AAC Tournament Preview
If The American played its conference tournament and nobody covered it, would the NCAA selection committee even care?
The way bracketology and the national media treat the AAC, mid-majors are getting more respect going into Selection Sunday than the teams that are gathered in Orlando, Fla. this week to play for a spot in the NCAAs.
“This conference gets no respect and somebody has to do something about it,” said SMU coach Larry Brown, who had the lone team in the AAC to finish the regular season ranked in the top 25 (25th).
The Mustangs are not eligible for postseason play due to NCAA violations, so the rest of the 10 teams in the conference nobody respects have to play for a championship.
Temple, Cincinnati and UConn all enter the tourney on the bubble for the NCAAs, according to the "experts," while Houston isn’t really even in the picture despite finishing the season as the hottest team in the league.
So who will be the lucky team from The American that ticks off the rest of America by earning the free ticket to Big Dance?
Here’s a look at the 10-team field, which opens play with first-round games Thursday and will play its title game on Sunday:
LEVEL 5
No one.
LEVEL 4.5
No. 1 TEMPLE (20-10): The regular-season champs might be heading for the NIT if they don’t win a few games in Orlando. Quenton DeCosey (15.8) leads a potent attack. The Owls aren’t flashy, but they do one thing real well – take care of the basketball (AAC-best 9.0 turnovers per game).
No. 2 HOUSTON (22-8): Closed regular season with four-game win streak to surge up the standings – knocking off UConn at home and finally beating Cincinnati. Damyean Dotson is an explosive scorer and Rob Gray Jr. led the league in scoring (16.3 ppg) on the top offensive team (78.2 ppg). They also have done one thing nobody else has – beat everyone in the conference at least once this season.
LEVEL 4
No. 3 TULSA (20-10): The Golden Hurricanes have a high-scoring tandem in James Woodard (15.8 ppg) and Shaq Harrison (14.8 ppg), but to borrow a phrase from Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo – “I don’t like them in a big spot.” However, Tulsa closed the season winning 12 of its last 16 games and Pat Birt (12.6 ppg) could be the key weapon in this tourney.
No. 4 CINCINNATI (22-9): The best thing about the Bearcats is they like to play tough, hard-nosed defense (league-low 61.8 ppg) – a reflection of their firecracker coach Mick Cronin. The Bearcats like to win ugly and seem to do a good job of getting teams to play their style. Troy Caupain (12.4 ppg) leads a balanced offense.
No. 5 UCONN (21-10): Which Huskies team shows up in Orlando? UConn has as much talent as anyone in the conference, but why they don’t always show up has to baffle coach Kevin Ollie. Fifth-year seniors Sterling Gibbs and Shonn Miller should be motivated to make a final postseason push, but getting a good Daniel Hamilton is the key.
LEVEL 3
No. 6 MEMPHIS (17-14): Will this be Josh Pastner’s final AAC tourney with the Tigers? Memphis has the best freshman in the conference in Dedric Lawson (15.4 ppg, AAC-best 9.3 rpg), the team has been a huge disappointment this season with losses to league doormats USF and ECU.
LEVEL 2
No. 7 CENTRAL FLORIDA (12-17): The host school comes in with a truly impressive frontcourt of 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall and 6-10, 325-pound (a generous listing) Justin McBride. Unfortunately, the Knights can’t score – a league-worst 63.0 ppg – and can’t stop anyone – a league-high 72.0 ppg.
No. 8 EAST CAROLINA (12-19): The one quality item on their resume is a win over Temple in Philly. Jeff Lebo needs one win to reach 100 for his career – it’s unlikely he’ll leave town with No. 101.
LEVEL 1
9. SOUTH FLORIDA (7-24): The only conference school that didn’t win in double figures, but somehow managed to beat the Cougars in Houston for one of their few wins. Rookie Jahmal McMurray might give them a bright future, but it won’t come now.
10. TULANE (10-21): The Green Wave have won three games in 2016 and were swept by their first round opponent, UCF. It will be a short stay in Orlando.