For some teams time is running out for them to make a move in the Conference USA standings. Currently, East Carolina sits in 3rd place in C-USA at 6-6 but three others sit only a game back at 5-7 (Southern Miss, Tulane, & UCF). The question is which team will break out this weekend and which one will be disappointed?

This Weekend’s Conference USA Baseball Match-ups:

Tulane (28-15) @ ECU (27-15)
Southern Miss (29-15) @ Marshall (18-19)
Houston (29-15) @ UAB (15-27)
Rice (39-9) @ UCF (22-21)

There have been several news stories during the month of April that are important to fans of Conference USA sports and the teams of C-USA, so I have put together a quick round-up of C-USA sports news items. Below are some of the significant news stories for the month of April in C-USA football & basketball:

Doherty to coach basketball at SMU
In what I feel is a great move, SMU announced yesterday that they have hired Matt Doherty to take over as their new men’s head basketball coach. The former Notre Dame and North Carolina head basketball coach leaves Florida Atlantic where he turned a terrible program into a respectable one in just one year, leading FAU to a 15-13 season in 2005-2006. Considering that the SMU Mustangs have not won a postseason game of any kind since 1988, I think this move adds instant credibility to the SMU basketball program. This is a great move by SMU’s new AD Steve Orsini and shows that the University is committed to improving their struggling basketball program.

West Virginia student caught spying on Marshall spring practice
On September 2^nd, an in-state college football rivalry will be renewed. It’s only April, but let the trash-talking and accusations begin. It seems that on April 11^th, school officials at Marshall noticed a man in the stands during a spring practice taking notes. After confronting the man it was found that not only is he a West Virginia student, but he also worked in the same building that the WVU football offices are located. The Mountaineers say that the student was not acting on behalf of anyone at WVU, but don’t thik for a second that Thundering Herd fans believe that. This year’s game marks just the second time in 83 years that WVU and Marshall have squared off in football, and it took influence from the Governor of West Virginia’s office just to get this game scheduled.

Calipari signs contract extension to remain at Memphis through 2010-2011
As the annual coaching carrousel made it’s turns in early April, Memphis fans were left holding their breath. Then, on April 13^th, a huge sigh of relief was heard coming from the Memphis area as the Tigers men’s head basketball John Calipari signed a contract extension through the 2010-2011 season at Memphis. After leading Memphis to a school record 33-4 season, a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Elite Eight appearance in the Big Dance, it is clear that the University made a great move in locking up Calipari and taking him of the list of possible candidates at Indiana, Oklahoma and possibly other big-name schools.

Mike Davis takes over as head basketball coach at UAB
Former Indiana men’s basketball coach Mike Davis was named the new head coach at UAB earlier this month. Davis went 115-79 in his 6 years succeeding Bobby Knight and took the Hoosiers to the 2002 National Championship game. An Alabama native, Davis takes over the UAB Blazers who went 24-7 in 2005-2006 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Kentucky.

Rice’s Almond leaves for NBA Draft
Rice’s leading scorer Morris Almond has declared for NBA draft. The 6’6” junior guard scored 21.9 ppg and was named a to the All-Conference USA 1^st team in 2005-2006.

As always, thank you for reading the CUSA-fans blog and we encourage you to visit our parent site, CUSA-fans.com, for Conference USA sports news, standings, previews, recaps, picks & more!

The number one and two spots in the Conference USA baseball standings have been solidified, as Rice and Houston continue to pull away from the other teams in Conference USA. Both teams continued their stellar play, with Rice walking all over Southern Miss and Houston taking three from Memphis. The fight now remains for the 3rd spot in Conference USA. Below are the results from this weekend.

Southern Miss v. Rice
Game 1: 3-12
Game 2: 1-5
Game 3: 3-5

Memphis v. Houston
Game 1: 2-3
Game 2: 1-7
Game 3: 7-8

Marshall v. East Carolina
Game 1: 9-10
Game 2: 9-10
Game 3: 5-3

UAB v. UCF
Game 1: 0-9
Game 2: 9-7
Game 3: 16-4

(Tulane won its non-conference series 3-0 over Stephen F. Austin.)

This weekend will once again be packed with Conference USA baseball action. Rice looks to pull away from the pack as they host Southern Miss. Plus, Memphis looks to bounce back as they travel to Houston to play the Cougars. Other teams look to move up in the standings, including UCF as they welcome the Blazers to Orlando and Marshall travels to East Carolina. Tulane plays a non-conference series against Stephen F. Austin at Zephyr Field. Below is a look at the match-ups.

Southern Miss (27-12) @ Rice (32-9)
Memphis (21-18) @ Houston (25-15)
UAB (13-25) @ UCF (21-19)
Marshall (16-17) @ ECU (24-14)

Rice continues to dominate in Conference USA play, extending their winning streak to 14 games with a sweep of Memphis this weekend. Houston took two of three from Southern Miss, solidifying their 2nd place spot in Conference USA. Southern Miss dropped 2 of 3 but still remains 3rd in the standings, while Memphis dropped to fourth. In other action, Tulane took 2 of 3 from UCF and Marshall sweep UAB. In non-conference play, ECU sweep their series against Albany. Below are the scores from each conference series.

Rice v. Memphis
Game 1: 7-3
Game 2: 22-6
Game 3: 19-8

Houston v. Southern Miss
Game 1: 24-7
Game 2: 13-5
Game 3: 7-14

UCF v. Tulane
Game 1: 1-5
Game 2: 9-2
Game 3: 6-7

Marshall v. UAB
Game 1: 22-8
Game 2: 9-2
Game 3: 10-3

Rice sits at the top of the Conference USA baseball standings at 8-1, including winning their last ten outings. This weekend is sure to have its fair share of fireworks as the top four teams in C-USA battle for the top spot. East Carolina will sit out this weekend in Conference play, as they will play Albany in a non-conference friendly. Below are the Conference USA matchups for this weekend and the current C-USA standings heading into this weekend.

Weekend Conference USA Baseball Match-ups:

Rice v. Memphis
Houston v. Southern Miss
UCF v. Tulane
Marshall v. UAB

Conference USA Baseball Standings
1. Rice 8-1
2. Houston 7-2
3. Memphis 6-3
4. Southern Miss 4-2
5. UCF 3-3
6. ECU 4-5
7. Tulane 3-6
8. Marshall 1-8
9. UAB 0-6

The 2006 football schedules for all 12 teams in Conference USA are set and now listed on C-USA’s #1 fan site, CUSA-fans.com.

2006 Conference USA Football Schedules