A great day for the AAC

[Plebe]

• Tulane came up with a huge 4th quarter to surprise NC State, 63-58.
• Temple survived a poor first half to win at Rutgers, 48-37, avoiding a letdown after its big win over DePaul.
• UCF won big over Georgia Southern, 74-54.
• East Carolina handled Richmond, 71-60.

Three of these four wins came on the road, and two of them were against power-5 conference teams.

 

[BroadwayVa]

• Tulane came up with a huge 4th quarter to surprise NC State, 63-58.
• Temple survived a poor first half to win at Rutgers, 48-37, avoiding a letdown after its big win over DePaul.
• UCF won big over Georgia Southern, 74-54.
• East Carolina handled Richmond, 71-60.

Three of these four wins came on the road, and two of them were against power-5 conference teams.

That's great news! The AAC may actually get some respect--now that we have Dangerfield---and they don't!!

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

• Tulane came up with a huge 4th quarter to surprise NC State, 63-58.
• Temple survived a poor first half to win at Rutgers, 48-37, avoiding a letdown after its big win over DePaul.
• UCF won big over Georgia Southern, 74-54.
• East Carolina handled Richmond, 71-60.

Three of these four wins came on the road, and two of them were against power-5 conference teams.

I'll give you the NC State upset, but Temple over Rutgers went the expected way. RU stinks this season. Finished the OOC 3-10 I think. 3rd game RU couldn't muster 40 points. Yikes.

 

[Plebe]

No doubt Rutgers would've been a bad loss for a team like Temple. Just as it was for Seton Hall, an NCAA tournament team last year, who suffered a second-half collapse against Rutgers.

 

[oldude]

While I would never wish to see UConn's streak of never losing a regular or post-season conference game in the AAC come to an end, I think it's great if the AAC as a whole gets stronger.

I'd like to see more AAC teams in the tournament, and stronger in-conference competition will only benefit the Huskies.

 

[EricLA]

While I would never wish to see UConn's streak of never losing a regular or post-season conference game in the AAC come to an end, I think it's great if the AAC as a whole gets stronger.

I'd like to see more AAC teams in the tournament, and stronger in-conference competition will only benefit the Huskies.

You can get both your wishes - UCONN CAN go forever without losing a game in the AAC, and the AAC can indeed get stronger! In the old days (Big East), from 1994 thru 2013 (20 years), UCONN lost a grand total of 18 games. They had 9 total years that they were undefeated. I'm betting at least half of those 18 losses were to Notre Dame. Actually I looked it up and I think it is 11 losses to ND. So really, ND was the only team to ever challenge UCONN on any kind of consistent basis.

I hardly think there's a team in the AAC that is poised to challenge UCONN in the next 4-6 years. Can't say "never", but as long as Geno coaches, and the American does not add Baylor, ND, SC, tOSU, Maryland, etc etc, it's doubtful they will ever lose a game in the conference... Heck... the way they are going now, and the way Geno's recruiting, he may never lose a game out of conference either!

 

[Carnac]

• Tulane came up with a huge 4th quarter to surprise NC State, 63-58.
• Temple survived a poor first half to win at Rutgers, 48-37, avoiding a letdown after its big win over DePaul.
• UCF won big over Georgia Southern, 74-54.
• East Carolina handled Richmond, 71-60.

Three of these four wins came on the road, and two of them were against power-5 conference teams.

This is exactly what I talking about!!! If the AAC is really serious about changing it's culture, and the perception of other teams and conferences, its members MUST consistently turn in performances like this during non-conference play. UConn should not be the only team of significance in the AAC. Other members need to step up their game as well.

 

[triaddukefan]

I expected better from the pack this season...

 

[Plebe]

I expected better from the pack this season...

You are, hands-down, the best meme-er on the BY.

NC State has 3 losses now: one that I would have expected (to Kansas State), and two that I didn't (LSU and Tulane).

Maybe they can right the ship when they play Duke.

 

[UcMiami]

LSU is a better team than people thought coming in to the season - I think they are going to have a few 'upset' wins in conference play and will end up solidly in the middle of the SEC pack.

On the AAC - people seem to think it should happen overnight and that just doesn't happen. What we are seeing is that USF building on its development in the BE is now pretty consistently showing up in the polls, and we have a group of teams with good coaching and moderate talent that are winning games they lost last year - no dramatic improvements but incremental steps. Based on a little better play and some more notoriety generated by having Uconn and USF on their conference schedule, the hope is each year the quality of recruits will improve, the talent will improve and then a few teams will start getting kids ranked in the top 30 instead of the back 50 of the top 100. The BE did not become the BE overnight, and Uconn overachieved significantly in the early 1990s based on their recruiting and then they started getting real talent. St. Johns, Rutgers, and even ND struggled to be serious contending teams in conference for a number of years.

 

[triaddukefan]

You are, hands-down, the best meme-er on the BY.

NC State has 3 losses now: one that I would have expected (to Kansas State), and two that I didn't (LSU and Tulane).

Maybe they can right the ship when they play Duke.

I figured they would be a contender for a upper half finish in the conference this season like they were last year.

They have a brutal first two weeks in-conference... home vs ND.... at FSU... home vs Miami .... at Pesky Wake.... at Syracuse...... then home vs the beloved Devils. Considering they are 2-0 vs. Duke the past two seasons...and this season's lone matchup is in Raleigh... Yeah..... I could definitely see them being 0-5 in the conference then upsetting us

 

[triaddukefan]

LSU is a better team than people thought coming in to the season - I think they are going to have a few 'upset' wins in conference play and will end up solidly in the middle of the SEC pack.
.

They better win later today vs UNC........ I can't/won't take them seriously if they lose that matchup.

 

[Plebe]

They better win later today vs UNC... I can't/won't take them seriously if they lose that matchup.

That's what I said last year about Syracuse when they got beat by UNC. And then the rest of the season happened.