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UTEP to host 2014 Conference USA basketball championships

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Conference USA will have a drastically different look next season, with four schools leaving for the American Athletic Conference and five schools joining the league run by commissioner Britton Banowsky.

The league’s board of directors met Tuesday, and one of the items of business was determining which sites would host the league’s championships for the 2013-14 academic year. The men’s and women’s basketball championships will be hosted by UTEP, with games being played from March 11-15, 2014.

Next March will mark the second time that El Paso has hosted the men’s tournament, with the first coming in 2011. Departing member Memphis won that tournament, beating the host Miners 67-66 in the title game. All 16 schools will be invited to the conference tournament.

Since the first round of major conference realignment Memphis hosted five of eight Conference USA tournaments, with the Tigers winning each one. While FedEx Forum certainly offered a home-court advantage, it’s also important to note that Memphis was the conference’s best program during that period.

As for the other three Conference USA tournaments, two were played at the BOK Center in Tulsa (not the Golden Hurricane’s home court). But with Tulsa leaving Conference USA for the American Athletic Conference (ECU and Tulane also leave in 2014), it’s likely that the board of directors didn’t want the event played in the city of a departing member.

Also of note from Tuesday’s meeting was the decision to remain at 14 members for the foreseeable future. With the ACC coming to a grant of rights agreement last month, many expect conference realignment (at the highest level) to be on hold for the time being.

Raphielle can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.