Quick Dig: Senior Night, Seeding, & More Tim Floyd Coverage Edition

In The Dig:  It's a C-USA game night and a class of incredible UTEP seniors will play their final regular season game at the Don Haskins Center in just a few hours.  The Miner Nation is rooting for the USM Golden Eagles tonight as the Eagles host league leader UAB.  A UAB loss in Hattiesburg would be the perfect way to create seeding chaos going into the league's final regular season gameday on Saturday.  Meanwhile, we take another quick look back at the ECU nonsense as ESPN's Pat Forde slams UTEP's Tim Floyd for the ECU ejection heard 'round the world and Duke Keith gives us all a chuckle.

UTEP Hoops

Senior Night:  Just like that, we are nearly done with the 2011 basketball regular season.  UTEP is playing their final home game of the year at the Don.  Bill Knight has a stellar article up on this senior class.

Four years ago they were kids. Tonight they say farewell to their fans, young men who have been very, very special in the storied history of UTEP basketball.

Learning Lesson:  As UTEP's seniors wrap up their careers, Tim Floyd sent a message to the teams freshman.  Michael Perez and John Bohannon won't play tonight as they have been suspended due to academic issues.  Kudo's to coach Floyd for sticking to his guns but these are tough losses for the Miners. Bohannon was huge against Memphis and Perez gives UTEP's guards their only rest.  

"They are freshmen who should have figured it out by now, figured out why they are here," Floyd said. "Hopefully, this will be a learning experience for them. If not, there are a lot of young men who want to get a college education at a quality institution like UTEP, one with a good basketball program."

It's Almost Here:  The C-USA Tournament is just a week away and Bob Stull is getting the word out on events going down next week.  Memorial Gym has been updated for the women's games.  

Bubble Watch:  SBNation's latest bubble watch only gives Memphis a shot at an at large bid in the tournament.  Michigan, who UTEP beat on a neutral floor, is making a late run for the field of 68.

In the Driver's Seat?  USM has two tough games left as they host UAB and play Tulsa on Saturday.  If the Eagles win out they will be the #1 seed next week in El Paso.  Is there anything about this C-USA season that makes us think any team can win 2 in a row?

Jordan Palmer?  Really?  Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Jordan Palmer become a starting NFL quarterback, but I simply don't see it happening.  Do you?  ESPN has a story up on how Palmer is working hard to become a leader in Cincinnati as his brother Carson looks destined to get out of town.  

ECU Ejection Fallout Continues

Gotta Love  Hate the Worldwide Leader:  ESPN's Pat Forde hasn't covered C-USA basketball at all this season.  But, that didn't stop Forde from taking a serious swipe at Tim Floyd for the ECU ejection in his latest column.  Forde went as far as to call UTEP "an embarrassment" for hiring Floyd in the first place.  

Southern Miss needs to win the league tourney. So does UTEP, which continues to be an embarrassment for the hiring and coddling of Teflon Tim Floyd. The school held its breath until Floyd somehow escaped a show-cause penalty from the NCAA for the O.J. Mayo disgrace that went on under his watch at USC. Last week, Teflon Tim put on a pro wrestling display at East Carolina -- ejected, restrained by officials from going after one referee in particular, and finally herded off the court by a cop. In a league with a stern commissioner, that would warrant a one-game suspension. In C-USA, Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man Britton Banowsky issued a reprimand. Teflon Tim rolls on … most likely to the NIT.

Lighten Up:  Forde could learn something from KLAQ's Duke Keith & Co.  The Morning Show made this video about the incident.