Seven C-USA Teams Earn Posteason Berths - CONFERENCEUSA.COM - The Official Athletic site of The Conference USA

Seven C-USA Teams Earn Posteason Berths
Trio Receive NIT Bids & Pair in CIT Join NCAA-Bound Houston & UTEP

	Mike Davis leads the Blazers to a third-straight postseason appearance.

March 14, 2010

IRVING, Texas - In addition to Houston and UTEP's NCAA berths, three Conference USA teams - UAB, Memphis and Tulsa - received bids to the 2010 National Invitation Tournament and Marshall and Southern Miss will participate in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

The seven bids are the most since C-USA sent nine teams to the postseason in 2005.

UAB (23-8) will host Coastal Carolina in the NIT first round on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT at Bartow Arena. UAB finished third in C-USA regular-season play, while the Chanticleers (28-6) captured the Big South regular-season title. The Blazers have won 31 consecutive non-conference games on their home floor under head coach Mike Davis. If they win, they will play the winner of No. 3 South Florida and No. 6 seed North Carolina State.

The Blazers will be making their 11th appearance in the NIT and will be playing in the tournament for the third consecutive season. Last year as a No. 7 seed, UAB fell to Notre Dame and in 2008 reached the second round after knocking off VCU (80-77) on the road. UAB reached the NIT Final Four on two occasions under former coach Gene Bartow. UAB has an all-time record of 11-9 in the NIT.

Memphis will host St. John's (17-15) at FedExForum on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be nationally-televised on ESPN2. The winner will face the winner of No. 2 seed Ole Miss and No. 7 seed Troy.

The Tigers are making their 10th-straight postseason appearance, 17th NIT appearance and 39th overall. The Tigers bring a 23-9 overall record into NIT play, marking the 10th-consecutive season of 20-plus victories. Memphis finished in second place in the Conference USA regular season standings with a 13-3 record under first-year coach Josh Pastner.

Tulsa will play at Kent State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT. The Hurricane has an overall 23-11 record, while Kent State comes into the game with a 23-9 mark and a 13-2 record at home. This will be the first meeting with the Golden Flashes, who won the Mid-American Conference regular-season title. The winner will play the Illinois- Stony Brook.

The Golden Hurricane is a two-time NIT Champion (1981, 2001) and will be making its 10th overall appearance in the tournament. Tulsa is making its second straight trip to the NIT and third postseason appearance in a row under coach Doug Wojcik. Last year, the Hurricane captured a 68-59 home win over Northwestern before losing to Auburn. Tulsa won the 2008 College Basketball Invitational title and will be making its 25th overall postseason appearance, which includes 14 trips to the NCAA Championship.

Marshall and Southern Miss will be making their first postseason appearances since 1988 and 2001 respectively in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT). Marshall (23-9) will be a No. 1 seed and will host Western Carolina (22-11) in first-round action at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday at the Cam Henderson Center. The Thundering Herd's last postseason appearance was the 1988 NIT.

Southern Miss (20-13) will play at Louisiana Tech (23-10) at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday. It will be the Golden Eagles first postseason play since the 2001 NIT.