NCAA Basketball: Conference USA moves to divisional standings for 2020-21

Conference USA has made a move in order to get through the schedule for this NCAA Basketball season.

In what has already been a topsy turvy beginning to the 2020 – 2021 basketball season the CUSA has made another significant change as teams enter CUSA conference play. Today, the CUSA board of directors voted to utilize divisional standings and to form two divisions within the conference, which should make for some even more interesting basketball this year.

The new format will include seven teams in the East Division and seven teams in the West Division. The teams in each division are as follows:

The East Division:

Charlotte

FIU

Florida Atlantic

Marshall

Middle Tennessee

Old Dominion

WKU

The West Division:

Louisiana Tech

North Texas

Rice

Southern Miss

UAB

UTEP

UTSA

Standings will be based on overall conference winning percentage and a the end of the regular season there will be two divisional winners from the east and the west. For the CUSA conference tournament scheduled for March 10-13 in Frisco, Texas, divisional seeding will be used and a cross-divisional bracket will be used to determine the first-round pairings and matchups.

Because of the pandemic and to ensure the safety of all persons that are involved and to reduce travel, the concept of a version of a round-robin format was implemented before the start of the season. This format means that teams will play back to back games at one court and then play four additional opponents twice.

For example, Western Kentucky will travel to Charlotte for two games scheduled for January 1st and January 2nd to play back-to-back games in Charlotte. Charlotte will be considered the home team on the 1st and then WKU will be considered the home team for the second game on the 2nd.

So, what does all this mean?.

With this new scheduling format and with the new divisions that are in place, there should be a lot more action and some great games that will no doubt be played. First, there will be an importance placed on who the home teams are playing at home. For example, using the WKU and Charlotte reference from earlier.

WKU is at the head of the class right now and looks to be the favorites this year. Charlotte looks to have a very competitive team this year as well. But, Charlotte has an advantage and must use its home-court advantage to make a statement to the rest of the league

The schedule that the teams will play is not limited to just playing teams within there division, as the eyes of the CUSA world will be watching a late February matchup between preseason favorite WKU and defending regular-season champion and preseason #2 North Texas and with this new format, the Mean Green will play WKU back to back on their home floor, so North Texas should count their blessings, as that advantage could be the difference-maker in determining not only divisional seeding but could also impact the seeding for the conference tourney.

With the new formats that are in place, all the teams in the CUSA have a legitimate chance to win their respective divisions. The old saying is win your home games and steal at least one or two on the road. This year in the CUSA, holding serve on your home court is priceless, as teams can use their home court as not only a one-game advantage but a two-game advantage. With these new formats expect a team that no one saw coming to be near the top of their respective division come March.

And to add a little flavor to the mix, not only can you have a two-game home advantage, but a team can also have that same advantage and win two games within their division as well. This 2020 – 2021 CUSA season just got more intense and if you are a CUSA basketball fan, fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a season to remember.