TODAY’S NOT-SO-TRIVIAL question: Which Conference USA team has gone the longest without making the NCAA tournament?
Answer: Rice, whose drought will hit the 46-year mark. The Owls were members of the Southwest Conference when they played in the 25-team Big Dance of 1970.
If you said Marshall, you were incorrect, but not far off. With sadness and resignation, many Thundering Herd fans know the last appearance was 1987.
The Herd was in the low-rung Southern Conference, the league tournament was held in Asheville, North Carolina, and there was alcohol in the media room.
And there was nobody who thought the Herd would be desperately seeking its next NCAA tournament bid 29 years later.