the 1999 C-USA Championship. The semifinal games will be shown on CBS College Sports at 3 and 5:30 (CST). FOX Sports 1 will broadcast the championship game on Saturday, beginning at 2:30 p.m. (CST). All-Session tickets are on sale now. Single-game tickets will go on sale Sunday via Ticketmaster and Monday at the Legacy Arena at BJCC box office.
2015 Conference USA Championship Schedule
Legacy Arena at BJCC, Birmingham, Ala.
Wednesday, March 11
(10) FIU vs. (7) UTSA (ASN) - 12:00p
(11) Charlotte vs. (6) Middle Tennessee (ASN) - 2:30p
(12) Marshall vs. (5) WKU (ASN) - 6:00p
(9) Rice vs. (8) North Texas (ASN) - 8:30p
Thursday, March 12
FIU/UTSA vs. (2) UTEP (ASN) - 12:00p
Charlotte/Middle Tenn. vs. (3) Old Dominion (ASN) - 2:30p
Marshall/WKU vs. (4) UAB (ASN) - 6:00p
Rice/North Texas vs. (1) Louisiana Tech (ASN) - 8:30p
Friday, March 13
Semifinal # 1 (CBS Sports Network) - 3:00p
Semifinal # 2 (CBS Sports Network) - 5:30p
Saturday, March 14
Championship Game (FOX Sports 1) - 2:30p
All Times CENTRAL