The 2015–16 Conference USA men's basketball season began with practices in October 2015, followed by the start of the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November.
Preseason Preseason Polls C-USA Coaches 1. UAB (11) 2. Old Dominion (3) 3. Middle Tennessee 4. UTEP 5. Louisiana Tech 6. WKU 7. Rice 8. North Texas 9. Marshall 10. FIU 11. Charlotte 12. Florida Atlantic 13. UTSA 14. Southern Miss
Preseason All-Conference Team C-USA CoachesAdrian Diaz, F FIUAlex Hamilton, G Louisiana TechErik McCree, F Louisiana TechRyan Taylor, F MarshallReggie Upshaw Jr., G Middle TennesseeTrey Freeman, G Old DominionMarcus Jackson, G RiceRobert Brown, G UABWilliam Lee, F UABEarvin Morris, F UTEP
Rankings
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
Pre/Wk 1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 FinalCharlotte AP C FIU AP C Florida Atlantic AP C Louisiana Tech AP RV C Marshall AP C Middle Tennessee AP C North Texas AP C Old Dominion AP RV RV C RV RV Rice AP C Southern Miss AP C UAB AP RV C RV RVRV UTEP AP RV C RV UTSA AP C WKU AP C
Conference schedules Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. CharlotteFIUFAULaTechMarshallMTSUUNTODURiceUSMUABUTEPUTSAWKUvs. Charlotte – 0–1 1-0 1-0 1–1 1-0 1–1 2-0 0-3 1-0 1-0 0-1 0-1 1–1 vs. FIU 1–0 – 0–2 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 0–2 0–1 vs. Florida Atlantic 0-1 2–0 – 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 0–3 1–0 vs. Louisiana Tech 0-1 1–0 1–0 – 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 vs. Marshall 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 – 1–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–2 vs. Middle Tennessee 0-1 0–2 0–2 1–0 1–1 – 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 vs. North Texas 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 – 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 vs. Old Dominion 0-2 0–1 0–2 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–2 – 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–2 vs. Rice 3-0 0–1 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 – 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 vs. Southern Miss 1-0 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–1 2–0 – 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 vs. UAB 0-1 0–2 0–2 1–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 – 0–1 0–1 1–1 vs. UTEP 1-0 1–2 0–2 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 – 1–1 0–1 vs. UTSA 1-0 2–0 3–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 – 1–0 vs. WKU 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 – Total 10–9 7–12 6–14 12–6 11–7 13–5 7–12 13–6 7–12 6–12 16–2 11–8 3–16 9–10
Honors and awards Players of the Week Throughout the conference regular season, the C-USA offices named one or two players of the week and one or two freshmen of the week each Monday. Week Player of the week Freshman of the week November 16, 2015 Chris Cokley, UAB Ja'Michael Brown, North Texas November 23, 2015 Adrian Diaz, FIU Andrien White, Charlotte November 30, 2015 Earvin Morris, UTEP C. J. Burks, Marshall Marcus Evans, Rice December 7, 2015 Adrian Diaz (2), FIU Marcus Evans (2), Rice December 14, 2015 Alex Hamilton, Louisiana Tech C. J. Burks (2), Marshall December 21, 2015 Erik McCree, Louisiana Tech Marcus Evans (3), RiceDecember 28, 2015James Kelly, MarshallMarcus Evans (4), Rice January 4, 2016 Adrian Diaz (3), FIU Andrien White (2), Charlotte Alex Hamilton (2), Louisiana TechJanuary 11, 2016James Kelly (2), MarshallJon Davis, CharlotteJanuary 18, 2016William Lee, UABMarquez Letcher-Ellis, RiceJanuary 25, 2016Trey Freeman, Old DominionJon Davis (2), CharlotteFebruary 1, 2016Trey Freeman (2), Old DominionMarcus Evans (5), RiceFebruary 8, 2016Trey Freeman (3), Old DominionMarcus Evans (6), RiceFebruary 15, 2016Erik McCree (2), Louisiana TechMarcus Evans (7), RiceFebruary 22, 2016James Kelly (3), MarshallMarcus Evans (8), RiceFebruary 29, 2016Alex Hamilton (3), Louisiana Tech Marcus Evans (9), RiceMarch 7, 2016Alex Hamilton (4), Louisiana Tech Marcus Evans (10), Rice
All-Conference USA Awards and Teams
2016 Conference USA Men's Basketball Individual Awards Award Recipient(s) TeamPlayer of the YearAlex HamiltonLouisiana TechGene Bartow Coach of the YearJerod HaaseUABDefensive Player of the YearWilliam LeeUABFreshman of the YearMarcus EvansRiceNewcomer of the YearJames KellyMarshallSixth Man AwardDirk WilliamsUAB
2016 Conference USA Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams First Team Second Team Third Team All-Freshman Team All-Defensive Team All-Academic TeamAlex Hamilton (La. Tech)James Kelly (Marshall)Trey Freeman (ODU)Marcus Evans (Rice)Robert Brown (UAB)Joseph Uchebo (Charlotte)Adrian Diaz (FIU)Erik McCree (La. Tech)Jeremy Combs (N. Texas)Chris Cokley (UAB)Giddy Potts (MTSU)Reggie Upshaw Jr. (MTSU)William Lee (UAB)Nick Norton (UAB)Lee Moore(UTEP)Jon Davis (Charlotte)Andrien White (Charlotte)Zoran Talley (ODU)Marcus Evans (Rice)Terry Winn (UTEP)Adrian Diaz (FIU)Alex Hamilton (La. Tech)Brandan Stith (ODU)Marcus Evans (Rice)William Lee (UAB)Jon Elmore (Marshall)Austin Loop (Marshall)Trey Freeman (ODU)Nick Norton (UAB)Dominic Artis (UTEP) † - denotes unanimous selection
Postseason Conference USA Tournament
The conference tournament is scheduled for March 8–12 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL.
NCAA tournament
Seed Region School First Four Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship15 Midwest Middle Tennessee W, 90–81 vs. #2 Michigan State – (St. Louis) L, 50–75 vs. #10 Syracuse – (St. Louis) W–L (%):0–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 Total: 1–1
National Invitation Tournament
Seed Bracket School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals 7 St. Bonaventure UAB L, 79–97 vs. #2 BYU W–L (%):0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 Total: 0–1
Vegas 16 Tournament
References