Louisiana Tech edged UTEP and Old Dominion for the top seed in the 2015 Conference USA Tournament, and they're the betting favorites at the online sportsbooks to win the event this week and walk away with the automatic bid to March Madness.
At Sportsbook top-seeded Louisiana Tech is the 2/1 favorite on the odds to win the Conference USA Tournament, after they went 24-7 overall (11-15 ATS) and 15-3 in conference play during the season. No. 2 UTEP and No. 3 Old Dominion both had conference records of 13-5.
Those three schools along with No. 4 UAB all have a bye into Thursday's quarterfinals, with UTEP at 9/4, Old Dominion at 3/1, and UAB at 5/1 on the Conference USA Tournament betting lines at Sportsbook.
First-round action at the tournament on Wednesday then has No. 8 North Texas vs. No. 9 Rice, No. 5 Western Kentucky vs. No. 12 Marshall, No. 7 UTSA vs. No. 10 Florida International, and No. 6 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 11 Charlotte, with Sportsbooks advancing to the quarterfinals.
Conference USA Tournament Odds at Sportsbook
Louisiana Tech 2/1
UTEP 9/4
Old Dominion 3/1
UAB 5/1
Middle Tennessee 12/1
Western Kentucky 12/1
UTSA 25/1
North Texas 66/1
Rice 66/1
Florida International 100/1
Charlotte 150/1
Marshall 150/1
Conference USA Tournament Schedule
Sportsbook Round - March 11
Quarterfinals - March 12
Semifinals - March 13
Championship Game - March 14
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The top four seeds in Conference USA Tournament betting action have all advanced to the semifinal round of the event at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso on Friday.
No. 1 Louisiana Tech will take on No. 4 Southern Miss on Friday, while No. 2 Tulsa faces No. 3 Middle Tennessee. In the quarterfinals on Thursday Tulsa topped Tulane 70-49, Middle Tennessee got past Old Dominion 62-48, Southern Miss knocked off UTEP 64-56, and Louisiana Tech beat Charlotte 86-65.
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No. 1 Louisiana Tech and No. 2 Tulsa will get into the Conference USA Tournament action on Thursday as that event hits its quarterfinal round at the Don Haskins Center.
Louisiana Tech takes on Charlotte on Thursday, while Tulsa goes up against Tulane. The other two quarterfinal matchups on Thursday are Old Dominion vs. Middle Tennessee, and UTEP vs. Southern Miss.
Wednesday's second-round results at the C-USA Tournament were Tulane over North Texas 66-61, Old Dominion over Marshall 73-58, UTEP over East Carolina 77-68, and Charlotte over UAB 80-70
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Conference USA Tournament odds action tips off at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso on Tuesday night with the six lowest seeds at the event hitting the hardwood while the higher seeds await their opponents.
Tuesday's action has No. 10 North Texas vs. No. 15 Rice, No. 11 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 14 Marshall, and No. 12 East Carolina vs. No. 13 UTSA. Those Sportsbooks move on to play No. 7 Tulane, No. 6 Old Dominion, and No. 5 UTEP, with No. 8 UAB vs. No. 9 Charlotte rounding out second-round Conference USA Tournament betting action.
No. 1 Louisiana Tech, No. 2 Tulsa, No. 3 Middle Tennessee, and No. 4 Southern Miss will begin their run in the quarterfinals of Conference USA Tournament betting action on Thursday, with the semifinals on Friday, and the championship game of the event on Saturday.
Conference USA Tournament Odds at Sportsbook
Louisiana Tech +110
Southern Miss +380
Middle Tennessee +400
Tulsa +475
UTEP +575
UAB +4500
Old Dominion +5000
Charlotte +7000
Marshall +10000
North Texas +15000
Florida Atlantic +15000
East Carolina +30000
Tulane +50000
Rice +200000
UTSA +250000
Conference USA Tournament Schedule
Sportsbook Rounds - March 11-12
Quarterfinals - March 13
Semifinals - March 14
Championship Game - March 15
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No. 2 Southern Miss picked up an easy 81-66 win against No. 7 UAB Thursday to advance to the C-USA semifinals. Southern Miss will take on No. 3 UTEP, which defeated Houston 80-69 on Thursday. UTEP is 5-2 SU and 4-3 ATS in its last seven games against Southern Miss.
As expected, No. 1 Memphis picked up its 22nd straight win against No. 8 Tulane in an 81-68 victory. Memphis will now face No. 5 Tulsa Friday after Tulsa advanced to the semifinals with a 79-72 win over East Carolina. Memphis is 14-1 SU and 10-5 ATS in its last 15 games against Tulsa.
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No. 7 UAB edged No. 10 SMU 53-52 Wednesday to earn a C-USA quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 Southern Miss. Southern Miss is 5-2 SU and 3-4 ATS in its last seven games against UAB.
No. 6 Houston defeated No. 11 Rice 72-67, and will face No. 3 UTEP in the quarterfinals. UTEP is 5-2 SU and 2-3-2 ATS in its last seven against Houston.
No. 8 Tulane beat No. 9 Marshall on Wednesday 66-64, setting up a quarterfinal date Thursday with No. 1 Memphis. Memphis has beaten Tulane 21 straight times by an average score of 19.2 points.
Thursday’s quarterfinals wrap up with No. 5 Tulsa against No. 4 East Carolina.
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No. 1 Memphis has completely dominated Conference USA basketball for nearly a decade now, winning six of the last seven Conference USA tournaments.
After compiling a perfect record of 16-0 SU in conference play this year, there isn’t much reason to expect anything different in this year’s Conference USA Tournament. Memphis is a 4/5 favorite to win the Conference USA Tournament at Sportsbook.
Wednesday’s first round begins with a matchup between No. 10 SMU (66/1) and No. 7 UAB (33/1). UAB has won each of its last six games against SMU, though it hasn’t been all smooth sailing as five of those six games were decided by six points or less.
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No. 6 Houston (33/1) should have no trouble advancing into the quarterfinals as it is slated to play No. 11 Rice (750/1) on Wednesday. Rice went just 5-25 SU this season and 1-15 SU in the conference; though that one conference win did come against Houston back in January.
Since then, Rice has lost 10 straight, including an 84-62 loss to Houston.
Rounding out Wednesday’s first round action, No. 9 Marshall (66/1) is set to take on No. 8 Tulane (33/1). Marshall is 4-1 SU in its last five games against Tulane, but Tulane had the superior overall record this season (18-13 to Marshall’s 13-18) and crushed Marshall 91-75 in their only meeting this season.
The top three seeds in the conference await the Sportsbooks of Wednesday’s games in the quarterfinals on Thursday. No. 1 Memphis will take on the Sportsbook of Marshall vs. Tulane, No. 2 Southern Miss (19/10) will face the Sportsbook of SMU vs. UAB, and No. 3 UTEP will play against the Sportsbook of Rice vs. Houston.
No. 4 East Carolina (20/1) and No. 5 Tulsa (18/1) will also be in action Thursday as they square off in the final quarterfinal game. Tulsa is 8-1 SU and 7-2 ATS in its last nine games against East Carolina, but lost 72-63 in their one meeting this year.
Conference USA Tournament Odds - courtesy of Sportsbook:
Memphis 4/5
Southern Miss 19/10
UTEP 6/1
Tulsa 18/1
East Carolina 20/1
Houston 33/1
Tulane 33/1
UAB 33/1
Marshall 66/1
Southern Methodist 66/1
Rice 750/1
Wednesday, March 13 – First Round
4:30 PM ET – No. 10 SMU vs. No. 7 UAB (Game 1)
7:00 PM ET – No. 11 Rice vs. No. 6 Houston (Game 2)
9:30 PM ET – No. 9 Marshall vs. No. 8 Tulane (Game 3)
Thursday, March 14 – Quarterfinals
1:00 PM ET – Game 1 Sportsbook vs. No. 2 Southern Miss (Game 4)
3:30 PM ET – Game 2 Sportsbook vs. No. 3 UTEP (Game 5)
7:00 PM ET – Game 3 Sportsbook vs. No. 1 Memphis (Game 6)
9:30 PM ET – No. 5 Tulsa vs. No. 4 East Carolina (Game 7)
Friday, March 15 - Semifinals
4:00 PM ET - Game 4 Sportsbook vs. Game 5 Sportsbook
6:30 PM ET - Game 6 Sportsbook vs. Game 7 Sportsbook
Saturday, March 16 - Championship Game
11:30 AM ET - Semifinal Sportsbooks
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After winning the Conference USA Tournament last season and putting together a strong regular season of 13-3 in conference play and 23-8 overall, the Memphis Tigers are a substantial favorite to win the conference tournament again this season.
Memphis opened up as heavy chalk of 2/7 to win the Conference USA Tournament at Sportsbook. The Southern Miss Golden Eagles, who finished the regular season 11-5 in conference play and 24-7 overall, are the second betting choice at 11/2.
But both of those teams will have a bye during the first round of the Conference USA tournament, which kicks off at 1:00 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday when the 10-seed East Carolina Pirates take on the 7-seed Rice Owls. East Carolina is 4-1 straight up in its last five games against Rice, and the total has gone OVER in six of the last seven games between these two teams.
No. 11 Southern Methodist goes up against No. 6 Marshall, and the only question looks to be whether or not Marshall will cover the spread or not. Marshall has won each of its last seven games against SMU, but is just 3-4 ATS over that span.
In the most evenly-matched game of the first round, the No. 9 Houston Cougars face the No. 8 UTEP Miners. Not only do these two teams have similar records this season, but they are also each 5-5 straight up against each other in their last 10 meetings. UTEP holds the slight straight up edge recently of 4-2 in the last six games, but Houston holds the ATS edge with a 5-2-1 ATS record over the last eight.
The longest shot in the tournament at 300/1, the No. 12 Tulane Green Wave, will try their luck against the UAB Blazers. UAB is 9-1 straight up and 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games against the Green Wave.
Check out the live Conference USA odds and see matchup reports and betting trends on every game.
Conference USA Tournament Odds - courtesy of Sportsbook:
Memphis 2/7
Southern Miss 11/2
Marshall 12/1
UCF 12/1
Tulsa 14/1
UAB 30/1
Rice 50/1
East Carolina 100/1
UTEP 100/1
Houston 200/1
SMU 200/1
Tulane 300/1
Wednesday, March 7 - First Round
1:00 PM ET - No. 10 East Carolina vs. No. 7 Rice (Game 1)
3:30 PM ET - No. 11 Southern Methodist vs. No. 6 Marshall (Game 2)
7:30 PM ET - No. 9 Houston vs. No. 8 UTEP (Game 3)
10:00 PM ET - No. 12 Tulane vs. No. 5 UAB (Game 4)
Thursday, March 8 - Quarterfinals
1:00 ET - Game 1 Sportsbook vs. No. 2 Southern Miss (Game 5)
3:30 PM ET - Game 2 Sportsbook vs. No. 3 Tulsa (Game 6)
7:30 PM ET - Game 3 Sportsbook vs. No. 1 Memphis (Game 7)
10:00 PM ET - Game 4 Sportsbook vs. No. 4 Central Florida (Game 8)
Friday, March 9 - Semifinals
4:00 PM ET - Game 5 Sportsbook vs. Game 6 Sportsbook
6:30 PM ET - Game 7 Sportsbook vs. Game 8 Sportsbook
Saturday, March 10 - Championship Game
10:30 AM ET - Semifinal Sportsbooks
