AAC Conference Tournament Thread

[jacobkdoyle]

Based on last year, I'm so worried that the AAC will get 3 teams max. That'd definitely mean we have to beat Tulsa, split regular season games with Memphis, and hope UConn doesn't win the conference tournament. Temple is all but in the field at this point right?

 

[bearcat jeff]

Cincinnati is fine if they win. They can't continue to play half a game. We, me included, bash the coaching but the players know what's at stake. When they play with passion they are hard to beat. When they don't they lose to ECU. That's the missing ingredient.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

If Cincinnati could beat Tulsa and Memphis (also Tulane but they are less important), we would hold the tiebreaker over every team in the conference assuming SMU remains in 1st place.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Through games of 2/22....

(1) Southern Methodist 13-2
(8) East Carolina 5-9 / (9) Central Florida 5-10

(4) Memphis 9-5
(5) Cincinnati 9-5

(3) Temple 10-5
(6) Connecticut 8-6/ (11) Houston 1-13

(2) Tulsa 11-2
(7) Tulane 5-9 / (10) South Florida 2-13

Tie-Breakers:
*Memphis holds tie breaker over Cincinnati due to head-to-head win
*Tulane holds tie breaker over ECU due to head-to-head win

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Anyone know when they announce the dates and times of the matchups for the conference tournament? Is that something that needs to be worked out after the seedings are paired?

Not sure...NTS?

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Not sure...NTS?

My understanding is AAC will not be adjusting timings of games to favor the host team and in turn the crowd. This is unlike last year where the Memphis game against UConn was moved to 9pm EST. Also remember the tournament has been moved to Thursday-Sunday rather than Wednesday-Saturday and the Championship game will be the last one played before the brackets are announced.

First Round - Thursday, March 12
Game 1: 3:30pm ESPNU - #8 seed vs #9 seed
Game 2: 6pm ESPNews - #7 seed vs #10 seed
Game 3: 8pm ESPNews - #6 seed vs #11 seed

Quarterfinals - Friday, March 13
Game 4: Noon ESPN2 - #1 seed vs Winner Game 1
Game 5: 2pm ESPN2 - #4 seed vs #5 seed
Game 6: 7pm ESPNU - #2 seed vs Winner Game 2
Game 7: 9pm ESPNU - #3 seed vs Winner Game 3

Semifinals - Saturday, March 14
Game 8: 3pm ESPN2 - Winner Game 4 vs Winner Game 5
Game 9: 5pm ESPN2 - Winner Game 6 vs Winner Game 7

Championship Game - Sunday, March 15
Game 10: 3:15pm ESPN - Winner Game 8 vs Winner Game 9

American Conference Website Announcement

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Through games of 2/25....

(1) Southern Methodist 13-2
(8) East Carolina 5-10 / (9) Central Florida 5-11

(4) Temple 10-5
(5) Memphis 9-5

(3) Cincinnati 10-5
(6) Connecticut 9-6/ (11) Houston 1-13

(2) Tulsa 12-2
(7) Tulane 5-10 / (10) South Florida 2-13

Tie-Breakers:
*Cincinnati holds tie-breaker over Temple due to better winning percentage against SMU (2-0 1.000 vs 0-2 .000)
*Tulane holds tie-breaker of ECU due to head-to-head win

 

[IABearcat]

Through games of 2/25....

(1) Southern Methodist 13-2
(8) East Carolina 5-10 / (9) Central Florida 5-11

(4) Temple 10-5
(5) Memphis 9-5

(3) Cincinnati 10-5
(6) Connecticut 9-6/ (11) Houston 1-13

(2) Tulsa 12-2
(7) Tulane 5-10 / (10) South Florida 2-13

Tie-Breakers:
*Cincinnati holds tie-breaker over Temple due to better winning percentage against SMU (2-0 1.000 vs 0-2 .000)
*Tulane holds tie-breaker of ECU due to head-to-head win

I would like to avoid playing UConn in the first round. Hopefully they can move up the 4-5 game.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

With Tulsa's win last night, Cincinnati is now mathematically eliminated from getting the #1 seed in the AAC tournament.

Cincinnati can still get the #2 seed from a few scenario's:
1.) Cincinnati finishes 3-0
2.) Tulsa finishes 0-3
*Temple's record has no bearing because UC holds the tie-breaker*

OR

1.) Cincinnati finishes 3-0
2.) SMU finishes 0-3
*Temple's record has no bearing because UC holds the tie-breaker*

I will post the scenario's for the #3, #4, #5, and #6 seeds tomorrow after the SMU/Memphis and Temple/Houston games end because those results will eliminate several scenarios.

 

[indydoug]

How about SMU? They have won 21 of their last 23 games with UC handing them both losses!

 

[bearcat jeff]

Temple in my opinion has one possibility to lose in their last three and that's UConn at home. Memphis and Tulsa both have tough schedules. Cincinnati simply has to win as has been stated. I do think they will beat Memphis at home it is the road games I worry about.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Tulsa and SMU will now finish first or second respectively. Cincinnati can do no better than 3rd place now.

Through games of 2/28....

(1) Southern Methodist 14-2
(8) Tulane 5-11 / (9) Central Florida 5-12

(4) Temple 11-5
(5) Connecticut 9-6

(3) Cincinnati 11-5
(6) Memphis 9-7/ (11) Houston 1-14

(2) Tulsa 14-2
(7) East Carolina 6-10 / (10) South Florida 2-13

Tie-Breakers:
*SMU holds tie-breaker over Tulsa due to head-to-head win
*Cincinnati holds tie-breaker over Temple due to better winning percentage against SMU (2-0 1.000 vs 0-2 .000)

 

[jacobkdoyle]

So we're the #3 right now...but 3-0 vs the top 2? I'll take it.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Tulsa and SMU will now finish first or second respectively. Cincinnati can do no better than 3rd place now.

Through games of 2/28....

(1) Southern Methodist 14-2
(8) Tulane 5-11 / (9) Central Florida 5-12

(4) Temple 11-5
(5) Connecticut 9-6

(3) Cincinnati 11-5
(6) Memphis 9-7/ (11) Houston 1-14

(2) Tulsa 14-2
(7) East Carolina 6-10 / (10) South Florida 2-13

Tie-Breakers:
*SMU holds tie-breaker over Tulsa due to head-to-head win
*Cincinnati holds tie-breaker over Temple due to better winning percentage against SMU (2-0 1.000 vs 0-2 .000)

That's the bracket I want.

 

[UCalum08]

That's the bracket I want.

Me too!!

 

[HoosierCat]

So what do we want to happen in the American to finish out the year for this bracket to happen?

 

[#BearcatNation]

So what do we want to happen in the American to finish out the year for this bracket to happen?

I think as long as we beat Memphis Sunday, we'll rematch them in the first round of the AAC Tourney, correct? Doesn't look like there are any outside factors.

 

[mdchick]

So what do we want to happen in the American to finish out the year for this bracket to happen?

Tulsa and Smu play each other for there last game of the season we want Smu to win so they are not on our side of the bracket.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

So what do we want to happen in the American to finish out the year for this bracket to happen?

The best case for Cincinnati is to keep SMU, UConn and Temple on the other side of the bracket and have Tulsa on our side. It is pretty simple for that to happen we need:

1) Connecticut to beat Memphis tonight. This locks UConn into the 4/5 game and locks Memphis in at 6.

2) Cincinnati to beat Memphis on Sunday. This locks in UC as the 3 seed.

3) SMU to beat Tulsa on Sunday. This locks SMU as the 1 seed and Tulsa as the 2 seed.

IF Cincinnati were to lose to Memphis, then we'd want Temple to drop at least one of the last two games against ECU (tonight) and UConn (Saturday).

 

[jacobkdoyle]

The best case for Cincinnati is to keep SMU, UConn and Temple on the other side of the bracket and have Tulsa on our side. It is pretty simple for that to happen we need:

1) Connecticut to beat Memphis tonight. This locks UConn into the 4/5 game and locks Memphis in at 6.

2) Cincinnati to beat Memphis on Sunday. This locks in UC as the 3 seed.

3) SMU to beat Tulsa on Sunday. This locks SMU as the 1 seed and Tulsa as the 2 seed.

IF Cincinnati were to lose to Memphis, then we'd want Temple to drop at least one of the last two games against ECU (tonight) and UConn (Saturday).

Temple is #43 RPI. I don't want them to lose bc they'd drop out of the Top 50. Having an easier path to the finals would be nice, but we'll probably run into SMU anyway and Memphis isn't that much worse than Temple or UConn IMO. I just want our resume to look as good as possible and whoever ends up on our side of the bracket, so be it. We're not going to be an easy out.