AAC as a pretty good basketball league? | The Boneyard

AAC as a pretty good basketball league?

StoneStFan said:
Does anyone else think that the AAC could be shaping up as a pretty good baseball league? With Cincinnati, Houston, Wichita State, and a resurgent Memphis with Hardaway and UConn with Hurley?
Expand ...

Not sure about baseball but basketball - yes. I think you guys made a great hire in Hurley - a head coach who has proven he can build a team and win, even at a school without national name recognition. That’s my personal best indicator of a coach’s potential. Memphis is a bigger question. Penny is a pretty risky hire IMO - can probably initially get good players and bring fans back but it remains to be seen how well his high school and AAU coaching experience translates to the college game, plus his unknown ability to handle the other organizational and PR aspects of the job. I’m cautiously hopeful.
 
Last edited:
Yes

I'd throw in SMU, UCF and Temple as programs that can be good too. I expect the AAC to become 5+ bid conference per year, and if the football (conference) continues to play well and improve the money is going to flow

We need to start doing our part in both major sports, although we still are the only school to win National Championships representing the conference and have done such in multiple sports
 
There are good teams, no question. But no rivalries. Conferences used to be regional. The traveling in the AAC is too much. I know fans in CT are not excited with playing ECU and some of these other schools. There is no way around it, regardless of how well some of the teams do.
 
Mokum said:
There are good teams, no question. But no rivalries. Conferences used to be regional. The traveling in the AAC is too much. I know fans in CT are not excited with playing ECU and some of these other schools. There is no way around it, regardless of how well some of the teams do.
Expand ...
That's become the case in many of these leagues now. Hard to be worse than West Virginia. Creighton is another one. Would help if Temple could become what they were under Chaney again.
 
Hard to get to excited yet when we can't get out of the first weekend of the tournament. But hopeful -- I would say I'm hopeful. It's in the air!
 
.-.
willie99 said:
Yes

I'd throw in SMU, UCF and Temple as programs that can be good too. I expect the AAC to become 5+ bid conference per year, and if the football (conference) continues to play well and improve the money is going to flow

We need to start doing our part in both major sports, although we still are the only school to win National Championships representing the conference and have done such in multiple sports
Expand ...

No doubt. It's a good league but could be much better if we would start pulling our weight. It feels like we've been a drag on the league rather than a positive force - although that is changing in football and now basketball.
 
StoneStFan said:
Does anyone else think that the AAC could be shaping up as a pretty good baseball league? With Cincinnati, Houston, Wichita State, and a resurgent Memphis with Hardaway and UConn with Hurley?
Expand ...

The day after the Ollie news hit, when it suddenly seemed like our players would be sticking around before we even had a new coach in place, I started to get very optimistic about our future. That included the AAC even, sure I'd much rather be in the ACC or Big East, but if Wichita/Cinci stay sturdy, and we get back to where we belong, as well as Memphis and SMU being strong, then throw in a team like Houston or Temple and so on being a bubble team, this conference can absolutely be good enough for us to compete for titles.

I think it can be close to what we thought in our most optimistic days right after the NBE broke off when Lville and Rutgers were still around. It can be a good enough league where if we are battling for the title every year, we're a good team that is respected. We need to do our part and the league really wont hold us back.

Maybe a couple of top of the line 5 star kids will scoff at our recruiting because we aren't in the ACC, but most kids will be open to playing in our league and that's all that matters really to me
 
.-.
UCONN, Houston, Wichita State, Cincinnati, Memphis, SMU towards the top
Middle of the pack - UCF, Temple, Tulsa, Tulane
Bottom being ECU and USF

Conference is obviously stepping towards the right direction. We have a pretty good core. The first season I think we got like 4 teams in? I think if Memphis, UCONN of course, and SMU improve, we could be seeing at least 4 bids for years to come. This is why I jump with joy whenever an SMU or another team in our conference snags a top 100 recruit because it puts the conference on the map.

I think considering the fact that we have former C-USA teams in , it wouldn't hurt to contact middle tennessee and take out east carolina for GOD SAKE.
 
HuskyBoi said:
UCONN, Houston, Wichita State, Cincinnati, Memphis, SMU towards the top
Middle of the pack - UCF, Temple, Tulsa, Tulane
Bottom being ECU and USF

Conference is obviously stepping towards the right direction. We have a pretty good core. The first season I think we got like 4 teams in? I think if Memphis, UCONN of course, and SMU improve, we could be seeing at least 4 bids for years to come. This is why I jump with joy whenever an SMU or another team in our conference snags a top 100 recruit because it puts the conference on the map.

I think considering the fact that we have former C-USA teams in , it wouldn't hurt to contact middle tennessee and take out east carolina for GOD SAKE.
Expand ...
Let’s see what Odom can do at ECU. There is a lot of talent in the Carolinas that wants to stay here and the school itself is growing due to its medical program. In fact the acc schools loathe the attention and money it receives and the football rivalries are huge. ECU can be big. But I’m with you on adding milddle Tennessee maybe plucking a vcu, a Dayton, an Illinois state, an Akron or Miami of Ohio, even yes, URI and UMESS( only if we can get some other teams) to add some local/ regional rivalries. This is only based on us being relegated to this purgatory of a conference of course. If so, I figure poach everything between the Mississippi River and I95 that for the taking.
 
whaler11 said:
You’d think at this point one would wait for the AAC to do ANYTHING before discussing it’s potential greatness but that doesn’t seem to faze many.
Expand ...
Greatness is not what we should be looking for. Competence should be it.

The best case scenario is a conference that is better than mid-2000s CUSA in part because it is a few schools smaller than mid-2000s CUSA, and will only have 2 schools at the absolute bottom of the RPI. They can get 4-6 teams in rather than the 2-3 once UConn and Memphis play.

But it won't be the league we had, nor will it be a league we care all that much about for basketball. But as long as we can make tournament runs out of the league, it is what it is for now.
 
.-.
whaler11 said:
You’d think at this point one would wait for the AAC to do ANYTHING before discussing it’s potential greatness but that doesn’t seem to faze many.
Expand ...
Winning OOC games against good teams is a start. Then winning a weekend in the NCAA tourney
 
When this league is getting 5 bids and multiple teams in the second weekend you can unlock this thread. Until then you can mothball that talk.

Even when we turn it around that is no guarntee that WSU, Houston, or even Cincinnati will be any good.

That fact that we have not been competitive in league is the biggest reason Hurley is the new coach.
 
willie99 said:
Yes

I'd throw in SMU, UCF and Temple as programs that can be good too. I expect the AAC to become 5+ bid conference per year, and if the football (conference) continues to play well and improve the money is going to flow

We need to start doing our part in both major sports, although we still are the only school to win National Championships representing the conference and have done such in multiple sports
Expand ...

The league has only been around since 2014, how many national championships should they have? Or did you mean teams in the conference that have national titles? In that 2nd case, Cincinnati has two. But also Houston has two title game appearances, Memphis also has two, and Cincinnati has three.
 
whaler11 said:
One year where the league doesn’t embarrass itself would be a start.
Expand ...
0409_oag_uconn-champs-1000x666.jpg
 
navery12 said:
0409_oag_uconn-champs-1000x666.jpg
Expand ...

Obviously the conversation is about the non-UConn teams.

That UConn won with players recruited to a different league doesn’t really matter anyway.
 
.-.
I kind of love these threads.

Well, if UConn is back, then Memphis is back, Wichita State remains good, Temple returns, Cincinnati maintains success under Cronin, UCF is solid, SMU is alright, USF was ok that one time 7 years ago, and don't forget about Tulsa.

You realize, that some teams have to lose, right? As a 12 team league, it would be very difficult for all these teams to be that good. I think we saw it a few years ago, when the top 5 (or 4?) were ranked and then the bottom 5 were some of the dregs of the world.

The league can be what it is - the 6th/7th best hoop league in a good year.

UConn is never going to be what we were (impossible standards from Calhoun), but we can win in the AAC and make the tournament more often than not. It just not may be with 5 other league members.
 
Mokum said:
There are good teams, no question. But no rivalries. Conferences used to be regional. The traveling in the AAC is too much. I know fans in CT are not excited with playing ECU and some of these other schools. There is no way around it, regardless of how well some of the teams do.
Expand ...

Most conferences have similar problems now. Chatted with some Pitt fans the other day. They hate the ACC. They don't play any of their rivals anymore either. Nebraska and OU split up. Kansas and Missouri. Texas and A&M. The Pac still has a couple of rivalries, as does the SEC and Big Ten, but many have been lost.
 
Mokum said:
There are good teams, no question. But no rivalries. Conferences used to be regional. The traveling in the AAC is too much. I know fans in CT are not excited with playing ECU and some of these other schools. There is no way around it, regardless of how well some of the teams do.
Expand ...

Had KO kept up his part of the bargain past couple of years, Cincy would be a rival and a must-see game for the average non-AAC hoops fan.
 
ConnHuskBask said:
I kind of love these threads.

Well, if UConn is back, then Memphis is back, Wichita State remains good, Temple returns, Cincinnati maintains success under Cronin, UCF is solid, SMU is alright, USF was ok that one time 7 years ago, and don't forget about Tulsa.

You realize, that some teams have to lose, right? As a 12 team league, it would be very difficult for all these teams to be that good. I think we saw it a few years ago, when the top 5 (or 4?) were ranked and then the bottom 5 were some of the dregs of the world.

The league can be what it is - the 6th/7th best hoop league in a good year.

UConn is never going to be what we were (impossible standards from Calhoun), but we can win in the AAC and make the tournament more often than not. It just not may be with 5 other league members.
Expand ...

The Big XII has ten teams. How many got in the tournament? How many are still playing? Seven and four.

I'm not saying the American will become that good, simply that it could. There is no artificial ceiling on it. Getting 5-6 teams in for a 12 team league doesn't mean the other teams suck. Rather the opposite from an RPI perspective. The teams the Big XII didn't get in this year were almost all pretty good bubble/NIT teams (Baylor, OSU).

UConn can become whatever it wants. The main issue the American faces is whether those teams at the bottom will make the investment to become better. I think Tulane is trying. Tulsa is trying. UCF is trying. ECU and USF? Not so much.
 
ConnHuskBask said:
I kind of love these threads.

Well, if UConn is back, then Memphis is back, Wichita State remains good, Temple returns, Cincinnati maintains success under Cronin, UCF is solid, SMU is alright, USF was ok that one time 7 years ago, and don't forget about Tulsa.

You realize, that some teams have to lose, right? As a 12 team league, it would be very difficult for all these teams to be that good. I think we saw it a few years ago, when the top 5 (or 4?) were ranked and then the bottom 5 were some of the dregs of the world.

The league can be what it is - the 6th/7th best hoop league in a good year.

UConn is never going to be what we were (impossible standards from Calhoun), but we can win in the AAC and make the tournament more often than not. It just not may be with 5 other league members.
Expand ...

I think the ceiling is higher than that. AAC is only the 6th/7th best in a good year? I think that's underestimating it. The AAC was better than the Pac-12 this year and really, wasn't that great of year due to SMU/UCF injuries and inconsistent play from Temple. Big 12/ACC are going to be better every year. The B1G/Pac-12/SEC/AAC/Big East are going to be pretty fluid. What happens to the Big East next year if Mack leaves for Louisville? There's reasonable hope that the AAC could be the 3rd best league in some seasons (maybe once every 5-6 years.) The A-10 is the next best league, but you can bet they're going to take a step back in 2018. Dayton is in disarray and Hurley gone from Rhode Island.
 
I said this in another thread but I think if UCONN does its share of heavy lifting, the whole outlook on the conference changes. We have the right guys in charge of the football and basketball programs to make that happen.

I agree with other members, though, in saying we could desperately use another team or two somewhere around us. Poach somebody and bring in UMass. I would also like to see what would happen after a few years of Temple and UCONN both being good - they're the only thing close we have to being a "regional" rival, after all
 
.-.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,497
Messages
4,578,718
Members
10,489
Latest member
Djw06001


Top Bottom