Over the past four seasons during the University of Memphis‘ streak of 30 or more wins, the biggest knock against their program has been the relatively easy wins the Tigers accumulate in conference play.
That conference of course is Conference USA, widely considered to be among the weaker in Men’s Division 1 basketball.
On the surface it would appear the nay-sayers are correct. But in reality, a closer examination of the conferences’ performance since 2006 indicates C-USA is actually much better than the pundits will have you believe.
Not only is C-USA much better than what people think, it wasn’t any better during the 2005 season, the last year Louisville, DePaul, Marquette, South Florida, St. Louis, Charlotte, Cincinnati and TCU bolted for greener pastures.
During the 2005 season, C-USA had the 9th best RPI among all 31 Division 1 conferences. Of the 14 teams in the conference at that time, nine finished the season with winning records.
In 2006, new members UTEP, Rice, Tulsa, SMU, Marshall and Central Florida joined holdovers Memphis, UAB, Houston, Tulane, Southern Mississippi and East Carolina.
Granted, the restructured conference struggled in its inaugural season, finishing with the 13th best RPI among all conferences.
Only four teams compiled winning records that season, with Memphis going 13-1 in conference play and making it all the way to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament.
2007 brought marked improvement among C-USA teams. The conference finished with the 9th best RPI among all conferences, the same RPI it had during 2005.
C-USA teams also performed much better individually, with seven programs compiling winning records. Memphis won the conference with a perfect 16-0 mark and again made an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA tournament.
In 2008, C-USA saw its RPI slip some to 10th best, but nine teams compiled winning records, up from seven the previous season.
Memphis again had a perfect conference mark, finishing 16-0 and made it all the to the national championship game in the NCAA tournament, just 2:12 away from winning the title.
During this season, C-USA finished with the 8th best RPI among all conferences, its best ranking since 2001. C-USAs best RPI rating came during the 1999 season when it was 6th best.
Six teams finished with winning records this season, with Memphis completing its conference schedule unblemished for the third straight season.
The Tigers are the No. 2 seed in the West Region and have a legitimate shot at making another deep run in the NCAA tournament.
Memphis and Conference USA in general have been knocked in the recent past, but the numbers clearly suggest the criticisms are unfounded.
Instead of hard data being the guide, outsiders only looked at the names on the jerseys. As opposed to seeing Louisville or Marquette listed among the conference members, analysts saw schools that hadn’t typically fielded competitive basketball teams.
Yet, as outlined above, C-USA actually had a better RPI this season than it did in 2005 when the conference was thought to be among the stronger in the nation.
The idea Memphis has played a bunch of cupcakes to pile up a lot of victories simply isn’t true. The fact Memphis is so much better than their competition is a testament to the program and the job John Calipari has done.
Not to mention, the talk of Memphis being a decent team rampaging through a weak conference can easily be dispelled. The Tigers run of two Elite Eights and national championship game appearances in the past three NCAA tournaments all but silences that myth.
So don’t blame Memphis for being so much better than their Conference USA foes. And as I’ve shown, the conference isn’t anywhere near as bad as many suggest.
The only conclusion then is that Memphis is a really good team, and it just so happens to play in pretty good conference it dominates year after year.
What’s wrong with that?
Nothing.
The numbers prove it.
[...] Is Conference USA really THAT bad? Posted by Gary Robinson That’s the question MoonDogSports.com attempts to answer. [...]