C-USA Tournament Odds, Picks, and Bracket

• Louisiana Tech and North Texas are co-favorites to win the Conference USA Tournament, which begins Tuesday at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas
• Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky, UAB, and Old Dominion have double byes into the quarterfinals
• Odds for the C-USA Tournament along with betting advice can be found below

The Conference USA Tournament is quite the affair. It consists of 14 teams, five rounds, and two courts being used simultaneously at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Two preliminary round games will be played Tuesday when Rice (13-12), the sixth seed from the West Division, plays Southern Miss (8-16), the #7 seed from the West, at 7:00 pm ET on Court A.

At 7:30 pm on Court B, #6E Middle Tennessee (5-17) and #7E FIU (9-17) square off.

The #4W-seed UTSA (14-10) faces #5E Charlotte (9-15) in a second-round game Wednesday at 5:30 pm on Court A and #4E Florida Atlantic (12-9) meets #5W UTEP (12-11) at 8:30 pm on Court B. #3E Marshall (15-6) and #3W North Texas (13-9) have byes into the second round.

Meanwhile, #1E Western Kentucky (18-6), #2W UAB (21-6), #1W Louisiana Tech (20-6) and #2E Old Dominion (15-7) have double byes into the quarterfinals Thursday.

The semifinals are set for Friday and the championship game will be played Saturday, March 13th, at 9:00 pm ET. The winner gets a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

2021 C-USA Tournament Odds

Odds from William Hill on March 8.

The Co-Favorites

Led bt star freshman forward Kenneth Lofton Jr, Louisiana Tech enters as the tournament co-favorite alongside North Texas, despite the two teams being on opposite ends of the momentum spectrum.

📢: Congratulations to @LATechHoops’ Kenneth Lofton, Jr., #CUSAMBB Freshman of the Week presented by @surfandturfgolf!! 🏀⁰
🏅9️⃣ | #TheCUSAWay pic.twitter.com/vVEAraA2M9

— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) March 7, 2021

Louisiana Tech has won five games in a row and nine of its last 10. North Texas is on a three-game losing streak, though it should have a bit of advantage with the event being played in its home area.

Among the 14 C-USA teams, La Tech has the best adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com, allowing 92.7 points per 100 possessions.

The Bulldogs do not have a go-to scorer but do have three players with double-digit scoring averages – sophomore forward Isaiah Crawford (11.8), senior guard Kalob Ledoux (11.3) and Lofton (11.2).

Lofton is also averaging 7.5 rebounds, shooting 56.9% from the field, and accounts for 28.3% of Louisiana Tech’s possessions when he is on the floor. Crawford is pulling down 5.1 rebounds a game.

Guard Javion Hamlet is one of four North Texas seniors scoring in double figures with a 14.4 PPG average. He is also dishing out 4.1 assists a game and is an 89.2% free-throw shooter.

Javion is built for this. ⚒️😤#GMG | @javion_hamlet pic.twitter.com/Dy7KX1AAZI

— North Texas Basketball (@MeanGreenMBB) January 27, 2021

Guard Thomas Bell is having a solid all-round season with averages of 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds and shooting percentages of 54.7% on field goals and 39.0% on three-pointers. Forward Zachary Simmons is shooting 66.0% while averaging 10.3 points and 6.2 rebounds.

The Contenders

Junior center Charles Bassey leads Western Kentucky, which has won three of its last four games. Considered C-USA’s top player per KenPom, Bassey is averaging 17.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.1 blocked shots. He also has a 61.1 field-goal percentage.

Who else but Charles Bassey? @WKUBasketball | @ConferenceUSA pic.twitter.com/8dLCNG8gtO

— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) January 24, 2021

Senior guard Taveion Hollingsworth is scoring 14.3 points a game. Senior guard Josh Anderson has a 9.5 average while making 1.8 steals a game.

UAB has won back-to-back games and four of its last five games behind a balanced offense.

Senior guard Michael Ertel is averaging 12.8 points and has committed just 25 turnovers in 760 minutes played. Junior guard Tavin Lovan has a 12.1 scoring average and senior guard Quan Jackson has averages of 10.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals.

.@tavinlovan with a huge bucket to put UAB up by nine.

UAB 59, UNT 50 | 2H 3:32 #WinAsOne pic.twitter.com/ejqGCb8aIN

— UAB Men's Basketball (@UAB_MBB) March 6, 2021

Marshall is on a three-game winning streak and has won six of its last seven games. The Thundering Herd’s 110.7 adjusted offensive efficiency leads the conference and is 55th in the nation.

Leading the offensive charge is junior guard Taevion Kinsey, one of C-USA’s most dynamic and durable players. He is averaging 20.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists a game, is shooting 54.2% from floor and 44.2 from long range and has played 93.5% of Marshall’s minutes.

Taevion Kinsey can FLY 😳 pic.twitter.com/alJbe2tSdQ

— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) January 15, 2021

Watch Out for UTEP

Playing a rare early-March non-conference game, UTEP nearly pulled a stunner last Wednesday at Kansas. The Miners led by 15 points before falling 67-62 as 15-point underdogs.

UTEP, which won its last four conference games, has a big-time scorer in junior guard Souley Boum, who is averaging 18.6 a game while playing 88.8% of its minutes Senior forward Bryson Williams has averages of 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds and is an 85.1% free throw shooter.

UTEP looks worthy of a small wager at long odds.

Picking a Winner

Quite a few teams could potentially get hot this week and win C-USA’s automatic bid.

However, no one is playing better than Louisiana Tech right now. The Bulldogs’ depth and defense make them the team to beat.

The Pick: Louisiana Tech (+250)