The Houston Cougars struggled their way to a ninth place finish in the 2012 Conference USA standings. They will be the No. 9 seed on Wednesday when they take on eighth seeded UTEP in the first-round of the 2012 Conference USA Championship in Memphis.
Houston and UTEP split the season series during the regular season with each team winning on their home floor. The Cougars suffered a 70-50 loss to the Miners on January 7 and returned the favor on January 28 with an 81-76 win in overtime. The winner will advance to take on top-seeded Memphis on Thursday.
Here is a look at the rest of the first-round matchups for Wednesday, March 7:
(7) Rice vs. (10) East Carolina (CSS) 12:00p
(6) Marshall vs. (11) SMU (CSS) 2:30p
(8) UTEP vs. (9) Houston (CSS) 6:30p
(5) UAB vs. (12) Tulane (CSS) 9:00p
For more on this game and the Conference USA Championship, head on over to SB Nation's College Basketball page.