NCAA Basketball: 2018 Christmas wish list for top mid-major conferences

Conference USA wish: The ascension of Western Kentucky

While it feels wrong to overlook the work done by Old Dominion thus far or fail to wag a finger at the talented Marshall squad for under-performing, my mind goes to one place when I hear someone mention C-USA.

And that’s to Bowling Green, Kentucky.

It’s hard to get a read on this Hilltopper team as of right now.  At 5-4, and 106th in the KenPom rankings, this team doesn’t have much of an identity.  A top-85 team in adjusted offensive efficiency and Top-130 for the defensive end of the same category, it’s tricky to pin-point who they are.

A neutral court win over West Virginia in mid-November and a true road win over Arkansas are pillars to lean on when trying to defend the legitimacy of this team.

Yet just as easily as you do that, one can point out losses to Indiana State and Missouri State as contradictory viewpoints to the above claim.

The month of December will prove to be important for Western Kentucky.  Showdowns slated with Belmont, Saint Mary’s and Wisconsin all become crucial if WKU wants to try and compound success off of their big road win against the Razorbacks.

But the big question still lingers: what is Western Kentucky?

Charles Bassey is good.  DeSean Murray is good.  Taveion Hollingsworth is good.  Upon return, Lamonte Bearden will be good.

But is Western Kentucky good?

For the sake of Conference USA, one can hope that they too are good.