Western Kentucky's Josh Anderson goes to the basket past Old Dominion's B.J. Stith, right, in the Conference USA semifinals on Friday, March 9, 2018, in Frisco, Texas. The Hilltoppers won 57-49.
Austin Anthony | (Bowling Green, Ky.) Daily News via APStretching from the Rio Grande to the Chesapeake, Conference USA is nothing if not aptly-named.
And when it comes to basketball, C-USA has earned a reputation for being sneaky strong at the top, as evidenced by its opening-round wins in four straight NCAA tournaments, but dragged down overall by a weak bottom tier.
As with mid-major leagues everywhere in recent years, C-USA has been boxed out of the NCAA tournament at-large pool by major conferences that scarf up bids while refusing to play the mid-majors anywhere but in the comfort of their home courts, for the most part.