1997 Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament

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1997 Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1996–97
Teams12
SiteKiel Center
St. Louis, MO
ChampionsMarquette (1st title)
Winning coachMike Deane (1st title)
MVP (Marquette)
← 1996
1998 →
1996–97 Conference USA men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Blue
No. 10 Cincinnati 12 – 2   .857 26 – 8   .765
Marquette † 9 – 5   .643 22 – 9   .710
Saint Louis 4 – 10   .286 11 – 18   .379
DePaul 1 – 13   .071 3 – 23   .115
Red
Tulane 11 – 3   .786 20 – 11   .645
UAB 7 – 7   .500 18 – 14   .563
Southern Miss 6 – 8   .429 12 – 15   .444
South Florida 2 – 12   .143 8 – 19   .296
White
UNC Charlotte 10 – 4   .714 22 – 9   .710
Memphis 10 – 4   .714 16 – 15   .516
No. 25 Louisville 9 – 5   .643 26 – 9   .743
Houston 3 – 11   .214 11 – 16   .407
† 1997 Conference USA Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1997 Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 5–8 at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri.[2]

Marquette defeated UNC Charlotte in the championship game, 60–52, to clinch their first Conference USA men's tournament championship.

The Golden Eagles, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Tournament. They were joined in the tournament by fellow C-USA members UNC Charlotte, Cincinnati, and Louisville, who all earned at-large bids.

Format[]

With Houston officially joining Conference USA prior to 1996–97 season, total membership increased to twelve. The Cougars were entered directly into the conference's three four-team division structure, being placed into the White Division.

With the addition of Houston, the tournament field expanded from eleven to twelve. Nonetheless, the overall structure remained largely the same: the top four teams were given byes into the quarterfinal round, and the remaining eight teams were entered into the preliminary round. All seeds were determined by regular season conference records, regardless of division.

Bracket[]

First Round
Wednesday, March 5 		Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 6 		Semifinals
Friday, March 7 		Championship
Saturday, March 8
            
1 #10 Cincinnati 71
9 Saint Louis 43
9 Saint Louis 69
8 Southern Miss 61
1 #10 Cincinnati 79
5 Marquette 91
5 Marquette 79
12 DePaul 53
5 Marquette 63
4 Memphis 45
5 Marquette 60
3 UNC Charlotte 52
3 UNC Charlotte 64
6 #20 Louisville 60
11 South Florida 58
6 #20 Louisville 69
3 UNC Charlotte 67
7 UAB 65
7 UAB 55
10 Houston 54
7 UAB 74
2 Tulane 70

References[]

  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1996-97 Conference USA Season Summary
  2. ^ "1996-97 Conference USA Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
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