Preview: The American Athletic Conference Tournament

The AAC Tournament will kick off on Thursday at noon from Orlando.

The Favorites: Cincinnati, Wichita State

For Cincinnati, they really weren’t tested all year outside of Houston and Wichita State in the conference this year. They had a lot of blowout wins and they will avoid both teams they lost to in conference play until the championship. The Bearcats are pretty much a lock to get back to the AAC Championship game where they fell last year to SMU. Cincinnati hasn’t lost to anyone on their side of the bracket all year.

Wichita State is the other favorite. The Shockers are the #2 seed and went 14-4 this year. The Shockers had won 7 in a row before their loss to Cincinnati and when Shamet, Frankamp, and Morris are all playing well, Wichita is one of the best teams in the nation. They will get the winner of Temple/Tulane on Friday night. If they win that, hopefully we will get to see a rematch with Houston in 2/3 game which both teams split the series this year.

Team Nobody Wants To Play: Houston

Houston had just one slip up in the month of February and that was to Memphis. Neither Wichita State nor Cincinnati could beat them and Houston was the only team in the conference to end the year unbeaten at home. Rob Gray is one of the best players in the conference and they have some lethal three point shooters in Armoni Brooks and Corey Davis Jr. Houston hasn’t lost to anyone on their side of the bracket since January 17th when they lost to Tulane.

Sleepers: Temple, Memphis

The Owls can beat anyone in this league and they can also lose to anyone as well. Their stellar guard play is what makes them so dangerous and they are the reason why they own wins over Auburn, Clemson, and Wichita State (also blew a game late over Cincinnati). However, they also have losses to George Washington, La Salle, Tulane, and UConn. Quinton Rose and Shizz Alston helped beat Wichita State in the regular season, and they could get another shot at them if they beat Tulane in the first round. I think Obi Enechionya had a little bit of a disappointing year, so we will see what he can offer.

Memphis on the other hand has won 5/6 and is quietly one of the hottest teams in the league currently. The real reason I think they could string together a couple wins is because you never know how players react to their coach potentially on his way out. News surfaced yesterday that Memphis will fire Smith after the year and hire Penny Hardaway. Kids will either play harder for their coach or fold. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Memphis lost to USF, but I could very well see them beating USF and Tulsa and then put up a good fight against Cincinnati.

Others

South Florida – The 12th seeded Bulls won just three conference games all year, but have won two in a row. They are playing their best basketball as of right now and have a sensational freshman in Alex Collins. Unfortunately their best basketball won't be enough.

East Carolina - A lot like USF, they also have a very solid freshman in Shawn Williams who won freshman of the year. Unfortunately, the Pirates aren’t playing their best basketball right now. Kentrell Barkley was suspended last week and won’t play the rest of the year.

Tulane - The Green Wave have proven they can compete with wins over Houston and some other solid teams, but the last few weeks have been a struggle. Cam Reynolds and Melvin Frazier are two guys to look out for. Reynolds is a senior and this will be his final go around.

SMU – We all now the Mustangs were just crushed with injuries this year. There final game of the year was basically a microcosm of how the season went. With full strength, SMU beat South Florida 79-39, but in the regular season finale, they lost to the Bulls by 11 points. Ethan Chargois is an intriguing freshman for SMU, but their offense really depends on Jahmal McMurray just throwing up three’s at this point.

UConn – The Huskies showed some fight against Houston in their final game, but other than that they were non-competitive against the top teams. Jalen Adams is mr. everything for them. Even when he goes off it has proven to be ineffective this year. If the Huskies want to compete Terry Larrier must create a presence inside much like he did against Oregon in the first weeks of the year.

UCF – BJ Taylor and AJ Davis are two guys that run the offense for UCF. They lost Tako Fall earlier, although it hurt their defense some, it really opened up the offense more. The Knights are on the bubble…..for the NIT right now, so every win helps keep their postseason hopes alive.