With eight Conference USA games remaining in the regular season, Memphis head coach John Calipari says his Tigers are moving into dangerous territory, with a possible ambush ahead.
“We have a death march, with (road) games at UAB, South Florida, Charlotte and Cincinnati,” Calipari said Thursday. “Name one team in the nation with those games that would have a winning record. We have a hard run of games.”
The Tigers’ final four road opponents are a combined 57-24 overall and 22-9 in conference play. UAB (10-11, 3-5 in C-USA), which was dispatched by Memphis, 102-81, last week at The Pyramid, is the only road opponent left without a winning record.
Take the Blazers out of the equation, and Memphis’ road opponents are a combined 10-2 at home in conference play, with No. 4-ranked Cincinnati and Charlotte both undefeated at 4-0.
Memphis faces a much easier task at home, where it will match up with TCU, Tulane, Houston and DePaul, teams with a combined record of 41-39. The Tigers have already knocked off TCU, Tulane and Houston earlier this season while DePaul looks to be the worst of the bunch with its 8-11 record.
On Saturday, TCU (11-11, 1-7 in C-USA) comes to town with a high-scoring offense and revenge on its mind after a 98-93 loss to the Tigers Jan. 9. Calipari cautioned his team should be careful of a slip up against TCU after its big win over rival Louisville Wednesday night.
“This game is scary, scary, scary,” he said. “It is a letdown waiting to happen.”
Calipari said the TCU game, along with the remaining seven, will give the Tigers more time to improve before March. “We have to compete every game, rebound more and get more physical,” Calipari said.
Memphis’ 8-0 conference start marks its best since the 1983-84 season, when the Tigers started 9-0 in the Metro Conference. A win Saturday and Memphis would tie that mark, it’s best in school history.
However, Calipari said not to look for a matchup of conference unbeatens when Memphis faces Cincinnati on national television in its season finale March 3.
“We won’t win every game,” he said. “We will stomp our toe somewhere.”
He’s more concerned with getting his team ready for tournament time in March.
“I’m worried about my team improving,” Calipari said. “It’s not important to win every game. We are playing for March and to prepare for the NCAA Tournament.”
