1996 Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1996 Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 6–9 at The Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee.[2] This was the first edition of the tournament.

1996 Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1995–96
Teams11
SiteThe Pyramid
Memphis, Tennessee
ChampionsCincinnati (1st title)
Winning coachBob Huggins (1st title)
MVPDanny Fortson (Cincinnati)
1995–96 Conference USA men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Blue
No. 8 Cincinnati †11–3 .786  28–5  .848
No. 20 Marquette10–4 .714  23–8  .742
Saint Louis4–10 .286  16–14  .533
DePaul2–12 .143  11–18  .379
Red
Tulane9–5 .643  22–10  .688
UAB6–8 .429  16–14  .533
Southern Miss6–8 .429  12–15  .444
South Florida2–12 .143  12–16  .429
White
No. 16 Memphis11–3 .786  22–8  .733
No. 24 Louisville10–4 .714  22–12  .647
Charlotte6–8 .429  14–15  .483
† 1996 Conference USA Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Top-seeded Cincinnati defeated Marquette in the inaugural championship game, 85–84, to clinch their first Conference USA men's tournament championship.

The Bearcats, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA Tournament. They were joined in the tournament by fellow C-USA members Louisville, Marquette, and Memphis, who all earned at-large bids.

Format

Conference USA was formed in 1995 by eleven former members the Metro Conference and the Great Midwest Conference (Dayton, VCU, and Virginia Tech were excluded). The conference's twelfth member, Houston, was to join for the 1996–97 season. For scheduling purposes, the eleven teams were placed into one of three three- or four-team divisions (Red, White, and Blue).

All eleven teams participated in the tournament and were seeded based on their regular season conference records, regardless of division. The top five teams were given byes into the quarterfinal round, and the bottom six teams were entered into the preliminary first round.

Bracket
  First Round
Wednesday, March 6		 Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 7		 Semifinals
Friday, March 8		 Championship
Saturday, March 9
                                     
       
  1 #8 Cincinnati 62  
    9 Saint Louis 59  
9 Saint Louis 61
8 Southern Miss 44  
  1 #8 Cincinnati 92  
  4 #22 Louisville 81  
       
       
  5 Tulane 79
    4 #22Louisville 98  
     
       
  1 #8 Cincinnati 85
  3 #21 Marquette 84
       
       
  3 #21 Marquette 65
    11 South Florida 56  
11 South Florida 73
6 UAB 57  
  3 #21 Marquette 72
  2 #14 Memphis 60  
7 UNC Charlotte 60  
10 DePaul 66  
  10 DePaul 69
    2 #14 Memphis 92  
     

References
  1. sports-reference.com 1995-96 Conference USA Season Summary
  2. "1995-96 Conference USA Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2016.


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