BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Cincinnati Bearcats are Conference USA's only ranked team; they won the regular-season championship; and they will play the league tournament on their homecourt, the Shoemaker Center, where they have won 15 consecutive games.

UC is the favorite, but that does not guarantee a sixth league tournament title for coach Bob Huggins. The Bearcats did not make the final as the No. 1 seed last season. Memphis lost in the semifinals in 1996, despite sharing the regular-season title with UC.

When the tournament begins Wednesday with a 1 p.m. game at the Shoe, the first of four opening-round games, there will be plenty of intrigue:

Team to beat: Clearly, the Bearcats, but UNC Charlotte is a serious threat.

Team nobody wants to face: Memphis. The Tigers are playing with great confidence and defend well. Point guard Detric Golden has learned when to shoot and when to get the ball to 6-foot-6 post man Omar Sneed.

Team that most needs the automatic bid: UAB. Were it not for a one-point home loss to DePaul, the Blazers would have a fair case for an NCAA Tournament at-large berth with wins over Auburn and Florida. But losing to the Blue Demons is tough to forgive.

Team that least needs one more game: Houston. The Cougars have lost nine in a row, two of the past three by 30-point margins. Their 16 turnovers against Memphis was their lowest total in the last four games. They average 21.9. Do they really need to do this all again?

Toughest draw/weakest draw: Toughest - Memphis. The Tigers could be forced to get through three teams ranked in the RPI top 60 (No. 60 Marquette, No. 35 UNC Charlotte, No. 19 Cincinnati) to win the title. Weakest - Cincinnati. Nothing shapes up as easy in an event like this, where teams are so familiar with each other, but UC is 7-0 against teams in the top half of the bracket.

Player most likely to be MVP: Sean Colson, point guard, UNCC. An event like this belongs to guards, and he's playing the best of anyone in the league. Colson had a 17-point, 18-assist game in the season finale against Houston

Best unknown player: Jimmie Floyd, shooting guard, Suthern Mississippi. There is a wonderful economy to Floyd's game. No garbage, just production. He is the Golden Eagles' only consistent source of offense, with 20-plus points in four of his past eight games.

Player under pressure: Michael Horton, point guard, Cincinnati. With Horton serving a three-game suspension for violating team policy, UC had an assist - turnover ratio of .87:1 and had to make last-second shots to win their final two games. He's better be ready to play when he returns for Thursday's quarterfinals. If he struggles, he'll hear about it.

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