Looks like you can go ahead and forget the idea that UAB was going to carry the WEBM (Who Else Besides Memphis) banner for Conference USA this year. On Friday, UAB lost to a very mediocre Florida State team on a neutral floor in Daytona Beach, 78-70. That was bad enough. Then on Saturday, the Blazers dropped a 59-57 decision to Georgia Southern. That’s just plain awful.

Of course, this isn’t surprising to me. In every preseason prediction I published, I slotted UAB fourth in C-USA behind Houston and Southern Miss. You simply can’t take a bunch of transfers — especially transfers with flaky histories — and turn them into a good team unless you’re a great, great coach. And Mike Davis is no great coach. Though he got a free pass last year from UAB fans and the Birmingham and national media, UAB should not have been nearly as bad as they were last season. In a league where Central Florida’s Atlantic Sun-recruited players can finish second, UAB had more than enough talent to finish better than ninth. That’s on Davis. And so is this debacle, which is bad for UAB, but even worse for the league.

Tulsa has already lost to Hampton. Houston has already lost to Virginia Commonwealth. And those are supposed to be three of the league’s five best teams. Yep, C-USA, in the words of Bob Seger, you’re still the same.

Some interesting notes before Memphis and UAB kick off at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium:

** UAB has allowed 172 points in its past four games, a 43-point average.

** Memphis has had ONE 100-yard rusher in its first 10 games. Joseph Doss gained 175 against Rice.

** UAB had two backs rush for 100 yards in its win over the Tigers last year in Birmingham.

** In its past four games, Memphis has rushed 77 times for 162 yards, a 2.1 yards-per-carry average.

** UAB ranks last in the Conference USA standings in rushing offense (111.1 yards per game), total offense (307.3 ypg), scoring (18.7 points per game) and rushing defense (264.0 ypg).

** Memphis has had a high percentage of fourth-down conversions in 2007, converting 15 times in 23 chances.

I don’t see how this trip could have gone much better for the Tigers. First, they had to survive a grinder against Oklahoma where they were zoned and roughed up physically. Then, they had to overcome a pro-UConn crowd and major foul trouble to claim the 2k Sports College Hoops title. Both experiences will be beneficial in the long run. Lots of teams will try to play Memphis the way Oklahoma did. The Tigers’ zone offense will get better with more practice, Derrick Rose will figure out ways to get the ball into the middle, and Robert Dozier will make himself more of a factor than he was in the Oklahoma game. The Tigers will look at some of their film from the Connecticut game and work on defending dribble penetration.

The biggest disappointment, from my standpoint, was that Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack weren’t much of a factor off the bench. Because both games were close, John Calipari shortened the rotation. Granted, Kemp wasn’t making open shots, but Mack went 1-for-1 against Connecticut in 7 minutes, and it would have been nice to get him some looks in the second half to perhaps stretch out the lead. Those guys will have to be in the mix at some point in these big games.

I was also impressed with how well Memphis handled the collapse at the end of the first half. Going from a 20-5 lead to a 41-40 deficit, and especially the way it happened, could have led to an absolute implosion. Watching it, I was having flashbacks to the Georgia Tech game in Maui last year. Granted, the officiating was horrible — Rose got hacked about five straight times driving to the rim and couldn’t get a call, while it seemed like every whistle was going UConn’s way — but Memphis was also missing a lot of shots. The Tigers really came out with a lot of composure to start the second half, kept grinding, and finally was able to break the game open with CDR and Rose taking advantage of isolation plays.