Memphis men’s basketball coach John Calipari is a scrub. Mark my words: The Tigers will NOT win a championship with Calipari at the helm.

It irritates me that this guy collects so much praise. He was the Naismith College Coach of the Year last season, and Sports Illustrated named this obnoxious coach the College Basketball Coach of the Year this season. WHY?

I understand last year’s Memphis squad set an NCAA D-I record for most W’s in a season (38), but this impressive number of victories is not a result of Calipari’s coaching.

As you know, the Tigers play in the feeble Conference USA, and Memphis brings in some of the best recruits year in and year out. They should be blowing out teams like Rice, Southern Methodist, Southern Miss, Tulane, East Carolina, etc....

Calipari’s name gets thrown in the mix with current greats like Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, and Bill Self. What an insult to these guys. This tool of a head coach from Memphis does not have the qualities of a great coach. His coaching appears lackadaisical and sloppy. It seems like he never has his team ready to play.

Also, is it just me or does Calipari have an attitude that annoys the hell out of you? Kind of cocky and conceited? He reminds me of the rich prick flashing his stuff and talking trash, the guy you’d like to give a good shot in the chops.

[Read more...]

For the official Bleacher Report postgame update by Trey Bradley, on site at the West Regional in Kansas City, MO, click here.

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A lot of people are scrambling right now to find information on Roburt Sallie, the Memphis guard who torched Cal State Northridge for 35 points, saving his team from the embarrassment of becoming only the fifth No. 2 seed to lose to a No. 15.

Sallie’s explosion in the midst of the Tigers’ 81-70 victory over the Matadors is the story of the day, but not because of any records he set.

It’s the story of the day because Roburt Sallie did it. The young man’s perseverance and ability to overcome adversity is one of the most remarkable stories in all of Division I sports.

Much has been written about Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier, the two Memphis seniors who, along with Chance McGrady, have set a record for most wins in a four-year career, 135.

Roburt Sallie, though classified as a sophomore, graduated from high school with Anderson and Dozier.

 

As in, graduated from the same school. As in, played on the same prep basketball team. As in, graduated in the same class.

College basketball aficionados remember the famed Laurinburg Institute Class of 2005. That group was a staggering 40-0 and won the prep national title. Sallie was among nine players to average at least 10 points per game for that team. You read that right.

He was the fourth-leading scorer on the squad, averaging 13.3 PPG. He led all the guards, as it was a trio of big men, including Dozier, in front of him.

He originally signed a National Letter of Intent with the Washington Huskies. And this is where the story turns excruciating.

Sallie did not meet Washington eligibility standards. So he enrolled in a different prep school—The Patterson School, following his coach, Chris Chaney—with intentions of getting his academics in order. He opened up his recruitment again.

He finally met the NCAA minimum ACT score and signed with Nebraska for the 2006-07 season.

Sallie began attending classes at NU, with the idea that he did not want to fall behind as the NCAA Clearinghouse attempted to verify his eligibility. It seems they wanted more verification that his transcripts were not doctored, and asked for homework assignments.

Sallie did not have them.

An obscure rule of the Big 12 conference was about to be a problem for Sallie—and Nebraska. To wit, Rule 6.2 of the Big 12 covenant reads in part:

“Any student-athlete who enrolls at a conference institution, part time or full time, must meet NCAA initial eligibility requirements.”

Though Sallie had not enrolled at Nebraska, school officials had filed documents indicating that he had!

Since the NCAA had never cleared Sallie, with Nebraska filing papers saying that Sallie had enrolled early, both he and the school were in violation of this rule. His class attendance gave the further indication that he had matriculated to NU.

This ended up costing him (and the school) dearly.

Nebraska asked for a waiver from the conference. The request was denied on the grounds that the University could not prove that the circumstances of the case justified a waiver.

Sallie hired an attorney, Don Jackson of Montgomery, AL. Jackson specializes in, of all things, NCAA eligibility issues.

Jackson got signed affidavits from every teacher Sallie had ever been assigned to. They affirmed that the young man had attended class, handed in his homework, and had been an all-around solid student.

The NCAA wasn’t having any of it; Sallie was ineligible.

Roburt was the only player from the Laurinburg Class of 2005 to have such issues, even though he took the same classes as everyone else.

He ended up landing much closer to his hometown of Sacramento, CA, enrolling at City College of San Francisco. He became California Junior College Player of the year, averaging 17 PPG and displaying his remarkable all-around game.

Recruited for a third time last spring and early summer by many of the elite schools of Division I, Sallie finally decided to come to the University of Memphis, in part because of the familiarity with his once-and-future teammates, Anderson & Dozier.

Sallie was thoroughly unaccustomed to the physical and mental intensity demanded by John Calipari. He had always been a superstar. Two different D-I schools (Washington and then Nebraska) had hyped him as one of their best recruits ever.

At Memphis, he was just another player. Playing time would not be handed to him; it would have to be earned.

If he wanted to start, he would have to play hard all the time—during practice, when on defense, when hustling after loose balls. He couldn’t just show up on game day and expect that he could ‘turn it on’ and let the ball fly.

Roburt Sallie has always been supremely talent. He has one of the purest jump shots in America, college or pro. He might make it to the NBA someday.

If he does, he will carry with him the memory of a very humbling journey. His circuitous trek, though, may yet have served some grand purpose.

Without those travails, he would not have been here today, at least temporarily saving the championship hopes of the Memphis Tigers.

He would not have been able to put on such a resplendent show in front of a national television audience.

He would not have so many people saying his name, wondering where he had come from, where he had been, and how he could put on such a performance.

No. 7 UAB Blazers (22-11, 11-5 C-USA) at No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (18-14, 8-10 BE)

NIT—First Round
Tuesday, Mar. 17—9:00 PM EST

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Preview

To say that both of these teams are disappointed to be in the NIT and not in the NCAA's is an understatement.

UAB was a popular early-season sleeper pick within Conference USA. Many people believed that they had the talent to derail Memphis, but their season started to go off-track during their tough non-conference schedule.

At the start of conference play, the Blazers had amassed five losses, but they were all against respectable teams—Oklahoma, BC, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Butler. They finished in third in Conference USA, but they were five games behind C-USA perfect Memphis.

Notre Dame was picked in early Big East polls to finish among the best of the Big East. Unfortunately they found themselves grouped with Providence and Cincinnati after losing seven straight games in January and February.

It became clear towards the end of the season that the only way for them to dance was to win the Big East Tournament, a dream that was promptly crushed by West Virginia.

Both of these teams have very talented players on their squads who should match up very well. Both are going to be frustrated with how their seasons turned out, so look for a great dogfight of a game.

By The Numbers

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
UAB	22-11	11-5	14-16-1	46	73	72.6	65.9
Notre Dame	18-14	8-10	9-16	77	43	76.6	71.2

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG	BPG
UAB	45.6	42.7	33.7	32.3	71.3	37.2	6.6	12.8	11.4	2.0
Notre Dame	43.7	42.8	40.2	33.6	69.5	42.6	5.3	17.2	9.6	2.6

Stat Leaders

	UAB	Notre Dame
PPG	R. Vaden - 17.5	L. Harangody - 23.2
	P. Delaney III - 16.0	K. McAlarney - 15.4
	L. Kinnard - 14.2	R. Ayers - 11.4
RPG	L. Kinnard - 9.0	L. Harangody - 12.0
APG	A. Johnson - 3.6	T. Jackson - 5.0
SPG	P. Delaney III - 2.1	T. Jackson - 1.2
BPG	L. Kinnard - 0.6	L. Harangody - 1.0

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Prediction

Want to see Ryan's FREE Pick Against the Spread? Please head over to CBBPlace.com!

Memphis plays in Conference USA.

C-USA is just barely one of the top 10 conferences in America, by whichever measure you choose to judge such things.

Memphis has not played anyone of particular note since dismantling Gonzaga on Feb. 7, 68-50, in Spokane, Washington.

Memphis lost games to Xavier, Georgetown, and Syracuse when they played them in November and December.

Okay, I get it.

The Memphis Tigers have still amassed a fairly decent case to be named a No. 1 seed somewhere during the NCAA Tournament. It may not be perfect, but everyone has warts this year.

2007-'08 is done, folks; we have to deal with the realities of ’08-'09.

What are some of the things the Selection Committee looks for, and how well does Memphis stand up?

Well, record is always the first thing that comes up. Memphis is 31-3. There is something to be said for winning 10 of every 11 games that a team plays. 31-3 is certainly the type of record that a No. 1 seed should have.

Next, the Committee consults the team’s RPI. Though a team’s RPI cannot be considered in a vacuum, it is considered as a relative comparison of teams that appear to have proximate accomplishments.

Memphis has an RPI of No. 7, and I believe this explains why so many “experts” feel that the Tigers should be no better than a low No. 2 seed. They go strictly by the RPI.

That is a misguided (and dare I say lazy) way of making an argument.

A team with an RPI of 20 certainly should be expressly removed from the discussion of No. 1 seeds; a team with an RPI of seven belongs in conversation.

The Memphis schedule is ranked No. 50, which is borderline for a top seed. It is far from unprecedented, however; there have been far worse SOS figures for a No. 1.

Memphis is 4-2 against the RPI top-50. That is a very slender sample size, and the largest reason for it is that there are so few top teams in C-USA.

Finally, Memphis is 12-0 in their last 12 contests. In fact, the Tigers have the longest current winning streak in the country, 25 games.

The Committee also considers good victories on the road, and bad losses anywhere. Memphis had impressive wins on the road, at Gonzaga (26-5, RPI 26) and at Tennessee (21-11, RPI 18). The Tigers held both the Bulldogs (50) and the Vols (52) to season lows in points scored.

There was a decent road win over UAB, a team with a 22-11 record and an RPI of 46. Memphis also beat Tulsa on the road; the Hurricanes are 23-10 with an RPI of 53.

The Tigers have no bad losses, as their only home loss came to Syracuse (25-9, RPI 12).

The accomplishments of the current edition of the Tigers compares quite well to last year’s juggernaut that garnered a No. 1 spot.

See for yourself:

                                     2008-09                         2007-08

 

Overall Record:                  31-3                            33-1

RPI:                                   7                                3

Strength of schedule:          50                               59

Record vs RPI Top 50:         4-2                             6-1

Record in last 12:              12-0                           11-1                                              

That does it for me. Last year’s team was an overwhelming choice as a No. 1 seed, being highly regarded enough to be slotted as the overall No. 2. The competition was much stronger, too, but that is “eye test” and so I won’t proffer that as evidence.

I don’t feel the need to tear down anything that any other team in the country has done. If it were up to me, I would anoint North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, and Memphis as the top seeds. However, if that does not happen, I feel Oklahoma would be a solid choice, assuming that Blake Griffin is healthy.

I will not scream bloody murder if Memphis is awarded a No. 2 seed somewhere. Of course, I would feel that the team should be the first No. 2, or fifth overall.

As for the talk that Memphis is a three or four seed? That is insanity. That is ignorance. That is not going to happen.

Enjoy the rest of your Selection Sunday!

After getting a late start to the day (but if you're a college hoops fan, you surely understand) there was a good deal of movement in today's bracket projection.  Obviously, the Orange helped themselves following a win for the ages. 

Other teams that helped their case before the committee include Michigan, Minnesota, San Diego State, and Boston College.

The last four teams in as of today are St. Mary's (more on them in a moment), UAB (an explanation is also to follow), Creighton and South Carolina.

St. Mary's finds themselves back in, thanks to the Lobos of New Mexico, who lost to sixth-seed Wyoming and found their RPI dropping to NIT levels.

UAB will raise some eyebrows, but a close inspection of their profile doesn't reveal a single bad (read, sub-100 RPI) loss and if they can beat Tulsa today they will find themselves in the Conference USA finals.

The last four teams out are Arizona (which needed to beat Arizona State to stay in but now sees their 24-year streak of tournament apperances end), Florida (which could sneak in if they can win tonight and UAB or South Carolina lose), Temple (has a better profile than people think) and UNLV (sorry guys, but getting blown out on your home floor was a realization of a worst-case scenario).

Bracket Projection (teams who have clinched are in bold)

East Region

1 Pitt v 16 Radford

2 Duke v 15 Morgan State

3 Kansas v 14 Portland State

4 Florida State v 13 Cleveland State

5 UCLA v 12 VCU

6 BYU v 11 Creighton

7 Tennessee v 10 Wisconsin

8 Ohio State v 9 Texas A&M

South Region

1 UNC v 16 Morehead State

2 Oklahoma v 15 East Tennessee State

3 Villanova v 14 Buffalo

4 Xavier v 13 Northern Iowa

5 West Virginia v 12 St. Mary’s

6 Purdue v 11 South Carolina

7 Arizona State v 10 Boston College

8 Butler v 9 Texas

 

Midwest Region

1 Louisville v 16 Play-In (Chattanooga v Alabama St.)

2 Michigan State v 15 Cornell

3 Wake Forest v 14 Binghamton

4 Missouri v 13 American

5 Gonzaga v 12 UAB

6 Utah v 11 California

7 Marquette v 10 Utah State

8 LSU v 9 Minnesota

 

West Region

1 Memphis v 16 CS-Northridge

2 UConn v 15 Robert Morris

3 Washington v 14 North Dakota State

4 Syracuse v 13 Stephen F. Austin

5 Illinois v 12 Western Kentucky

6 Oklahoma State v 11 Michigan

7 Clemson v 10 San Diego State

8 Dayton v 9 Siena

This is the first in a series of articles discussing how Memphis matches up with the nation’s elite.

Memphis versus North Carolina would be one of the most intriguing matchups in college basketball today. There would be a confluence of so many fascinating subplots.

The two schools have never met on the basketball court. Not even once. Penny Hardaway never stared across mid-court at those legendary powder blue uniforms. Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins never got to mix it up with Andre Turner and Keith Lee.

Roy Williams and John Calipari share a coaching pedigree that goes back to their days as assistant coaches at the University of Kansas. They are the winningest coaches in NCAA history in a number of categories.

It would be the classic case of an ‘irresistible force (Carolina) meeting an immovable object (Memphis)’. The Tar Heels are, according to the Ken Pomeroy Ratings, the most efficient offense in the country, scoring 123.9 points per 100 possessions.

The Tigers are the stingiest defensive unit in the land, giving up only 80.9 per 100 possessions.

Something would have to give.

If the two teams actually meet during the NCAA Tournament, though, the game could come down to the performance of one of the most unlikely players on either roster:

Willie Kemp, junior backup guard for the Memphis Tigers. More on him later.

The starting lineups of Memphis and North Carolina match-up very well.

Memphis is actually a bit taller and longer up front (typical for the Tigers), trotting out 6’10” Shawn Taggart and Robert Dozier and 6’6” Antonio Anderson to counter Tyler Hansbrough (6’9”), Deon Thompson (6’8”) and Danny Green (6’6”).

The size advantage in the back court goes to Memphis, too, by a much larger margin this time. 6’6” Tyreke Evans and 6’5” Doneal Mack face off with 5’11” Ty Lawson and 6’4” Wayne Ellington.

The Tigers’ length and defensive intensity could cause the Tar Heels problems, as it has for most all of their opponents this season. Their reputation for pre-eminent defenders depends largely on their size allowing them to disrupt passing lanes.

Enter Ty Lawson.

Some call Lawson the best offensive player in the country. His statistics do not do his role in the UNC offense justice: second on the team in points (15.9 ppg), tops by far in assists (6.5 apg) while contributing 2.8 rebounds per contest.

Looking deeper, Lawson is the most efficient offensive player in college basketball today. This is not just my opinion, by the way. If I were merely going by the so-called “eye test” or reputation, I would most likely select Davidson’s Stephen Curry.

However, according to Dean Oliver’s individual Offensive Rating (which is far too complicated for me to begin to describe, so just trust me), Ty Lawson is the most efficient basketball player in America, with a rating of 134.0 (Hansbrough comes in at no. 19, 126.2; Curry checks in at 119.6 to rank 85^th).

UNC has an astounding four players (Lawson, Hansbrough, Green [34] and Ellington [61]) in the top-100 of Oliver’s offensive efficiency rating.

Don’t get me wrong; Lawson passes the eye test, too. There are some tremendous penetrators playing Division I basketball, but none quite like Ty Lawson.

Tyreke Evans, the freshman sensation point guard for Memphis, is otherworldly on the drive, but his method is entirely different from Lawson’s. Evans uses his length and power to knife into the lane, which sometimes leaves him susceptible to charging calls. His incredible body control bails him out.

Lawson is more like a smaller (and quicker) version of Derrick Rose: you simply cannot keep a defender in front of him. Any guard marking Lawson must be able to match his quickness, have good hands to harass his dribble and long arms to invade passing lanes.

Memphis has only one guard who meets that description.

It’s not Evans, despite his 16.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 3.7apg. It’s not markedly improved junior guard Mack, either. Even senior defensive stopper Antonio Anderson, he of 210 career steals, cannot be depended upon to reliably stifle cat-quick Lawson.

All year long, small, quick, slippery guards have caused the Tigers fits. That’s where Willie Kemp comes in.

Kemp is 6’2” tall and a sinewy 184 pounds. He’s got long arms (who on the Memphis roster does NOT?) and could pick the pockets of David Copperfield. He has 79 career steals in limited minutes (just 38 career starts in three years, 36 as a freshman).

No one else can come close to keeping in front of Ty Lawson. Kemp has the potential to slow the Tar Heel guard, and perhaps funnel him into the teeth of the long, active Tiger defense.

Perhaps the Tigers’ newly unveiled 3-2 zone, with 6’8” freshman Wesley Witherspoon reaching seemingly from sideline-to-sideline all by himself, will confound Lawson. However, the quicksilver point man has seen just about any zone known to mankind and solved them all.

If Memphis wants to beat UNC, they had better have Kemp in the lineup for around 12-to-15 minutes, and he had better cause Lawson enough grief to disrupt the Tar Heel offense. Grind it out, milk the clock and make Lawson work hard on defense, too.

Otherwise, the Tigers will be in a scoring contest with a team that places all five of its starters in double figures, each above 11 points per game.

That’s not the recipe for a Tiger victory.

DeMarcus Cousins, the highest rated uncommitted big man in the Class of 2009, has committed to the University of Memphis.

Cousins, ranked No. 2 overall by Rivals.com and No. 4 by ESPNU, took the college world by surprise with an unofficial visit to Memphis this weekend. He further stunned everyone by committing on the spot.

His mother, Monique Cousins, told Dan Wolken of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “Just basically, he came and looked at the school and he’s always had an interest in Memphis. So we talked, we sat at the table and had a meeting. Everyone was there and he and the family made the decision that he was ready to commit.”

DeMarcus was frustrated with how lesser high school teams would defend him with as many as four players. This impacted his final college choice. Note Wolken’s additional comments:

“(I) watched Cousins’ high school team lose in the Alabama state semifinals to a team from Birmingham Parker that committed to send four guys around Cousins every time he got the ball.  Cousins got really, really frustrated...He’s counting on that not happening next season on a team with three really good shooters like Xavier Henry, Roburt Sallie and Darnell Dodson out on the wings.”

Memphis now claims the undisputed No. 1 recruiting class in the nation.

In addition to Cousins, the Tigers have already inked top-three prospect Xavier Henry (No. 3 Rivals, No. 1 ESPNU), another top-50 wing player in Nolan Dennis from Richland, Texas and a duo of junior college All-America candidates: low post monster Will Coleman and smooth-shooting Darnell Dodson, teammates at Miami Dade JC.

Cousins is a first for John Calipari since he arrived at Memphis—a dominant low-post scorer with tremendous skills. DeMarcus can put the ball on the floor like a small forward and is a splendid passer for a young man his size (6’10”, 260 pounds).

Memphis is also prominently in the race for the two best point guards still on the board, John Wall, the consensus No. 1 recruit in the country, and Eric Bledsoe. The Tigers will in all likelihood lose current freshman point guard Tyreke Evans to the NBA draft.

The signing leaves the scholarship of mercurial big man Matt Simpkins in doubt. The freshman from Oakland was dismissed from the Memphis program because of repeated breaking of team rules.

Though the door was cracked for his return, Cousins’ signing, along with the arrival of Coleman and the probable return of improving junior post man Shawn Taggart, likely slams the door shut.

Calipari will have serious decisions to make regarding his roster. With only three seniors, Evans, and Simpkins leaving, he will have to make room for three freshmen (Cousins, Dennis and Henry), a sophomore (Dodson), a junior (Coleman) and Xavier’s older brother, C. J. Henry.

The elder Henry will be classified as a freshman, though he is 22 years old. He will not take a scholarship, as the New York Yankees are contractually obligated to pay for his return to college.

The other wild card in the Memphis scholarship situation is freshman forward Angel Garcia (6’11”, 210). Garcia graduated from East Chicago High School but also prepped in his home country of Puerto Rico. The NCAA Clearinghouse did not approve of some of his transcripts and ruled him ineligible to play as a freshman.

Garcia remains in class at Memphis and is on track to be eligible next season. He, too, would be classified as a freshman in 2009-10. He has not yet decided if he will stay at Memphis or seek a transfer elsewhere.

Tyreke Evans and the University of Memphis find themselves in the same no-win scenario night after night.

When Memphis defeats yet another one of its Conference USA brethren, the nation lets out a collective yawn. If the result is a blowout, a rout was expected. If the final is close, the Tigers are showing that they are really not what they are cracked up to be.

With freshman phenom Evans, no one bats an eye if he scores 20. In fact, if the kid only scores 13 points, Memphis fans cry, ‘Tyreke didn’t play well last night.’ He might have rung up six assists, eight rebounds and two steals, but it was still an off night.

Against that backdrop, Memphis (27-3, 15-0 in Conference USA) defeated the Houston Cougars, 69-60, at Hofheinz Pavillion. Rest assured that the doubters will refuse to give the Houston Cougars credit for hanging tough, preferring to question the Tigers’ moxie instead.

Evans scored nine of the Tigers’ first 11 points on his way to a game-high 23, 19 of them in the first 31 minutes of action. Some will prefer to focus on the fact that he “only” scored four points in the last nine minutes of the clash.

Such is life when much is expected of you.

In road contests, the Tigers have to deal with, not only an energized, rabid crowd, but also a conference foe that is emboldened by the thought of being the team to end “The Streak.”

Houston fans illustrated the type of zeal that the Tigers face on the road. Early in the second half, Evans knifed into the lane for a shot attempt, and Zamal Nixon of Houston was clearly still moving after sliding under him in an attempt to force a charging call. The refs rightly called him for the blocking foul.

The Cougar fans roared, “BULL-SH*T, BULL-SH*T” repeatedly.

Houston’s players matched the intensity of the home crowd. After falling into early deficits of 21-9 and 30-17, coach Tom Penders had his team run the shot clock down on its possessions, effectively shortening the contest. The Cougars' defensive intensity pitched sharply forward and the team began to stop the Tiger attack.

The Cougars had made the mistake of trying to run with the Tigers in the first part of the first half. The more the pace slowed, the more they were able to cut into the lead.

The Cougs’ defense was surprisingly stingy in the half-court, which kept Memphis from running away with the game, both literally and figuratively.

In the end, though, the Tigers were simply too explosive for the home team. Houston (18-10, 9-6) drew into three ties in the second half: at 42-42, 48-48 and 50-50. Memphis simply zipped away every time.

First, there was a 6-0 spurt to take a 48-42 lead.

After the last tie at 50, Memphis went on a 13-4 run to seemingly put Houston away, 63-54. It would have been easy for Penders’ team to wither away and surrender to the Tigers’ will.

Houston refused to give up without a valiant fight. The Cougs got the deficit back down to 63-58 with 1:46 left in the game.

Tiger senior leader Robert Dozier came to the rescue down the stretch, scoring 11 of his 15 in the last 8:17 of the hard-fought matchup. He drained all five of his free throws over that span.

Shawn Taggart supported Evans and Dozier with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

In the end, it was a solid win in yet another hostile environment. It was also the type of game that other teams find ways to lose. Memphis, however, found ways to hang on to the win, for the 57th consecutive time against conference foes and the 21st straight time this season.

That should count for something.

DePaul does not belong in the Big East.

After being routed by West Virginia tonight, the Blue Demons are 8-22. But more importantly, they have lost each of their 17 Big East games. This has been, by far, their worst season since switching from Conference USA in 2005. 

In a league like the Big East, every team should be able to compete with the rest of the conference. Sure, the league is extremely powerful this season, but losing every game is simply unacceptable.

I think the Big East made a mistake. They should not have admitted DePaul as the fifth team in the Realignment of 2005.

Memphis would have been a better choice.

They are rolling over Conference USA, they are ranked fifth in the AP Poll and third in the ESPN Poll, and they have beaten a number of solid teams en route to what is now a 27-3 record.

The record is obviously impressive, yet multiple writers have claimed that Memphis is overrated—an opinion that I happen to agree with.

It's definitely possible that the Tigers are the No. 5 team in the nation. The problem is that they have not played top competition in Conference USA. This is a recurring problem for the Memphis basketball program because they are above and beyond their conference.

As a response, John Calipari has done a decent job of bolstering their non-conference schedule. However, the argument that Memphis would falter against a consistently strong schedule is a valid one.

How would they fare if they had to play at Pitt on Wednesday and then at Louisville on Saturday?

We'll never know until they get the chance.

It's not too late to make another change, as long as both teams are willing. DePaul would stand a chance against Conference USA competition. Memphis would have a chance to prove that they are one of the premier teams in the nation while playing in the Big East.

How about it?

The Memphis Tigers live in a harrowing world of basketball purgatory.

Having seen all of their better, long-term rivals flee to power conferences, the Tigers tower over the rest of Conference USA, casting a shadow that obscures light from the rest of the conference.

As Memphis adds victories to its phenomenal in-conference winning streak, which is now 55 games after a 71-60 triumph over the UAB Blazers, the no-win situation it faces every game day only becomes more excruciating.

Should the Tigers (25-3, 13-0 in Conference USA this season) win, their detractors will say, "Look who they beat, another C-USA patsy."

Should Memphis lose, the team is proving that its earlier success was a fluke, and surely this is the start of a slide as the postseason looms. Forget about a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and kiss that top-10 ranking goodbye.

Never mind that the Blazers (19-9, 9-4) are far from a second-rate basketball team. Led by the extremely talented trio of Paul Delaney, Lawrence Kinnard, and Robert Vaden, UAB can score in bunches in the post or from long distance.

They are also an adequate defensive team, loaded with experience, and are particularly formidable at home, entering last night’s contest with a 12-0 mark at Bartow Arena this season.

This game had all the markings of an ambush.

Both teams came out hyped up, perhaps too much so. At one point, with the score tied at seven, each club was 3-for-12 from the floor with four turnovers. Though both defenses had been stout up until that point, a large part of the problem was sloppy play and poor shooting on each side.

As the game wore on, the nervous energy dissipated and the jitters faded, and the offenses began to flow more freely. The first half was a true see-saw affair that had the teams head to the locker rooms tied at 28 apiece. The session was marked by seven ties and six lead changes.

The second period, in stark contrast, was a game of runs.

Memphis opened the half with a 14-6 surge to zip to a 42-34 advantage. Tiger fans could be heard letting out a collective sigh of relief. It appeared that the home team was wearing down and succumbing to the will of the fifth-ranked juggernaut.

UAB fought back gamely, snapping off a scintillating 9-0 spurt of its own, highlighted by five points from a red-hot Kinnard, who finished the night with game highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds. Just like that, the Blazers had forged into the lead at 50-49.

The entire complexion of the game changed with under six minutes to go in the contest. With the Birmingham crowd on its feet and going generally berserk, Antonio Anderson (16 points, two rebounds, and three assists while playing all 40 minutes) scored despite being pummeled by the Blazers’ Channing Toney.

He missed the bonus free throw, but Robert Dozier (15 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, and three steals) managed a strong rebound, made the layup, absorbed Howard Crawford’s fourth foul, and completed a three-point play to stake the Tigers to a 54-50 lead with 5:35 remaining in the game.

Memphis would trail no more on the night, as the unique five-point possession jump-started a 21-10 run to end the game.

The final nail in UAB’s coffin came on a Doneal Mack three-pointer with 2:36 remaining. The possession had been extended by a Shawn Taggart offensive rebound. Mack’s triple pushed the Tiger advantage to 63-55.

Had UAB come up with the defensive board and scored on the other end, it could have turned the clash into a one-possession game. Instead, the Tigers began to pour on the offense and put distance between themselves and UAB.

Balance was a key to the victory for Memphis. Mack led the charge with 17 points (14 in the second half), followed by Anderson’s 16, Dozier’s 15 points, and Taggart’s 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Delaney supported Kinnard’s night with 18 and Toney chipped in 11. Senior sharpshooter Robert Vaden suffocated under the defensive prowess of Anderson, going scoreless on 0-for-17 shooting.

The Tigers’ marquee freshman sensation, Tyreke Evans, struggled woefully as well. Evans had easily his worst outing of the season, scoring just eight points on 3-for-14 shooting and committing a season-high nine turnovers. When he wasn’t looking sluggish and disinterested, his play was sloppy and undisciplined.

In the end, however, Memphis displayed the poise that has made it a threat for the past three postseasons, taking advantage of UAB’s lack of depth (just nine players and six lettermen) to grind the home team down.

Perhaps unfortunately for both the Blazers and Tigers, this game was (rightfully) seen as the Blazers’ last real chance to secure a bid to March Madness, short of winning in Conference USA tournament play.

With the tourney played at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, their odds are not great, and UAB only has one signature victory (72-71 at Arizona) this season.

This leaves the U of M with no one in its own conference to push the team to greater heights.

Next season, the Tigers’ out-of-conference schedule will be insanely treacherous: Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville, Syracuse, and Tennessee, among others. North Carolina looms on the horizon in 2011.

Nothing defines a team quite like its conference rivals, however. Conference USA continues to improve, but at a slow pace. National media around the country will always question the Tigers’ credentials as long as other conference teams fail to develop as legitimate threats.

For the time being, though, Memphis fans are free to enjoy yet another gritty win in conference play, on their way to a high seed at the NCAA tournament. UAB fans must be satisfied with a likely trip to the NIT.