There is no doubt of which weekend series should be highlighted. It is the battle between the two teams picked to finish #1 and #2 in conference USA at seasons end; Rice and Tulane. Rice comes into the game with an overall record of 21-8, including a 2-1 record in conference play. Tulane enters the series at 18-9, tied with Rice in conference with a 2-1 record.

This weekend is huge for the momentum of both teams and (could) help to determine the champion at seasons end, either way it should be a heck of a series. The fact that both teams are highly ranked, and loaded with talent should be enough, but no we have the element of revenge as well. The two teams squared off last year in the super regional of the NCAA tournament with Tulane taking two out of the three and advancing to the World Series.

What to watch for: Pitching
The most interesting match-up will be the battle of the pitching and which staff will excel.
Friday’s game will be broadcasted live on CSTV at 6:30 (central).

Today starts the second weekend of conference play. Some teams will look to remain perfect, others will try to pick improve on their first weeks performances. Southern Miss and Houston go into this weekend hoping to remain at the top of the conference as Southern Miss (3-0) hosts Memphis (1-2), while Houston (3-0) travels to East Carolina (1-2). Also, both Marshall (0-3) and UCF (0-0) hope to pick up their first conference wins of an the year, with the Herd hosting the Knights for the weekend series. UAB takes a week off from conference play, as the Blazers travel to play Louisiana Tech.

The first weekend of Conference play began this past weekend as eight out of the nine teams were in action against each other. Some teams shined and others looked as if it could be a long season in C-USA play. UCF was the only team that did not open up conference play as they took 2 out of 3 from former conference foe TCU. Below are the results from each series.

Rice v. East Carolina
Game 1: 3-4
Game 2: 8-5
Game 3: 5-0
(Rice takes series, 2-1)

Houston v. Marshall
Game 1: 7-0
Game 2: 4-1
Game 3: 15-1
(Houston sweeps series, 3-0)

Memphis v. Tulane
Game 1: 11-4
Game 2: 1-7
Game 3: 2-10
(Tulane take series, 2-1)

Southern Miss v. UAB
Game 1: 8-2
Game 2: 7-4
Game 3: 12-1
(Southern Miss sweeps series, 3-0)

Conference USA opens its conference play this weekend as Marshall visits Houston, Tulane travels to Memphis, East Carolina plays Rice and Southern Miss battles UAB. UCF is the only team that does not play in a Conference game this weekend as they travel to TCU to play the horned frogs.

Furthermore, three Conference USA teams remain nationally ranked heading into conference play this weekend including Rice, Tulane and Southern Mississippi; not to mention that East Carolina could join this list with a good series against Rice. Below are the records for the teams headed into this weekends play.

1. Southern Miss 16-5
2. Rice 18-6
3. East Carolina 16-6
4. UAB 13-7
5. Memphis 11-6
6. Tulane 14-8
7. UCF 13-10
8. Houston 13-11
9. Marshall 7-6

On Thursday eight teams took the court to see who would advance in the 2006 Conference USA Tournament, by days end the top seeded teams had proven that they were still the top dogs. Below is a small description of the action from each game.

(2) UAB 69 (10) SMU 55

UAB looked to solidify their position in the NCAA Tournament with a strong showing in the C-USA tournament, and did so in the quaterfinals yesterday afternoon. The Blazers put pressure early and often on SMU forcing 26 turnovers that lead to an additional 27 points. Four Blazers scored in double digits including Lawrence Kinnard (12), Richard Jones (12), Paul Delaney (11) and Marvett McDonald (11). SMU, who advanced with a 61-59 win over Rice, was lead by Bryan Hopkins with 13 points.