… for finally making a basketball-centered expansion decision.  It’s the league’s heritage, regardless of the dollars and cents. … But I am betting the Big East profits from this in a big way, at least by perserving what it has on the hardwood. And guaranteeing Central Florida two more losses per year.

Of course, Memphis football might not add much …

Back to Conference USA and Marshall, who is going to host the 2013 C-USA tournament, which likely will be the last call for the league as we know it? And with the C-USA/Mountain West merger going full speed ahead, when will the Herd end up playing a conference basketball tournament in Vegas?

Reread it and weep, Patsie fans …

First off, I will have a Herd notebook tonight, leading off with Shaquille Johnson’s continued contribution on the offensive end. He is 6-of-8 from 3-point range the last two games and about 43 percent since the calendar turned to 2012. If you attended the Herd’s whipping of Tulane, you know Shaq kept the home team afloat until its inevitable dominance kicked in.

Tulane reminded me of The Citadel teams Ed Conroy played for back in the day … Enough talent, smarts and grit to make you nervous, but lacking in size, speed and other athletic traits.

Anyway, the Herd pulled into a tie for 4th with Central Florida, which it wins on a tiebreaker, for now. For fans dragging yourselves to Memphis for the first time, a top-4 finish means a first-round bye and one worry-free night on Beale Street … Completing a season sweep over UCF next Wednesday would be enormous … but first, the Herd must play at Tulsa, that perpetually gritty team with Jordan Clarkson emerging as a star.

C-USA had its game of the season so far on Wednesday night, with Southern Miss breaking a 5,000-game losing streak against Memphis. Accounts from Hattiesburg and Memphis, with Geoff Calkins telling Tiger fans to take a deep breath.

For a bonus,  we have the soon-to-retire AD at Memphis downplaying the latest Big Not-So-East rumor du jour. After all, it would be bad manners to openly court the BNSE with 11 other C-USA teams coming to town.

BTW, I was told “Little CBS,” i.e. the Network Formerly Known as CSTV, was airing a high school game and joined Memphis-USM in progress.

If you see it in reruns, give it a look because the Herd’s last two home games are Memphis and USM, on successive Saturdays. I guarantee it will be better viewing than the Shewey Building fax machine!

I would ponder the wonder of Southern Miss sitting atop the standings at the halfway pole — that *has* to be a first — but I did slot this team No. 2 in my pre-league schedule guesses.

Again, those were: 1. Memphis; 2. Southern Miss; 3. UCF; 4. UAB; 5. UTEP; 6. Marshall; 7. East Carolina; 8. Tulsa; 9. Houston; 10. Tulane; 11. Rice; 12. SMU.

Current standings: Southern Miss 7-1, Memphis and Tulsa 6-2, Marshall and UCF 5-3, Rice 4-4, Houston, UTEP and UAB 3-5, Tulane, East Carolina and SMU 2-6.

UTEP or UAB could still get hot, though they tend to shoot their feet off at the ankles. East Carolina was a gloriously stupid call, and 6th-place Rice is shocking me. Marshall should end up 4 or 5, if not higher … the Tulsa-UCF road swing may tell us a lot.

National signing day is mostly behind us, and the recruitin’ services are tallying the results. Rivals ranks Marshall No. 1 among the 9 schools staying in C-USA, but 6th by Scout. I think I need the “eyes rolling” symbol here.

Enjoy the rest of the week … and this weather.

Tonight’s best bet: For the love of God, please don’t watch ESPNU. Listen to Steve Cotton at 7 and watch Memphis-Southern Miss at 8 on “Little CBS.” Tigers win tonight and they finish a season sweep of Eustachy’s team, and become a prohibitive league title favorite.

Then again, the Tigers finish the season @Marshall, UCF, @Tulsa. But between the Xavier game this weekend and the Marshall game on Jan. 28, the schedule gets cushy (both ECU games, 3 home games).

Tigers should carry at least a 5-game win streak to Huntington, and it may be 10.

This week’s schedule for the contenders:

Memphis (6-1): @So Miss today, Xavier on Saturday

Southern Miss (6-1): Memphis, off

Tulsa (6-2): off, Marshall

UCF (5-3): off, @SMU

Marshall (4-3): Tulane, @Tulsa

Here is the Tulane preview, with a pressing issue of sorts for Ed Conroy’s team. Good to see Tammy Nunez alive and well at the Times-Pic.

Here is my game preview today, and my story on Ed Conroy and his Tulane team from Tuesday. He played for The Citadel in the ’80s, in the Huck era. Remember the daggone $2 bills at Asheville?

Updates possible here. Follow me on Tweetybird @dougsmock … My early-edition story should post at about 9:30 p.m. EST.

… but you could get a Gameday Throwdown here … Another big game tonight, as the Herd looks to right the ship.

… Today’s latest commitment … Looks like he has been targeting the Herd for some time, really enjoyed his Jan. 13 visit. … An evaluation pick at inside linebacker, looking at who else reportedly was going after. … If he comes in with a chip on his shoulder and  can be coached, you never know …

20 1/2 hours until the faxes hum …

The latest Herd commitment …

Signed at Virginia Tech in 2011 and would have qualified, but stumbled academically in the spring and went to Fork Union. He was ranked 18th in the state by the Roanoke Times.

Waiting to determine if he took the field for Fork Union. A knee injury got in the way, possibly something that cropped up in the summer. He has had the knee scoped and is reportedly back at 100 percent.

Signing day is hours away …

Any Herd fans miss Johnny Thomas about now?

First, I must say: I still hate the 3-point goal. Perhaps the Marshall basketball team should learn to hate it, too.

Tonight and/or Friday night, you can expect another examination of the Thundering Herd’s offensive woes, which is becoming the overwhelming story on this team. Remember all the times coach Herrion said, “Offense comes easy with this bunch”? It’s not coming easy.

And the timing is wretched. Marshall’s upcoming schedule is @Memphis, Tulane, @Tulsa, @UCF. That 4-0 Conference USA start could easily turn into 5-5, if this team can’t put something in the basket.

As an aside: Mitch Vingle suffered technical difficulties (RIP laptop), and lost his column on deadline. I would expect something out of him tonight.

First, Jerry Palm is out with his brackets, and he still has Marshall in the field. That’s the good news.

The bad news: He puts forth the most agonizing scenario, placing the Herd a co-13 in a “first four” game against Texas.

Dayton, no problem. But if the Herd win in this hypothetical bracket, it would advance to play San Diego State. In freakin’ Portland. (Palm also has the Mountaineers and UCF going out to Portland as a 4th seed and 12th seeds, though in a different region. Remember the “pod” concept.) He still has C-USA getting 4 bids, with Southern Miss seeded 10th in Pittsburgh and Memphis 11th in Albuquerque.

5 good sites on the first weekend, and root for them: Pittsburgh, Columbus, Louisville, Greensboro and Nashville. Then there’s Omaha. And Albuquerque. And Portland.

But it’s too early, way too early. C-USA game No. 6 is tonight against UAB, and the over-under is about 120.

With conference-only stats starting to be relevant, a tale of the tape:
Scoring offense: Marshall 5th at 65.6, UAB dead last at 55.0. And just think: Jordan Swing is out.
Scoring defense: UAB 3rd at 58.0, Marshall 9th at 62.2. 10 teams under 65, if you’re wondering.
FG% offense: 8th and 9th, 41.4 and 41.0
3 FG% offense: UAB best at .392, Marshall 6th at .341
Defense vs. FG: UAB 5th and 6th at .420, .430
Defense vs. 3 FG: Marshall rules this category at .260, UAB 10th at .370 (Warm it up, Dago.)

And the board numbers:
Rebounding margin: Marshall 1st at plus-12.2 (wow), UAB 7th at minus-1.6
Offensive rebounds: Marshall 1st at  16.8, UAB 4th at 10.0
And my new favorite stat, offensive rebounding percentage (your off rebs vs. their def rebs): Marshall 1st at .426, UAB 3rd at .313.

That’s not a typo: That’s how badly Marshall pounds you on the boards.

Free-throw shooting: Marshall .590. That’s last, of course. Ugh.

Back to 3-point shooting, here’s another good stat: UAB does its damage taking about 15 of them a game. Marshall is taking 17 a game (again, conference-only stat). Reverse that order tonight and I think you will like the result…