University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Basketball Picked To Finish 10th In Conference USA Preseason Poll
10/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Basketball Picked To Finish 10th In Conference USA Preseason Poll
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? The Southern Miss men's basketball team has a challenging road ahead of it in Conference USA play after being selected to finish 10th in the preseason poll, according to the league's coaches.
The Golden Eagles, under the direction of first-year Head Coach Larry Eustachy, received 65 votes in the poll. Louisville, led by C-USA Preseason Player of the Year selection Francisco Garcia, was picked to finish first for the season-straight season.
Memphis and Cincinnati ranked second and third, respectively, in the coaches poll. Charlotte came in fourth, followed by UAB and DePaul. Marquette and Saint Louis, who both earned postseason bids to the NIT, rated seventh and eighth. TCU is hoping to get over the .500 mark and was selected ninth by the coaches. Southern Miss was picked 10th, followed by East Carolina, Tulane, Houston and USF.
Along with Garcia, Travis Diener of Marquette, Memphis' Sean Banks, Charlotte's Curtis Withers and Cincinnati?s Jason Maxiell all made the preseason all-conference team.
Last season, Conference USA produced a league-record six NCAA Tournament teams, with UAB advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. Additionally, two teams participated in the National Invitation Tournament.
Memphis will serve as host city for the 2005 Conference USA Tournament, March 9-12 at the new state-of-the-art FedEx Forum. The first round and quarterfinal games will be carried on ESPN2 and ESPN Plus, while the semifinals will be carried on ESPN. The championship game is slated for Saturday, March 12 at 11:45 a.m. EST on CBS.
2004-05 CONFERENCE USA COACHES PRESEASON POLL 1. Louisville (11) 192 2. Memphis (2) 172 3. Cincinnati (1) 171 4. Charlotte 148 5. UAB 136 6. DePaul 122 7. Marquette 120 8. Saint Louis 93 9. TCU 88 10. Southern Miss 65 11. East Carolina 55 12. Tulane 41 13. Houston 29 14. USF 25 (#) designates first place votes PRESEASON ALL-LEAGUE TEAM *Francisco Garcia, Louisville, F, 6-7, Jr., Bronx, N.Y. Sean Banks, Memphis, F, 6-8, So., Oradell, N.J. Travis Diener, Marquette, G, 6-1, Sr., Fond du Lac, Wis. Jason Maxiell, Cincinnati, F, 6-7, Sr., Carrollton, Texas Curtis Withers, Charlotte, F, 6-8, Jr., Charlotte, N.C. * - Preseason Player of the Year
