Obviously, the cancellation of the 2020 Conference USA Tournaments (along with the rest of CUSA’s spring slate) was devastating to everyone here at go tech pls dont die.
In an alternative timeline, we are currently celebrating Tech’s imminent return to the Big Dance for the first time since 1991. Our eyes are still wet with tears from watching DayDay and Jean embrace as the clock hit zeroes on Tech’s 99-43 victory over North Texas in the title game. We can still taste the victory bourbon that flowed as we watched, with our own eyes, Coach Konkol cutting down the nets in Frisco. And, if you can believe it, we’re celebrating the Techsters insane, improbable, and utterly ludicrous triumph as the bottom seed in the tournament. Coach Stoehr has done it, and the Techsters are returning to their rightful place in the NCAA Tourney (albeit as a 16 seed…).
But this is unfortunately not a blog set in that timeline. This blog is set in a reality I can only describe as hellish, nightmarish, and just damned unfair. Instead of getting a second shot at beating Marshall, a third chance to goad WKU into fouling, and a rubber match with North Texas to determine who the Actual Best™ team in the conference was this season…. we’re stuck in this absolute shit heap of a timeline.
And that’s only from a Tech fan’s perspective. Obviously Tech wasn’t guaranteed to win a single game, let alone the whole damn thing. As much as my heart breaks for DayDay, Derric Jean, Oliver Powell, and Mo Muhammed, who we’ll never get to see in Bulldog uniforms again, I know every single fan in this conference is having the same feelings. I’m angry that we won’t get to see Savage play again. That we won’t get to see Osaghae play again. Honestly, throw out 2020 and start over again. This sucks.
With all this negativity going around, I wanted to at least do something–find some way to bring CUSA Twitter together. With no sports to discuss with each other and fellowship around, it’s going to be a tough few months. But hey, we’re changing to a positive note here.
2020 CUSA Twitter Basketball Champions
With that goal and mind, and a distinct lack of the official means to declare a CUSA Tournament Champion… I compiled a list of CUSA Twitter accounts, making sure to include at least one per school. I figured since the CUSA tournament won’t be crowning a champion this season, maybe CUSA Twitter can!
I whittled my list down to one account per school, and left in a few “unaffiliated” pages as well. Each account then got to vote for who they thought would win the championship game, and who would lose it (AKA a Champion and a Runner Up). A Champion vote was worth 10 and a Runner Up worth 5.
It is my honor–nay, my duty, to declare the 2020 CUSA Twitter Champions:
Feel free to hang these banners proudly in your rafters forever, Mean Green and Owls. You earned them!
Results
Here’s how the results broke down. Feel free to @ any of these jabronis for their taeks. I had no vote, so don’t blame me!
| Team Affiliation | Men’s 1st | Men’s 2nd | Women’s 1st | Women’s 2nd | |
| @JackWhidden3 | FAU | WKU | North Texas | Rice | ODU |
| @HasBeenBoro | MTSU | North Texas | Louisiana Tech | ODU | MTSU |
| @LATechSportsrpt | Louisiana Tech | FIU | Louisiana Tech | Rice | ODU |
| @AtTheRoost | Rice | Louisiana Tech | North Texas | Charlotte | Rice |
| @RWiththeherd | Marshall | North Texas | Marshall | ODU | Marshall |
| @JaredUTSA | UTSA | Louisiana Tech | North Texas | Rice | WKU |
| @TheTowelRackWKU | WKU | North Texas | WKU | Rice | WKU |
| @Charmillionaire | UAB | North Texas | Louisiana Tech | Rice | ODU |
| @MinerManiac | UTEP | North Texas | Louisiana Tech | Rice | ODU |
| @BigBlues_Biceps | ODU | North Texas | WKU | Rice | ODU |
| @EricCHenry | FIU | Louisiana Tech | North Texas | Rice | MTSU |
| @tothetoptalk | Southern Miss | North Texas | Louisiana Tech | Rice | WKU |
| @TheUNT6 | UNT | Louisiana Tech | North Texas | ODU | WKU |
| @F5_CUSARefs | none | North Texas | WKU | Rice | ODU |
| @F5_CUSA | none | Louisiana Tech | Charlotte | Rice | WKU |
Note, I reached out to a Charlotte blog but did not receive an answer in time for this post. I’ll update it later if I receive their vote, but North Texas and Rice were already the champions without their input.
Men’s Results
| Team | Points | 1st Votes | 2nd Votes | % in top 2 |
| North Texas | 105 | 8 | 5 | 87% |
| Louisiana Tech | 75 | 5 | 5 | 67% |
| WKU | 25 | 1 | 3 | 26% |
| FIU | 10 | 1 | 0 | 7% |
| Charlotte | 5 | 0 | 1 | 7% |
| Marshall | 5 | 0 | 1 | 7% |
Women’s Results
| Team | Points | 1st Votes | 2nd Votes | % in top 2 |
| Rice | 115 | 11 | 1 | 80% |
| ODU | 60 | 3 | 6 | 60% |
| WKU | 25 | 0 | 5 | 33% |
| Charlotte | 10 | 1 | 0 | 7% |
| MTSU | 10 | 0 | 2 | 13% |
| Marshall | 5 | 0 | 1 | 7% |
Conclusion
I’d like to send a special shout out to CUSA Twitter. I threw this idea together on the morning we all should’ve been eagerly awaiting the men’s and women’s title games. Even though we weren’t able to do that, CUSA Twitter showed that it can be a place of harmony and love of CUSA Sports. Shoutout to everyone that voted and made this possible, and congrats to North Texas and Rice on the first (and hopefully only) CUSA Twitter Championships!
We’ll talk about this in detail on this week’s episode of the gtpdd Podcast, which will be out Tuesday or Wednesday. Check us out!