2021 C-USA Tournament Bracket
Favorite to Win: Louisiana Tech (+175)
The Bulldogs enter this year’s tournament searching for their first-ever C-USA tournament victory. Louisiana Tech went 20-6 during the regular season (12-4 in the conference), including a stellar 15-1 mark at home. The Bulldogs rely on a very balanced offense, with 6 players averaging at least 8.9 points per game. Freshman forward Kenneth Lofton, Jr. has been a major factor for this team. He averages 7.5 rebounds per game (3rd in the conference), while shooting over 57% from the floor (5th in the conference). In addition, he’s won the C-USA Freshman of the Week award nine different times this season. Sophomore guard Isaiah Crawford is the team’s leading scorer, averaging just under 12 points per game on 49% shooting (40.7% from three). Tech is set to face off against either FAU or UTEP in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Team to Watch: UAB
UAB may not be an extremely under-the-radar pick, but they aren’t exactly receiving a ton of love when it comes to the odds for this tournament. After a 21-6 season, and a #2 seed in the tourney, they have just the 7th-best odds to win. They’ve allowed just over 60 points per game this season, and have held their opponents under that mark in 12 games this season. In the quarterfinals, they will play one of three teams (Marshall, Rice, or Southern Miss.).
A meeting with Marshall would certainly be intriguing, as it would pit one of the conference’s best defenses against one of the best offenses (Marshall leads the C-USA with 80.5 points per game). The Blazers have an experienced team, led by junior guard Tavin Lovan, and grad student Michael Ertel. UAB could be a sneaky pick to make a run in this tournament.
Player to Watch: Charles Bassey (Western Kentucky)
Bassey has been the catalyst for the Hilltoppers all season long. The Nigerian-born center leads the C-USA in rebounding (11.8 per game), and ranks 5th in scoring (17.6 per game). He’s also one of the most efficient players in the conference, with a shooting percentage over 61% on the season. The junior set the single-season record for most C-USA Player of the Week awards this season, with seven. 15-year NBA veteran Kenyon Martin previously set the record with Cincinnati in 2000.
With ESPN’s Joe Lunardi stating that Western Kentucky can still find their way into the tournament without winning the C-USA crown, the Hilltoppers need to make a run to the championship game at the very least. In order to do so, they will need Bassey to continue playing the way he has.
Tournament Teams: 1
This is a relatively common trend when it comes to mid-major conferences. Joe Lunardi (a.k.a Joey Brackets) currently has Western Kentucky as the only team from the C-USA qualifying for the tournament. As we saw in his linked tweet, the only real chance that two teams from this conference make the NCAA Tournament are if another team earns the qualifying bid by defeating the Hilltoppers in the championship game. Even then, Lunardi states that it’s “not probable” that WKU would also be selected.
If two teams do qualify, however, one would think that a team such as Louisiana Tech will be best equipped to knock off the Hilltoppers. The Bulldogs are the favorites in terms of odds, of course. However, in order to qualify without winning, WKU would likely need to dominate up until the title game, and then lose in a nailbiter. That’s a lot of “ifs”. It’s very likely that whoever wins this tournament will be the only team to qualify for March Madness.
Prediction
It’s hard to pick against Western Kentucky here. Out of their 3 losses in conference play, all three were by 5 points or less. As we already discussed, Charles Bassey has been the best player in the C-USA this season, and can take over any game. While there are several worthy opponents in this conference, the Hilltoppers shouldn’t have too much issue making a run to the championship game. From there, it’s just a matter of taking care of business.
While anything can happen when it comes to March basketball, Western Kentucky is my pick to cut down the nets on Sunday.
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