Tulsa Chosen Sixth in C-USA Preseason Coaches Poll
10/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 18, 2006
Irving, Texas - Coming off a No. 1 seed in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, the Memphis Tigers repeat as the unanimous preseason favorite to win the 2006-07 Conference USA men's basketball regular-season crown, according to the league's coaches.
Although the league office announced just the top-4 teams of the preseason coaches poll this year, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane was chosen to finish in sixth place by the league's coaches.
Tulsa completed last season in sixth-place in the C-USA standings with a 6-8 league record and an overall mark of 11-17. The Hurricane entered last year after being picked to finish in ninth-place according to the C-USA Coaches, and anywhere from 9th to 11th in various preseason publications. Tulsa jumped up three spots from where it was picked last year.
Houston is picked to finish in second-place in the league race, followed by UAB, under new coach Mike Davis, while Rice and UTEP were tied for the fourth-place spot. Tulsa then came in as the preseason selection for sixth-place.
Rice's Morris Almond, a preseason All-America candidate, was the unanimous selection by coaches as the Preseason Player of the Year.
The Hurricane returns seven letterwinners and four starters from last year's team. This season's version of the Hurricane basketball team will have a year's experience to draw upon under its second-year head coach..
Tulsa will open the regular season on November 15 against St. Gregory's. TU has home exhibition games on Nov. 2 vs. Cameron and Nov. 8 against East Central.
