Yahoo Sports will break down the top 12 leagues for the upcoming college basketball season working backward from No. 12 to No. 1. Here's a look at our No. 12 league, Conference USA.

In the eight years between the Big East's first and second raid of Conference USA, there's no question who the league's premier team has been.

Memphis took out its frustration over being left behind on its lower-profile C-USA peers, capturing six league titles and amassing an absurd 113-13 conference record.

The era of Memphis dominance is over now that the Tigers have also left the league, which raises an obvious question entering the new season: Can any of the remaining teams take advantage of the power vacuum and emerge as C-USA's new flagship team?

It will take a few years to answer that question in the long-term, but the short-term answer appears to be no. Even though UTEP and Southern Miss are poised to build on their recent success, newcomer Louisiana Tech is on the rise and former powers Charlotte and UAB are taking strides toward recapturing their glory days, the 2013-14 edition of C-USA figures to feature a jumble of decent teams but none among the nation's elite.

The best bet to emerge from the morass and take control of the league may be UTEP, which returns five of its top seven scorers and its four leading rebounders from last season's 18-14 team. The Miners' upside would be higher had McDonald's All-American Isaac Hamilton not backed out of his letter of intent over the summer and transferred to UCLA, but the returning talent is accomplished enough that it would be a surprise if UTEP isn't in league title contention.

Small forward Julian Washburn is formidable perimeter defender who blossomed into a scoring threat late last season, though his outside shooting remains a major weakness. Veterans John Bohannon and Cedrick Lang, 7-foot-1 Matt Willms and top freshman Vince Hunter combine to form a strong frontcourt, but the Miners have questions at point guard, where a replacement for last year's starter, Jacques Streeter, must emerge.

In addition to UTEP, it would be a surprise if Southern Mississippi and Louisiana Tech weren't factors in the league title race.

Three starters return for Southern Miss from a 27-win NIT team and the Golden Eagles also add 6-foot-5 wing Aaron Brown, a Temple transfer who led the team in scoring during its five-game August exhibition tour of the Bahamas. Four starters including standout guards Kenneth "Speedy" Smith and Raheem Appleby return for Louisiana Tech from a team that also won 27 games last season but must prove it can handle a step up in competition from the WAC to C-USA.

If one or more of the three leading contenders falter, there are a handful of teams more than capable of taking advantage.

Tulsa returns three starters from Danny Manning's inaugural season and gets back forward Rashad Smith, a sophomore who led the Golden Hurricane in scoring through four games before suffering a season-ending foot injury. Charlotte should also be strong in its first season back in C-USA thanks to the return of guard Pierria Henry, forward Willie Clayton and two other starters from a 21-win team that advanced to the NIT. And Middle Tennessee and UAB also could factor in the league race if the Blue Raiders' eight newcomers prove ready to contribute immediately or the Blazers' five key returners make significant progress.

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