C-USA’s top teams meet late in season
BOCA RATON — New Florida Atlantic men’s basketball coach Dusty May already had the challenge of replacing four of last year’s starters as he takes control of a rebuilding program. Now, Conference USA has presented May with another challenge: the mysterious end to FAU’s conference schedule next spring.
Hoping to send more C-USA teams to the NCAA Tournament, league officials have created a new schedule format that will begin in the 2018-19 season.
Rather than the final four regular-season games before the C-USA Tournament in March being locked in with the rest of the schedule, the last two weeks will instead feature teams with similar records playing one another so that the higher-seeded teams in the conference will have an opportunity to increase their regular-season RPI.
“We’ve never done anything like this,” said May, who was hired in March to replace Michael Curry. “Right now, I think I like it. It’s creative, it’s different. I think our league is kind of looking for things to separate themselves and be creative. This is one way to do it because we need to get multiple teams in and we were really close last year.”
Marshall was the only C-USA team to make the NCAA Tournament, which they did by winning the conference tourney. Despite being ranked in national polls at times throughout the season and winning the conference’s regular-season title, Middle Tennessee was left out of the Big Dance.
It was the Blue Raiders’ snub that partially helped push for the new schedule rule, which will create three “pods,” two of which will feature five teams. Pod A will include the five best teams in terms of conference record, with Pod B having teams six through 10 and Pod B having the final four teams.
“It’s gonna be interesting, and it should bring some attention to the league,” May said. “It’s outside the box, revolutionary — hopefully in a good way.”
May told The Post that this format will take place and be evaluated over a twoto three-year window by coaches and league officials.