2005 Conference USA men's basketball tournament

The 2005 Conference USA men's basketball tournament was held March 9–12 at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.

2005 Conference USA men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2004–05
Teams	12
Site	FedExForum Memphis, TN
Champions	Louisville (2nd title)
Winning coach	Rick Pitino (2nd title)
MVP	Luke Whitehead (Louisville)
Conference USA men's basketball tournaments

2004–05 Conference USA men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Louisville †	14	–	2		.875			33	–	5		.868
Charlotte	12	–	4		.750			21	–	8		.724
No. 23 Cincinnati	12	–	4		.750			25	–	8		.758
UAB	10	–	6		.625			22	–	11		.667
DePaul	10	–	6		.625			20	–	11		.645
Houston	9	–	7		.563			18	–	14		.563
Memphis	9	–	7		.563			22	–	16		.579
TCU	8	–	8		.500			21	–	14		.600
Marquette	7	–	9		.438			19	–	12		.613
Saint Louis	6	–	10		.375			9	–	21		.300
South Florida	5	–	11		.313			14	–	16		.467
Tulane	4	–	12		.250			10	–	18		.357
East Carolina	4	–	12		.250			9	–	19		.321
Southern Miss	2	–	14		.125			11	–	17		.393
† 2005 Conference USA Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Top-seeded Louisville defeated hosts Memphis in the championship game, 75–74, to clinch their second Conference USA men's tournament championship. It was the Cardinals' second title in three years.

The Cardinals, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA tournament. They were joined in the tournament by fellow C-USA members UAB, Charlotte, and Cincinnati, all of whom earned at-large bids. Louisville would ultimately advance to the Final Four.

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 9					Quarterfinals Thursday, March 10					Semifinals Friday, March 11					Championship Saturday, March 12
						1	#6 Louisville	85
						8	TCU	61
	9	Marquette	57
	8	TCU	60
											1	#6 Louisville	74
											4	UAB	67
	5	DePaul	81
	12	Tulane	71
						5	DePaul	56
						4	UAB	59
																1	#6 Louisville	75
																7	Memphis	74
						3	#21 Cincinnati	68
						11	South Florida	80
	6	Houston	64
	11	South Florida	69
											11	South Florida	68
											7	Memphis	81
	7	Memphis	79
	10	Saint Louis	59
						7	Memphis	83
						2	#25 Charlotte	69