With one game remaining on the regular season schedule, WKU Men’s Basketball looks to move into the sixth seed at the Conference USA Tournament with a rematch versus Liberty on Saturday at Diddle Arena.
But it is not quite a win-and-clinch.
The CUSA Tournament Bracket grants a bye to the teams with the top six seeds, meaning the top six teams will not play until Wednesday rather than the first round of games on Tuesday. With the Hilltoppers win over FIU Thursday night, WKU sits with three different scenarios to claim the last spot for a bye.
According to WKU Men’s Basketball Sports Information Director Seth-Patrick Holman, here are WKU’s seeding scenarios.
WKU Secures No. 6 seed With:
WKU win, Louisiana Tech win, Kennesaw State win
Records against the top seed Liberty get put into play based on CUSA tiebreaker rules. The Hilltoppers would be 2-0 versus the Flames with a win, propelling them to the sixth seed over the Bulldogs, who would be 1-1 versus Liberty.
OR WKU win and LA Tech loss
Even if they lose, the KSU has the tiebreaker over WKU, so it would claim the fifth seed. WKU would take the sixth seed due to a better record than LA Tech.
OR WKU loss and LA Tech loss
The Miners, Hilltoppers, and Bulldogs would all be 8-10 in conference play, but WKU would be 3-1 head-to-head this season, so they would take the tiebreaker. UTEP would take the seventh seed and LA Tech the eighth.
WKU Secures No. 7 seed With:
WKU win, LA Tech win, KSU loss
WKU, KSU, and LT would all be 9-8 in conference play. The Owls would take the fifth seed off of tiebreaker and the Bulldogs get the sixth seed due to splitting the regular season series with Jacksonville State, who would be the top seed due to a Liberty loss at WKU.
Sports Reporter Michael Givner Jr. can be reached at michael.givner589@topper.wku.edu.
