Snowflakes: C-USA/Big East Hoops
* Well, it finally happened. The 47-game home winning streak and the perfect record on the season ended for Memphis last Saturday when Tennessee defeated them, 66-62, in the raucous FedEx Forum. Surprisingly, the Tigers were outhustled and outrebounded by the smaller Vols who made all of the key plays late in the game. While it never feels good to lose-especially in such an electric atmosphere- the loss might be a good thing in the long run for John Calipari’s club. It seems that they have spent the better part of the last two seasons worrying about streaks or how well they rank nationally. Now, the Tigers can regroup and set their sights on a goal not yet reached in the Calipari era: the Final Four.
* UAB and Houston are still fighting for a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament from Conference USA. The Blazers got a huge victory over the Cougars last week in the
two teams’ only meeting in the regular season. Both squads seem to have almost identical resumes, and they are probably fighting for only one possible at-large spot from the league. Each team must close very strongly and reach the C-USA Tournament Final if they want to have any shot at all. One issue for UAB, they still have to travel to Memphis for the season finale on March 8th.
* Louisville won its 7th straight game on Sunday with an impressive 75-73 road win at Pittsburgh. In fact, the Cardinals became the only team to win twice at the Petersen Events Center (Pitt is 94-10 there since 2002). Rick Pitino has his club back at the top of 
the Big East race, and they look like a squad who could make a deep tournament run if they remain healthy. Senior big men David Padgett and Juan Palacios missed some significant time earlier in the season, and Louisville struggled accordingly. The Cards have been much better with their veterans back, and they will take that positive momentum into a huge game with Notre Dame this Saturday.
- Patrick Snow
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