AAC might go to 20 League Games

[Not Guilty]

cincy, Memphis, UConn, SMU, and Temple will be tournament teams next year, just as many as this year, huge down year for temple with injuries and ineligible players, make no mistake if not next year then the year after that they will be back to a strong squad.

Those will be the marquee programs in the conference, at least initially. I don't know if any others will make a bigger investment in their program now that they are in a better conference.

But there are some interesting question marks among those teams. Memphis recruits really well, but they lose a lot off their team this year. I also really like our young talent and think we will be good next year, but its almost assured we will take a step back with the senior class that we lose and no upper classmen that are obvious candidates to fill that substantial gap. UConn loses Napier and Giffey, although they'll still have Boatright and Daniels to lead them. Temple should be markedly improved, but they have a long way to go to be tournament quality. Houston will be an interesting team to watch. SMU will obviously be the favorite.

It will be nice to have guaranteed home games against Memphis, UConn, SMU and Temple every year, but a 20 game conference schedule still seems like a bad idea given how bad the bottom of the league will be. We will have to strongly upgrade the OOC schedule if that happens, and we struggle getting big programs to agree to games with us.

 

[#BearcatNation]

cincy, Memphis, UConn, SMU, and Temple will be tournament teams next year, just as many as this year, huge down year for temple with injuries and ineligible players, make no mistake if not next year then the year after that they will be back to a strong squad.

That's a lot to just expect as of right now. I don't even think we're a shoe-in. We'll certainly find out what this team will be like without our 3 senior leaders. I think bubble team is more accurate, but I don't want to think about next year right now lol.

 

[Robert]

That's a lot to just expect as of right now. I don't even think we're a shoe-in. We'll certainly find out what this team will be like without our 3 senior leaders. I think bubble team is more accurate, but I don't want to think about next year right now lol.

I think SMU will be the preseason favorite next year. UConn should be really good too, even without Napier. Cincinnati and Memphis both lose a lot of really important seniors, so my gut feeling right now is that they will be bubble-ish teams (but obviously we have been wrong about that in the past). Houston and Tulsa are both on the rise, and return the majority of their leading scorers next season. Temple will be improved, but I don't think they are a tournament team next year... probably NIT bound.

 

[Robert]

My way-too-early predictions for next season:

SMU - Wins the regular-season conference title and goes into the dance as a top-3 seed.

UConn - Finishes 2nd and also makes the tournament easily, probably around a 5 seed.

Cincinnati - Takes some lumps in the out-of-conference schedule, but rebounds to finish 3rd in the AAC and take themselves off the bubble before the conference tournament -- landing somewhere around an 8-seed.

Houston/Memphis - Both on the right side of the bubble, but just barely.

Tulsa/Temple - Both on the wrong side of the bubble, NIT bound.

South Florida, Central Florida, East Carolina, Tulane - Bad. Stinky.

 

[#BearcatNation]

My way-too-early predictions for next season:

SMU - Wins the regular-season conference title and goes into the dance as a top-3 seed.

UConn - Finishes 2nd and also makes the tournament easily, probably around a 5 seed.

Cincinnati - Takes some lumps in the out-of-conference schedule, but rebounds to finish 3rd in the AAC and take themselves off the bubble before the conference tournament -- landing somewhere around an 8-seed.

Houston/Memphis - Both on the right side of the bubble, but just barely.

Tulsa/Temple - Both on the wrong side of the bubble, NIT bound.

South Florida, Central Florida, East Carolina, Tulane - Bad. Stinky.

Solid analysis. I basically agree with all of this, haha.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Will go on record now that UC will finish 1 or 2 next season. Most likely 2nd but I'm not ruling out back to back league championships. Think they will lose some early games while fitting pieces together but will be very good by league play. Perimeter defense will be excellent and they will score more in the paint. Rebounding will once again be very good. My only worry is player leadership.

 

[anbuc88]

Will go on record now that UC will finish 1 or 2 next season. Most likely 2nd but I'm not ruling out back to back league championships. Think they will lose some early games while fitting pieces together but will be very good by league play. Perimeter defense will be excellent and they will score more in the paint. Rebounding will once again be very good. My only worry is player leadership.

I agree. UC will be very good next year. SK's legacy will be the work ethic he passed on to the returning players. I look for big improvements from Jermaine Lawrence and Shaq Thomas next year. The backcourt is in capable hands with GG and Troy. KJ will be a solid contributor and Deshaun Morman will have an immediate impact. Their back line defense won't be as good, but on the ball pressure should be better. Mick Cronin has now established a winning culture at UC and the best is yet to come.

 

[JumpinJack5]

Will go on record now that UC will finish 1 or 2 next season. Most likely 2nd but I'm not ruling out back to back league championships. Think they will lose some early games while fitting pieces together but will be very good by league play. Perimeter defense will be excellent and they will score more in the paint. Rebounding will once again be very good. My only worry is player leadership.

Interesting that the biggest worry next year is definitely guard play. I think with the depth we have at 3-5, we should be much improved. 1 and 2 are definitely the biggest question marks. IMO, Caupain will have a great year next year and the 2 will be the only big question. We haven't seen Morman yet, is he is a possibility, but as if right now, he is unproven and unknown.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Will go on record now that UC will finish 1 or 2 next season. Most likely 2nd but I'm not ruling out back to back league championships. Think they will lose some early games while fitting pieces together but will be very good by league play. Perimeter defense will be excellent and they will score more in the paint. Rebounding will once again be very good. My only worry is player leadership.

This team has been really fun to watch and next year should be fun too. They are going to take the loses to grow and develop through the season but the talent level is very exciting. I think Caupain becomes a leader and Lawrence and Thomas become consistent double figure scorers. The defense is not going to be as good but the defensive rebounding will definitely improve and I think the potential is there to be a good offensive team.

 

[ucswais]

cincy, Memphis, UConn, SMU, and Temple will be tournament teams next year, just as many as this year, huge down year for temple with injuries and ineligible players, make no mistake if not next year then the year after that they will be back to a strong squad.

Temple's defense is horrific and that is a hard thing to change overnight. I agree with the general consensus in here that the league will be fine in hoops, but I think Temple is further away than that. I will be surprised if any of the kids on the roster this year ever play in an NCAA tourney to be honest with you.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

This team has been really fun to watch and next year should be fun too. They are going to take the loses to grow and develop through the season but the talent level is very exciting. I think Caupain becomes a leader and Lawrence and Thomas become consistent double figure scorers. The defense is not going to be as good but the defensive rebounding will definitely improve and I think the potential is there to be a good offensive team.

In the half court maybe not, but I'm excited to see KJ and Mormon in the press. Cronin said earlier in the year (or maybe it was Larry Davis) that with the two of them no one would be able to get the ball up the floor. While that is obviously an exaggeration and we likely won't see the two on the floor at the same time alot I think it will be interesting to see if we press more next year and try to get turnovers. The bigs we have are unknown unfortunately. I would be hard-pressed to think they could combine to be as good as JJ and Rubles were defensively but that doesn't mean they won't be good. Shaq's defense has improved over the year and that will go a long way next year. Next year will definitely be interesting.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Well now the ECU coach has also stated that there will be a round robin next year meaning the AAC is going to 20 league games.

That means 11 OOC games and 20 conference games. Cincinnati already has committed to NC Central, E. Illinois, Middle Tennessee, Creighton/Ole Miss, San Diego State, @Nebraska, @NC State, Xavier (likely). Not sure if the VCU rumors are true but if so that means 9/11 games are already fixed. Hopefully we get a game in the NYC/NYJ area.

 

[Robert]

Well, that will do a lot for the perception of the AAC... when you have to go 28-3 in the regular season just to finish in the top 20 of the RPI...

 

[#BearcatNation]

Anyone know why we don't play Dayton more? I feel like it only happens every 4 or 5 years. Would like to see that as an every year thing.

 

[Scheids21]

Anyone know why we don't play Dayton more? I feel like it only happens every 4 or 5 years. Would like to see that as an every year thing.

Presumably why we don't play a lot of local schools, one side would want a home and home and the other wouldn't.

 

[Bearcatboy]

Well now the ECU coach has also stated that there will be a round robin next year meaning the AAC is going to 20 league games.

That means 11 OOC games and 20 conference games. Cincinnati already has committed to NC Central, E. Illinois, Middle Tennessee, Creighton/Ole Miss, San Diego State, @Nebraska, @NC State, Xavier (likely). Not sure if the VCU rumors are true but if so that means 9/11 games are already fixed. Hopefully we get a game in the NYC/NYJ area.

We will be playing Xavier
VCU at home
Morehead state at home
Along with all the other games you mentioned

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

We will be playing Xavier
VCU at home
Morehead state at home
Along with all the other games you mentioned

Thanks just saw that in the enquirer. That is actually 10 pretty solid games. Here are the RPI's for the those 10 teams last year.

Xavier (47)
VCU (13)
San Diego State (15)
Morehead State (141)
E. Illinois (291)
Nebraska (48)
NC State (55)
Middle Tennessee (64)
Creighton (10)/Ole Miss (94)
NC Central (99)
---------------------------
Average RPI: 78.3/86.7

Not much to complain about numbers wise guys....

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Tulane reporter states the league will remain at 18 conference games next year. Looks like we will play 8 schools twice and 2 schools once.

 

[Scheids21]

Tulane reporter states the league will remain at 18 conference games next year. Looks like we will play 8 schools twice and 2 schools once.

I'll take ECU and Tulane once please...

 

[Robert]

I'll take ECU and Tulane once please...

I'll second that.