The 2016 Conference USA men's basketball championship is under way as of Tuesday night after Florida Atlantic ran past Texas-San Antonio. Things crank up Wednesday with four second-round games.

Here is a primer for all of the action in Birmingham, Alabama:

Analyzing Conference USA Tournament contenders, pretenders and dark horses

MOST INTRIGUING SECOND-ROUND GAME

No. 7 Charlotte vs. No. 10 Rice

Explanation: There's tons of young talent in this game. Charlotte swept the season series and won the first meeting on the heels of 17 3-pointers. Rice has star freshman Marcus Evans while Charlotte boasts freshmen Andrien White, Jon Davis and Curran Scott. Junior Braxton Ogbueze is the 49ers' leading scorer. Charlotte may win in a blowout, but Rice gave Louisiana Tech some trouble during last year's quarterfinals.

BEST SECOND-ROUND GAME

No. 6 UTEP vs. No. 11 FIU

Explanation: This one may be by default. Western Kentucky and North Texas in the 8/9 matchup should result in a WKU win and Old Dominion should roll over Florida Atlantic. UTEP lost to FIU in January thanks to the inside play of Davyion Draper and Adrian Diaz. UTEP, which is normally a balanced scoring team with an inside presence, has switched to a guard-heavy lineup. That should make for the best game of the day.

MOST LIKELY SECOND-ROUND UPSET

No. 11 FIU over No. 6 UTEP

Explanation: FIU has already done it, so why not again? Old Dominion and Western Kentucky shouldn't have any trouble in its respective second-round games, and Charlotte has too much offense for Rice to keep up, so FIU seems like the most likely team to advance.

Tech's Hamilton believes he should win C-USA Player of the Year

MOST LIKELY QUARTERFINAL UPSET

No. 6 UTEP/No. 11 FIU over No. 3 Marshall

Explanation: Marshall is tough to guard for any team, but FIU has a pair of low post players to combat James Kelly down low. It remains to be seen if FIU could keep up with Marshall. UTEP has the ability to do so offensively, but the Miners have also been inconsistent on defense.

UNDER-THE-RADAR TEAM CAPABLE OF MAKING A RUN

Western Kentucky

Explanation: WKU's record makes the eyes burn, but the Hilltoppers have the pieces to upset UAB in the quarterfinals. It would be a bit of a revenge win after UAB pulled out victory in last year's quarterfinals on a questionable call. Led by Justin Johnson, WKU has been competitive the entire year yet couldn't quite finish teams off, although it did split with UAB. That shouldn't change in Birmingham, so if the Hilltoppers can play well under pressure, they could make a run to Saturday's title game.

HIGHER-RANKED SEED ON UPSET ALERT

Marshall

Explanation: See above with the matchup with UTEP/FIU. Marshall has sputtered a bit down the stretch and hasn't played defense the entire year. UTEP is scoring efficiently during the second half of the year and has the firepower to outscore the Herd for an early exit. In the same breath, Marshall could get on a hot streak and win it all. Relying on shooting on a neutral site could be playing with fire, though.

EASIEST ROAD OF THE TOP 4 SEEDS 

Middle Tennessee

Explanation: This is more of an indication of Charlotte/Rice than anything. MTSU should cruise into the semifinals where it will possibly meet Marshall or UTEP. That's a lot easier than playing either UAB or Louisiana Tech for a shot at the finals. There's always a chance MTSU tightens up with more pressure than last year when it advanced to the finals as a No. 6 seed.

TOUGHEST ROAD OF THE TOP 4 SEEDS 

UAB/Louisiana Tech

Explanation: The top half of the bracket has four of the toughest teams in the league, and that's nothing against the bottom threesome of Middle Tennessee, Marshall and UTEP. UAB likely will get a Western Kentucky team that it struggled to beat earlier this month while Tech likely gets Old Dominion. Even if ODU loses, Tech would play FAU. The Bulldogs lost to both teams during the regular season. It wouldn't be that surprising if WKU and ODU end up playing in the semifinals.

5 QUESTIONS

1. Can UAB repeat as champs on its home floor?

UAB brings back a deep squad much like the team from last year that rolled through the field en route to an NCAA Tournament berth. There's no better advantage than playing at home — or a few miles from home in UAB's case at Legacy Arena. The Blazers strength is the rest of C-USA's weakness. Regardless of talent, teams in this league struggle to win on the road. UAB is the odds on favorite to repeat.

2. Is this the year Louisiana Tech finally breaks through?

Louisiana Tech wasn't a popular pick heading into the season, a thought process that was hardly unexpected due to all the turnover with a new coach and a new roster. Thanks to Alex Hamilton, though, Tech finished near the top of the conference for a third straight season. The pressure is off the Bulldogs since they head in to the C-USA tournament for the first time without a No. 1 seed next to their name. Tech's defense needs to improve, but their offense is playing at a high enough level to rally off three wins in three days.

3. Is there another Middle Tennessee-type run in this field?

Western Kentucky is the popular pick to make a run. The problem is WKU would have to face UAB in the quarterfinals if it gets out of the second round. Middle Tennessee made a run as the sixth-seed in 2015, but that part of the bracket wasn't nearly as tough as the one WKU faces this year. No. 6 UTEP needs to play well to avoid an early exit against FIU, but the Miners have a wealth of talent to get hot.

4. Will Marshall run out of gas?

Marshall set the league on fire by racking up win after win in January and most of February. The Herd have tailed off a bit of late with a string of losses. Even in the games they've won, the Herd have needed to outscore teams in the 90s and sometimes 100s. Marshall is fun to watch but its offense may run on empty in Birmingham.

5. Can a star carry a team to the Big Dance?

UAB and Middle Tennessee are the most balanced teams in the league that are led by several key players instead of one main threat who can score 30 or 40 points on a given night. It wouldn't be fair to call Old Dominion, Marshall and Louisiana Tech unbalanced, but Trey Freeman (ODU), James Kelly (Marshall) and Alex Hamilton (Tech) are three of the best players in the league who can take a game over at will. In a tournament-style setting — we see this often in the NCAA Tournament — one player can account for spark a series of wins and potentially a berth in the tournament.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

UAB: William Lee — In a league of plenty of offensive scoring, players like Lee are extremely valuable. He's fifth in the country in blocks with 3.0 per game and cleans up the boards despite playing just 24 minutes a game.

Middle Tennessee: Giddy Potts — The sharpshooter is firing 3-pointers in a Steph Curry-like rate of 49 percent and leads MTSU in scoring at 15 points per game. He's finally healthy after missing the last three games.

Marshall: James Kelly — Another contender for C-USA Player of the Year, the Miami transfer is averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game to help lead upstart Marshall to one of the better records in the league.

Louisiana Tech: Alex Hamilton — The 6-foot-4 senior should win C-USA Player of the Year on Wednesday. He has done it all for a young and inexperienced Bulldogs team to help rattle off 23 wins in the regular season. Hamilton scores, rebounds, dishes out assists and is strong on the defensive end.

Old Dominion: Trey Freeman — The scoring machine has arguably the best mid-range game in the conference. He's hard to guard off screens and is crafty in the lane to create nightmare matchups for opponents.

UTEP: Dominic Artis — The Oregon transfer sets the tone for the Miners offensively with a team-leading 5.2 assists per game. He's helped spearhead a balanced attack that transitioned to a four-guard lineup earlier this year.

Charlotte: Joseph Uchebo — The 6-foot-10 Uchebo is C-USA's best rebounder averaging 11.5 boards per game. He's been a solid compliment to leading scorer Baxton Ogbueze, Jon Davis and Andrien White.

Western Kentucky: Justin Johnson — The 6-foot-7 sophomore is one of the most improved players in the leading, jumping from 4.8 points per game to 15.0 points per game in 2016.

North Texas: Jeremy Combs — He's battling an ankle injury so his playing status is unclear for Wednesday, but he's one of the better rounders and inside scorers in the league.

Rice: Marcus Evans — The C-USA Freshman of the Year can take over a game with the snap of a finger and drop 30 points like it's nothing. He's worth watching for the casual fan.

FIU: Daviyon Draper — Adrian Diaz is the rim protecter, rebounder and inside scorer that everyone knows about at FIU, but Draper is one of FIU's steadiest players, averaging 15.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

FAU: Marquan Botley — The junior guard dropped in a season-high 24 points in Tuesday's win over UTSA. Coming into the tournament, he scored just 13 points in the last three games, but he could get hot against Old Dominion.

2016 C-USA TOURNAMENT BRACKET

Second round, Wednesday
No. 8 Western Kentucky vs. No. 9 North Texas, Noon
No. 5 Old Dominion vs. No. 12 Florida Atlantic, 2:30 p.m.
No. 7 Charlotte vs. No. 10 Rice, 6 p.m.
No. 6 UTEP vs. No. 11 Florida International, 8:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals, Thursday
WKU/North Texas winner vs. No. 1 UAB, Noon
ODU/FAU winner vs. No. 4 Louisiana Tech, 2:30 p.m.
Charlotte/Rice winner vs. No. 2 Middle Tennessee, 6 p.m.
UTEP/FIU winner vs. No. 3 Marshall, 8:30 p.m.

Semifinals, Friday
Semifinal No. 1, 3 p.m.
Semifinal No. 2, 5:30 p.m.

Finals, Saturday
1:30 p.m.