At first glance, the game in Washington tonight between independent Cal State-Bakersfield and Seattle University looks like the most tempting game for the SCGD. However, it wouldn’t be the SCGD if we did not spend at least one day this season focusing on the UAB Blazers. So, tonight we head instead to Birmingham, Alabama. While Mike Davis is (finally) gone from Birmingham, the Blazers have still put together a rather up and down season so far. Coach Jerod Haase has the team one game over .500, at 15-14, as they play their final home game of the season tonight, a 7:00 PM Eastern start against the Central Florida Golden Knights.
UAB opened the conference season this year by dropping 6 of their first 7 conference contests. However, since then they have only lost once and stand at 7-7 in Conference USA heading into tonight’s game. More importantly, the Blazers are in a three way tie for the #4 seed in the conference tournament, along with East Carolina and Tulsa. As long as they can finish as one of the top 5 seeds, they will receive a bye into the quarterfinals.
Tonight, UAB hosts Central Florida. UCF has had a solid season, including giving Memphis a tough game last time out before falling in the end. They sit at 19-10 overall and 8-6 in conference as they finish up their final season in Conference USA before moving to the “Big East Leftovers Conference” (or maybe we should call it the “UConn and Friends Conference”– UFC for short?) next season. UCF is under a postseason ban this year for NCAA violations and as a result only has tonight’s game and their finale at Southern Miss on Saturday left to go this season. A win tonight by UAB will keep them among the hottest teams in the conference, heading into their regular season finale at Memphis this weekend, and the conference tournament next week.