Conference USA Basketball: Preseason rankings for 2019-20 season

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 27: Head coach Rick Stansbury of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers reacts in the fourth quarter against the Utah Utes during their 2018 National Invitation Tournament Championship semifinals game at Madison Square Garden on March 27, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

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SAN DIEGO, CA – MARCH 16: C.J. Burks #14 and Jon Elmore #33 of the Marshall Thundering Herd celebrate after defeating the Wichita State Shockers during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena on March 16, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

With Conference USA Basketball likely getting just one bid, expect a long dogfight throughout the 2019-20 season. But who will prevail?

“You can talk yourself into a lot of teams in the C-USA.”

A friend recently said this to me as I prepared to write this preview — and it’s absolutely true.

Looking through the 14 rosters for the Conference USA Basketball teams, the talent league-wide is readily apparent. Six All C-USA players return for 2019-20, including two-first teamers. And though the league saw many of its top stars graduate, there are 25 double-digit scorers coming back to the conference this season. Suffice it to say, it’s a difficult league to tease apart.

Before looking ahead to next season, take a moment to consider how closely-contested the Conference USA Basketball race was in 2018-19.

Old Dominion certainly separated itself from the pack on its way to the coveted trifregular-seasonlar season title, a conference tournament title, and an NCAA Tournament appearance. But after the Monarchs, the standings were split into three tiers: the slightly above-average, the slightly below-average, and the bad.

The league saw four teams — Southern Miss, Western Kentucky, UTSA, and Marshall — finish tied for second place with 11 victories. Just behind those teams, with 10 wins apiece, were FIU and UAB. Each of those teams, with the exception of UTSA, won at least 20 games, as did Louisiana Tech (9-9 in C-USA) and North Texas (8-10). Finishing alongside the Mean Green with eight wins were Florida Atlantic, Rice, and Middle Tennessee. In the C-USA basement, Charlotte managed to best UTEP by two games and avoided repeating its last-place finish from 2017-18.

So, for those of you counting at home, the Conference USA fielded a whopping eight 20-win teams. But the makeup of the league is, of course, drastically different now than it was a year ago. Three of the top five teams in the league graduated two All C-USA players. Some teams near the bottom of the conference reloaded their rosters with impact transfers, JUCO prospects, and promising freshmen. Others are expecting big breakouts from players who have been blocked by four-year players ahead of them on the depth chart.

Basically, it’s business as usual.

Without any more delay, here are the Conference USA preseason power rankings for 2019-20. Each team page features a summary of last season, a look at the head coach and projected starters, highlights from the non-conference schedule, and a general outlook for the season.