The Four Tiers of The American Basketball Conference
Tier One (These Guys Will Be Playing March)
Houston Cougars – Kelvin Sampons bunch has raced out to an 11-0 start with tough wins over Oregon, Oklahoma State, and LSU. The Cougars are just one of six unbeaten teams in the nation. Houston gets in done with defense ranking in top 20 nationally in scoring defense, and strong guard play from Armoni Brooks and Corey Davis Jr.
Cincinnati Bearcats - UC looked lack luster in their opener against Ohio State, but have rattled off 9 straight wins after that game, including a decent road win @UNLV, and a blowout wins over Xavier, UCLA and Ole Miss. Jarron Cumberland is the Bearcats go to player averaging over 15 points a game. As always, Mick Cronin’s team plays very hard on defense as well.
UCF Knights – The preseason conference favorites have not gotten off to a bad start, but haven’t taken advantage of any opportunities. UCF is currently sitting at 10-2 with no bad losses, but they don’t have any decent wins, besides a victory over Alabama. BJ Taylor may be the best player in the conference leads all scorers averaging over 18 a game. Plus they still have 7’6 Center Tacko Fall.
Tier Two (The Guys Fighting to be Playing in March)
Temple Owls – It wouldn’t be a college basketball season without Temple started on the bubble. The Owls go as Shizz Alston goes. In their two losses this year Alston had just 6 points against VCU and 15 against Villanova. He averages around 19 each night. Temple let a win slip away against Villanova that could come back to haunt later.
UConn Huskies – First year Huskie head coach Danny Hurley is doing a great job reenergizing the program. UConn sits at 9-3 with no bad losses and a win over top 15 Syracuse. SURPRISE – Jalen Adams is still at UConn and he is still their best player. Huskies still have another big non-conference game against Villanova.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane – This is a team that has moved up a tier since the season began. Frank Haith’s team defends really well, plus they have two guys in Daquan Jefferies and Martins Ignabu who can really play. They own wins over Oklahoma St, Kansas St, and Dayton. Their conference schedule starts outs tough with two of their first three against Cincinnati and Houston.
Tier Three (These Guys Can Beat/Lose To Anyone)
Memphis Tigers – Penny Hardaway has the fanbase into again, which will help Memphis compete this year and get a couple big wins, but this team probably isn’t good enough to sustain that. Tiger fans are mainly excited about the next couple years to come with top recruits coming in.
Wichita State Shockers – It’s a down year for Gregg Marshall. It happens, but they will be back next year. However, they still have some pieces that can win a lot of games. They lost their top 8 scorers from last year. Markis McDuffie currently leads the conference in scoring, but at 7-4 Wichita needs to have a really strong showing in conference play to make the postseason.
SMU Mustangs – After being destroyed with injuries last year, the Mustangs have a lot of piece players this year. Jahmal McMurray is the team leader, but Ethan Chargois have imporved nicely along with guys like Isiah Mike and Jimmy Whitt. SMU is on the rise, but bad losses early to Lipscomb and Bradely probably have killed their chances
Tier Four
East Carolina Pirates – It is most likely going to be a rough year for first year head man Joe Dooley. A lot of people think he was a great hire, but we probably won’t be able to tell for a couple of years. They have a player in Jayden Gardner who is a guy you can build a program around. He is averaging almost 19 points as a freshman. Shawn Williams and Isaac Flemming on two solid pieces they Pirates have as well. Things are looking up for ECU basketball.
Tulane Green Wave – Mike Dunleavy did an excellent job last year going 14-17 with a roster that probably shouldn’t have won more than 10 games. However, they lost Cam Frazier and some other guys from last year, so I really don’t see Tulane beating anyone other than USF this year.
South Florida Bulls – USF currently sits at 9-2, but that’s rather their deceiving, considering their best win is probably an 82-73 win over Florida International. Brain Greggory was given nothing, so he has time to rebuild this program and they will be improved this year with how well they rebound, but they still have a ceiling of a 10th place finish this year in the American. They have passed their win total already from the 2017 season and are one win away from tying their win total from last season.
