DALLAS – After winning their divisions in the regular season, WKU and Louisiana Tech will be the No. 1 seeds at the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Basketball Championships presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Frisco, Texas.  The Hilltoppers won the East Division with a conference record of 11-3 and an overall mark of 18-6, while the Bulldogs took the West Division with a 12-4 league ledger and a 20-6 overall mark  As the top seeds, WKU and Louisiana Tech will each have a first-round bye at the championship.  

2021_MBB_Championship_Bracket_(pdf)

2021 Conference USA Men’s Basketball Championship Schedule
Ford Center at The Star, Frisco, Texas
 

Tuesday, March 9	7 p.m. CT Court A	(6W) Rice vs. (7W) Southern Miss	ESPN+
Tuesday, March 9	7:30 p.m. CT Court B	(6E) Middle Tennessee vs. (7E) FIU	ESPN+
Wednesday, March 10	5:30 p.m. CT Court A	(4W) UTSA vs. (5E) Charlotte	ESPN+
Wednesday, March 10	6 p.m. CT Court B	(3E) Marshall vs. Rice/Southern Miss	ESPN+
Wednesday, March 10	8:30 p.m. CT Court A	(4E) Florida Atlantic vs. (5W) UTEP	ESPN+
Wednesday, March 10	9 p.m. CT Court B	(3W) North Texas vs. Middle Tennessee/FIU	ESPN+
Thursday, March 11	5:30 p.m. CT Court A	(1E) WKU vs. UTSA/Charlotte	Stadium
Thursday, March 11	6 p.m. CT Court B	(2W) UAB vs. Marshall/Rice/Southern Miss	Stadium
Thursday, March 11	8:30 p.m. CT Court A	(1W) Louisiana Tech vs. Florida Atlantic/UTEP	Stadium
Thursday, March 11	9 p.m. CT Court B	(2E) Old Dominion vs. North Texas/Middle Tennessee/FIU	Stadium
Friday, March 12	11 a.m. CT	TBA vs. TBA	CBS Sports Network
Friday, March 12	2 p.m. CT	TBA vs. TBA	CBS Sports Network
Saturday, March 13	8 p.m. CT	TBA vs. TBA	CBS Sports Network

 
The other teams receiving first-round byes are No. 2 seeds Old Dominion and UAB. The Monarchs closed the regular season at 11-5 in conference and 15-7 overall, while Blazers were 13-5 in C-USA and 21-6 in all games.
 
The Championship begins with a pair of preliminary round games on Tuesday night, the first time since 2014 that more than 12 schools will participate in the event. No. 6 Rice and No. 7 Southern Miss will face off in an East Division clash at 7 p.m. CT on Court A. In the East, No. 7 FIU and No. 6 Middle Tennessee meet at 7:30 p.m. CT on Court B.  FIU and Middle Tennessee split their two regular season meetings in Murfreesboro in early January, while Rice won both contests against Southern Miss in Houston the first weekend of February.
 
Wednesday’s four-game action begins at 5:30 p.m. CT on Court A when the West No. 4 seed UTSA squares off with East No. 5 Charlotte.  The Roadrunners and 49ers had their regular season series canceled.
 
Next door on Court B, East No. 3 seed Marshall meets the winner of the Rice-Southern Miss showdown at 6 p.m. 
 
East No. 4 seed Florida Atlantic will face West No. 5 UTEP at 8:30 p.m. The regular season meetings between these teams were postponed due to weather-related issues. 
 
West No. 3 seed North Texas will close out Wednesday evening play at 9 p.m. CT on Court B, facing the winner of the FIU-Middle Tennessee matchup.
 
In Thursday's quarterfinal round, East No. 1 WKU will take on the winner of the UTSA-Charlotte game at 5:30 p.m. on Court A and West No. 2 UAB will face Marshall, Rice or Southern Miss beginning at 6 p.m. on Court B. West No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech will battle the winner of Florida Atlantic-UTEP at 8:30 p.m. on Court A, while East No. 2 seed Old Dominion will close out Thursday night against North Texas, Middle Tennessee or FIU at 9 p.m. on Court B.
 
Coverage of the preliminary and first rounds will be available through ESPN+, while the four quarterfinal games will be available on affiliates of Stadium.  The semifinal games will be shown on CBS Sports Network at 11 a.m. and 2 pm (CT).  CBS Sports Network will also broadcast the championship game on Saturday, beginning at 8 p.m. (CT).
 
For more information on the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Basketball Championships presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Frisco, visit ConferenceUSA.com.