2003 Conference USA men's basketball tournament

2003 Conference USA men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2002–03
Teams	12
Site	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
Champions	Louisville (1st title)
Winning coach	Rick Pitino (1st title)
MVP	Luke Whitehead (Louisville)
Conference USA men's basketball tournaments

2002–03 Conference USA men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
American
No. 9 Marquette	14	–	2		.875			27	–	6		.818
No. 14 Louisville †	11	–	5		.688			25	–	7		.781
Cincinnati	9	–	7		.563			17	–	12		.586
Saint Louis	9	–	7		.563			16	–	14		.533
DePaul	8	–	8		.500			16	–	13		.552
Charlotte	8	–	8		.500			13	–	16		.448
East Carolina	3	–	13		.188			12	–	15		.444
National
No. 19 Memphis	13	–	3		.813			23	–	7		.767
UAB	8	–	8		.500			21	–	13		.618
Tulane	8	–	8		.500			16	–	15		.516
South Florida	7	–	9		.438			15	–	14		.517
Houston	6	–	10		.375			8	–	20		.286
Southern Miss	5	–	11		.313			13	–	16		.448
TCU	3	–	13		.188			9	–	19		.321
† 2003 Conference USA Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 2003 Conference USA men's basketball tournament was held March 12–15 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.

Louisville defeated upstart UAB in the championship game, 83–78, to clinch their first Conference USA men's tournament championship.

The Cardinals, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA tournament. They were joined in the tournament by fellow C-USA members Cincinnati, Marquette, and Memphis, all of whom earned at-large bids.

Format

There were no changes to the tournament format from the previous year. The top four teams were given byes into the quarterfinal round while the next eight teams were placed into the first round. The two teams with the worst conference records were not invited to the tournament. All remaining tournament seeds were determined by regular season conference records.

Bracket

	First round Wednesday, March 12					Quarterfinals Thursday, March 13					Semifinals Friday, March 14					Championship Saturday, March 15
						1	#8 Marquette	76
						8	UAB	83
	9	Charlotte	61
	8	UAB	85
											8	UAB	63
											4	Saint Louis	62
	5	Cincinnati	61
	12	Southern Miss	63
						12	Southern Miss	56
						4	Saint Louis	69
																8	UAB	78
																3	#20 Louisville	83
						3	#20 Louisville	82
						6	Tulane	66
	11	Houston	52
	6	Tulane	74
											3	#20 Louisville	78
											2	#16 Memphis	75
	7	DePaul	74
	10	South Florida	76
						10	South Florida	56
						2	#16 Memphis	62