2019-2020 AAC | The Boneyard

2019-2020 AAC

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Putting together an informal AAC poll as we stand today for next year. Rank the teams 1-12 and let's see what the consensus is. (12 points for first place, 11 for 2nd, etc.) I feel like Cincinnati and Tulane are the biggest questions marks - Cincinnati because Cumberland is still in limbo, and Tulane because they've got basically a complete roster overhaul and a new coach.

Current Consensus:


1Memphis (13)198
2Houston (2)181
3Wichita State (1)169
4Connecticut (1)151
5Cincinnati142
6South Florida123
7Temple83
8UCF74
9Tulsa54
10SMU48
11East Carolina42
12Tulane28




My Vote:

1. Memphis - They have multiple one and done's and the #1 recruiting class
2. Houston - They lose Robinson and Davis, but bring back a strong core of Brooks, Gresham, White, and Jarreau
3. Cincinnati - This is totally dependent on bringing back Cumberland. If they don't, they drop to 7th.
4. Connecticut - Strong recruiting class + hopefully everyone is healthy. . .
5. South Florida - Vastly improved team last year and bring everyone important back
6. Wichita State - A very young team that improved throughout the year and only loses one key player (McDuffie)
7. Temple - New coach and also loses their best player in Shizz
8. UCF - Lose Tacko and likely Dawkins and lost a grad transfer PG, but his name is escaping me
9. Tulsa - This could be a few spots low or a few spots high. They are losing their best player (Jeffries)
10. SMU - No clue where to put SMU. I think they finally get some scholarships back.
11. Tulane - New coach, whole new team
12. ECU - It's ECU.
 
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RayIsTheGOAT

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I'd put Wichita and Tulane higher, SMU and Cinci lower.

Memphis
Houston
Wichita St.
Cinci
UConn
USF
UCF

We are a real wild card it feels. Could be top 3, could be in the 5-7 range. I don't know. Depends on AG health and freshmen production.
 
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If both Cumberlands play for Cincinnati next year they are going to be very entertaining.
 
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- Gregg Marshall added a nice class to the young foundation he built last year. This is Wichita State's most talented team ever. Sherfield and Etienne will be fun 4 year players to watch develop.
- Houston could be even stronger again with Jarreau moving into the starting lineup for Davis.
- Ron Hunter just added KJ Lawson and Christion Thompson to go with every meaningful player Dunleavy had except Daniels. He's waiting on Daniels now.
- Tulsa had a surprisingly decent offseason. Getting Ugboh was big for them.
- Dawkins loaded up on bigs at UCF (including the kid who left TCU). The Knights may take the preseason to gell but they'll be a tough out.
- I really like Aaron McKie at Temple. Landing Strickland (Wisconsin) and Forrester (Indiana) as well as Josh Pierre-Louis was a great start to his tenure.
- Jankovich has had a productive recruiting cycle for SMU as well. Jolly was big, as was getting Charles Smith IV and Darius McNeill from Cal.
- ECU got a lot bigger and a lot more athletic in Dooley's second year. He went heavy Juco for the measurables, so that team can take the pre-season before we see how they compliment Jayden Garner and Williams.
- Cincinnati was a consensus Top 25 team before Cronin left. Most of the intrigue surrounding them centers on Cumberland returning. They lost Brooks but have the other Mamadou to take his place. Brannen has a good core to work with but is on his grind as well.
- USF adds Zack Dawson to what should be a tournament contender next year. They were young last year, so we should see a nice jump from Yetna, Collins, etc.
- Memphis is good.
- UConn is on its grind.
 
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Yes still a lot of question. Right now I’d say
Memphis
Houston
Cincinnati
Wichita state
UConn
USF
Temple
SMU
Tulane
UCF
ECU
Tulsa

The bottom 5 teams are always a toss up
 

gtcam

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Houston was and is the team to beat
Watch out for WSU - young but they will be good
I think Cinci will not be a top 3 AAC team next year just because of the change
Top 3 - Houston, WSU and Memphis - after that the 4-7 is a crap shoot with Cinci, UConn, USF and ECU/Temple/SMU
Make no mistake - this conference has become a very good basketball conference with teams that can beat most any team in the P5 on any given night
 

Drew

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1. Houston
2. Wichita State
3. Memphis
4. UConn
5. Cincinnati
6. Temple
7. USF
8. Tulsa
9. UCF
10. ECU
11. SMU
12. Tulane
 
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Wouldn’t mind this... injuries play a factor obviously but I refuse to count out WSU, Houston, and even USF/UCF have come a long way.

1 Houston
2 Memphis
3/4 WSU
3/4 UConn
5 USF
6 Cinci
7 UCF
everyone else...
 
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Really? I think this will be the best year in AAC history for number of teams in the tourney.

Houston, Cincy and UCF are all weaker.

And UConn isn't ready to fill those shoes.

Memphis will have to get a bunch of new guys to fit together, and they may do it by the ed of the year, but early on, there will be growing pains in the OOC.
 
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If healthy rique, cv, and carlton can be 1st and 2nd team caliber players. I know its the optimist in me but i say we finish 2nd or 3rd behind memphis and houston
 

UConnNick

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Houston was and is the team to beat
Watch out for WSU - young but they will be good
I think Cinci will not be a top 3 AAC team next year just because of the change
Top 3 - Houston, WSU and Memphis - after that the 4-7 is a crap shoot with Cinci, UConn, USF and ECU/Temple/SMU
Make no mistake - this conference has become a very good basketball conference with teams that can beat most any team in the P5 on any given night

Yes, the new media rights deal plus the improved AAC postseason performance seems to have silenced some of the "back to the new Big Least" contingent here. It's becoming increasingly tougher for them to argue we should take less money to play in an inferior quality BB conference.
 

HuskyHawk

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- Gregg Marshall added a nice class to the young foundation he built last year. This is Wichita State's most talented team ever. Sherfield and Etienne will be fun 4 year players to watch develop.
- Houston could be even stronger again with Jarreau moving into the starting lineup for Davis.
- Ron Hunter just added KJ Lawson and Christion Thompson to go with every meaningful player Dunleavy had except Daniels. He's waiting on Daniels now.
- Tulsa had a surprisingly decent offseason. Getting Ugboh was big for them.
- Dawkins loaded up on bigs at UCF (including the kid who left TCU). The Knights may take the preseason to gell but they'll be a tough out.
- I really like Aaron McKie at Temple. Landing Strickland (Wisconsin) and Forrester (Indiana) as well as Josh Pierre-Louis was a great start to his tenure.
- Jankovich has had a productive recruiting cycle for SMU as well. Jolly was big, as was getting Charles Smith IV and Darius McNeill from Cal.
- ECU got a lot bigger and a lot more athletic in Dooley's second year. He went heavy Juco for the measurables, so that team can take the pre-season before we see how they compliment Jayden Garner and Williams.
- Cincinnati was a consensus Top 25 team before Cronin left. Most of the intrigue surrounding them centers on Cumberland returning. They lost Brooks but have the other Mamadou to take his place. Brannen has a good core to work with but is on his grind as well.
- USF adds Zack Dawson to what should be a tournament contender next year. They were young last year, so we should see a nice jump from Yetna, Collins, etc.
- Memphis is good.
- UConn is on its grind.

Definitely not the most talented Wichita State team ever. You think this is a final four team? Not nearly as good as the team from 2013, or even 2015 and not even close to as good as the Cliff Levingston - Antoine Carr team in 1981. I won’t even count the 1965 final four team.

I’d put them around 4-5 with UConn
1. Memphis
2. Houston (could fall from here)
3. Cincinnati with Cumberland (5th without and shift 4-5 to 3-4)
4-5 UConn and WSU

6-7-8 USF, Tulsa, USF
9-11Tulane, SMU, Temple
12 ECU

The bright spot is that ECU should be better. Tulane is going to be much better. SMU should be better. The bottom of the league is finally trending up, which raises overall RPI. Think this is a 5 bid league this year. UCF and Temple will be down, and Houston down somewhat too. Every other team should be improved.
 
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1 - Memphis: When guys like Lomax, Harris and Maurice are your bench players then you have a good roster.

2 - Houston: Interesting collection of returning players where Sampson can truly play positionless basketball.

3- Wichita State: Good mix of returning players, a great freshman class and a great transfer in Allen.

4- USF: Almost their entire roster returns plus I'm curious how Dawson III helps replace Rideau.

5- UConn: Only concern is their frontcourt, but exciting to see to see how this year lays the foundation for 2020-2021.

6 - Temple: Shizz is gone, but lots of returning talent led by Rose and Pierre-Louis. Great frontcourt depth, but questionable PG projection. Who's going to start?

7 - Cincy: Good mix of returning players, but hard to see how the team will transition without Cumberland/Jenifer/Broome/Brooks.

8 - SMU: The returning core of Whitt/Mike/Chargois/Hunt provides a nice base to see who else steps up.

9 - UCF: Getting grad transfers Ingram and Milon is a huge get with their top-7 players from last year leaving.

10- Tulsa: Not a super deep team, but a potentially really good starting 5 with Igbanu/Korita/Joiner/Horne and promising transfer Reggie Jones.

11- ECU: So much turnover this year, Gardner/Williams/LeDay are a good returning trio, but so much turnover it's hard to see how this team will shape up.

12- Tulane: The team will be better than last year with Lawson joining and Ray Ona Embo returning from injury, but like last year such a lack of quality guards on this team.
 
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Definitely not the most talented Wichita State team ever. You think this is a final four team? Not nearly as good as the team from 2013, or even 2015 and not even close to as good as the Cliff Levingston - Antoine Carr team in 1981. I won’t even count the 1965 final four team.

Wichita St had a team with 3 NBA players on it at the same time. That guy is on one.
 
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1. Houston
2. Memphis
3. Witchia State
4. UConn
5. Temple
6. USF
7. Cincinnati
8. Tulsa
9. UCF
10. SMU
11. East Carolina
12. Tulane

I would move Cincinnati up higher if Cumberland returns.
 

kobe

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first year in a long time where I have no clue what to expect. i hope if cumberland comes back and his cousin joins up we'll still have enough to be a tournament team.
 
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Really? I think this will be the best year in AAC history for number of teams in the tourney.
Don't underestimate the year the AAC had last year, by far the best year in my opinion. We had four tournament teams that included a 3 seed, an underrated 7 seed (even though they choked of course) and an 8 seed who was an inch away from upsetting the number one team in the country. That's four tournament teams plus Wichita who made it to the NIT Final Four. I will take that every single year no question. We can't overhype this upcoming year with so many questions looming, for it will be tough to have a better representation in March for the conference than we had last year.
 
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Memphis
Houston
UConn
Wichita State
Cincinnati
USF
UCF
Temple
SMU
Tulsa
Tulane
East Carolina
 
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Until we prove we can actually win games in this conference, specifically road games, I can't put us in the top 4. I am hopeful and have all the faith and trust in Coach Hurley, but I am not going to get ahead of myself here.
 
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Sam Mitchell has left the Memphis staff. He was the X and Os guy. Will be interesting who Penny brings in.
 

kobe

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Sam Mitchell has left the Memphis staff. He was the X and Os guy. Will be interesting who Penny brings in.
hmm odd wonder if he's going back to the nba or something
 

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