By Jonathan Lidskin
Every night in college basketball, you can find a great game. Monday night was no different and the headliner delivered as such, but the result was most notable. Louisiana Tech knocked off Grand Canyon in a matchup of mid-major programs that had hype coming into the year.
The Bulldogs pulled away late and got people talking not just about them, but Conference USA. The league has been elite this year relative to the current standard and expectation. Every team in the conference is Top 200 in KenPom except for one.
In the actual game on Monday, the Bulldogs got big-time contributions from an all-conference first-teamer in Daniel Batcho, Junior Sean Newman and transfer Amaree Abram.
More than anything, this win opened some eyes to just how good C-USA has been this season. Louisiana Tech might not be the best team in the league, but they knocked off a Grand Canyon team that a large majority of people believe is the best team in another good mid-major conference.
So far in C-USA, you have the aforementioned Louisiana Tech, Liberty who is currently 66th in KenPom, Western Kentucky who is 7-3 with multiple good wins and a couple of other really solid teams right behind those three.
The conference is currently tracking as the 9th best league in the country. The conference’s current rating, 1.87, is tracking as the second-best rating for the league since 2013. The only season in which it was better: 2023. That was the year in which the conference had the CBI winner and both teams in the NIT final. Oh yeah, and a team that was a shot away from playing for a National Title. That one was kind of important too.
Regardless, it has been a remarkable turnaround for the league that lost six key members just two off-seasons ago. The conference has regrouped very nicely and will be a joy to watch all season long. I wouldn’t be surprised if people were picking the winner to win an NCAA Tournament game either.