1996 Conference USA men's basketball tournament

College basketball tournament July 2023 March 2026 December 2021 1996 Conference USA I Men's 11 The Pyramid Memphis, Tennessee Cincinnati 1st Bob Huggins 1st Danny Fortson Cincinnati Yes The 1996 Conference USA men's basketball tournament was held March 6–9 at The Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee.1995-96 Conference USA Season Summary sports-reference.com Sports Reference LLC 2016 https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/cusa/1996.html April 16, 2016 This was the first edition of the tournament. Top-seeded Cincinnati defeated Marquette in the inaugural championship game, 85–84, to clinch their first Conference USA men's tournament championship. The Bearcats, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA tournament. They were joined in the tournament by fellow C-USA members Louisville, Marquette, and Memphis, who all earned at-large bids. Format Conference USA was formed in 1995 by eleven former members the Metro Conference and the Great Midwest Conference (Dayton, VCU, and Virginia Tech were excluded). The conference's twelfth member, Houston, was to join for the 1996–97 season. For scheduling purposes, the eleven teams were placed into one of three three- or four-team divisions (Red, White, and Blue). All eleven teams participated in the tournament and were seeded based on their regular season conference records, regardless of division. The top five teams were given byes into the quarterfinal round, and the bottom six teams were entered into the preliminary first round. Bracket First roundWednesday, March 6 QuarterfinalsThursday, March 7 SemifinalsFriday, March 8 ChampionshipSaturday, March 9 high 9 1995 Saint Louis Billikens Saint Louis 61 8 1995 none Southern Miss Golden Eagles Southern Miss 44 11 1995 South Florida Bulls South Florida 73 6 1995 UAB Blazers UAB 57 7 1995 UNC Charlotte 49ers UNC Charlotte 60 10 1995 DePaul Blue Demons DePaul 66 1 #8 Cincinnati 62 9 Saint Louis 59 5 1995 Tulane Green Wave Tulane 79 4 #22 Louisville 98 3 #21 Marquette 65 11 South Florida 56 10 DePaul 69 2 #14 Memphis 92 1 #8 Cincinnati 92 4 #22 Louisville 81 3 #21 Marquette 72 2 #14 Memphis 60 1 #8 Cincinnati 85 3 #21 Marquette 84 References Category:Conference USA men's basketball tournament Tournament Conference USA men's basketball tournament Conference USA men's basketball tournament