Mick Cronin: AAC a Lock to have 4 teams in the NCAA Tournament

[kobe]

“The American is a lock to have four teams in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and five is a real possibility,” Cronin said. “I think Wichita State, Cincinnati, and SMU are locks. Temple is an NCAA Tournament team, but nobody talks about them because they fail to understand how good Josh Brown is and the fact that he didn’t play last year. They were building last season for an NCAA run this year and there’s nobody better at that than Coach Dunphy. UCF is also really good and Houston was an NIT team last season.”

The sleeper, according to Cronin?

UConn.

“They’re the ultimate wild card for our league,” Cronin said of the Huskies, who will play Villanova, Arizona, Auburn and Syracuse during the program’s non-conference schedule in addition to three games in the PK 80. “If they win some of their early games against some of the competition they’re playing, they’re a lock to get in.”

The American Athletic Conference has yet to receive legitimate respect since its creation prior to the start of the 2013-14 season and that has directly affected some of the teams that have shined nationally. Cincinnati was forced to play a Sweet 16 caliber game in the Round of 32 last March against UCLA because it was a six seed while SMU faced a loaded USC team as a six seed in another bracket during the Round of 64.

However, Cronin still sees the potential for a breakthrough ahead of the upcoming season.

“It has a chance to be the best season the league has had since the conference began,” Cronin said. “It hurts us that we don’t have any representation on the NCAA selection committee, but the truth is the teams in our league have to prove that we belong nationally. This year, we have the teams to prove just that.”

Jon Rothstein has been a college basketball insider for CBS Sports since 2010 and is the lead college basketbal

Mick Cronin | AAC A Lock To Have 4 Teams In 2018 NCAA Tournament

 

[TRest]

Doomed.

 

[kobe]

Doomed.

Mick will never learn. smh #HeroesAreMadeinMarch

 

[nomar]

If the Angry Carrot* says it, it must be true!



*Some Yarder's mom came up with that and I laugh every time I type it.

 

[krinklecut]

Who?

 

[Stainmaster]

Thanks, Cick Mronin.

 

[MSGSeven]

 

[Waquoit]

Love Mick

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

He nailed Temple. They have the potential to surprise a lot of people.

 

[HuskyHawk]

“The American is a lock to have four teams in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and five is a real possibility,” Cronin said. “I think Wichita State, Cincinnati, and SMU are locks. Temple is an NCAA Tournament team, but nobody talks about them because they fail to understand how good Josh Brown is and the fact that he didn’t play last year. They were building last season for an NCAA run this year and there’s nobody better at that than Coach Dunphy. UCF is also really good and Houston was an NIT team last season.”

The sleeper, according to Cronin?

UConn.

“They’re the ultimate wild card for our league,” Cronin said of the Huskies, who will play Villanova, Arizona, Auburn and Syracuse during the program’s non-conference schedule in addition to three games in the PK 80. “If they win some of their early games against some of the competition they’re playing, they’re a lock to get in.”

The American Athletic Conference has yet to receive legitimate respect since its creation prior to the start of the 2013-14 season and that has directly affected some of the teams that have shined nationally. Cincinnati was forced to play a Sweet 16 caliber game in the Round of 32 last March against UCLA because it was a six seed while SMU faced a loaded USC team as a six seed in another bracket during the Round of 64.

However, Cronin still sees the potential for a breakthrough ahead of the upcoming season.

“It has a chance to be the best season the league has had since the conference began,” Cronin said. “It hurts us that we don’t have any representation on the NCAA selection committee, but the truth is the teams in our league have to prove that we belong nationally. This year, we have the teams to prove just that.”

Jon Rothstein has been a college basketball insider for CBS Sports since 2010 and is the lead college basketbal

Mick Cronin | AAC A Lock To Have 4 Teams In 2018 NCAA Tournament

Naturally, you had to be the one to post this. It's fitting. God bless Mick for his enthusiasm and positive energy here.

 

[gtcam]

Yeah - prophecy from the mental midget
Don't care what he has to say
He's a miserable jerk on the sidelines - though I hear he does some good community service which is great
He makes JC look like Mary Poppins

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

He nailed Temple. They have the potential to surprise a lot of people.

Like people in Philadelphia who would be surprised to know they have a team?

 

[Travelman6]

Uconn, Temple and Memphis all have histories of March success and talented teams, they just have not been taking care of business as of late. If they can take care of business as they should be doing, along with SMU and WSU who have been real solid as of late, and Cincy who is always a good team, the AAC could realistically get 5 to 6 teams. No doubt. But I picture at least one of those six teams struggling, another having a painfully average season and maybe even a third getting jipped of a spot in the tourney. As sad as it is, the AAC just does not get enough respect as evidence by some of the seeds over the years including but not limited to Uconn in 2014, SMU and Cincy last year, etc.

 

[Okafour rings]

Uconn, Temple and Memphis all have histories of March success and talented teams, they just have not been taking care of business as of late. If they can take care of business as they should be doing, along with SMU and WSU who have been real solid as of late, and Cincy who is always a good team, the AAC could realistically get 5 to 6 teams. No doubt. But I picture at least one of those six teams struggling, another having a painfully average season and maybe even a third getting jipped of a spot in the tourney. As sad as it is, the AAC just does not get enough respect as evidence by some of the seeds over the years including but not limited to Uconn in 2014, SMU and Cincy last year, etc.

The thing is, you can't say jipped because the league has not had a strong out-of-conference record of late, and the tourney teams have been knocked out quickly in the NCAAs. (after 2014 of course). In 2015, Cincy made it to the Round of 32; in 2016, UConn, same; and 2017, Cincy same. So since 2014 when UConn won it all and Louisville made it to the Sweet Sixteen, the conference's tourney record has been putrid.

So hopefully the conference gets 2 or 3 teams in the Top 25 for most of the year and at least 1 of them makes the Sweet 16, that will be a major step back toward respectability.

 

[awfuldan]

I think this is gonna be the best year in the AAC since 2014 by far. For that not to be the case would be a major disappointment.

I expect UConn to struggle a little in OOC play. It's nice to have a chance to knock off a couple top teams in conference play though. It's been a while.

 

[Travelman6]

I really want Uconn to beat SMU this year. If they beat SMU in their lone game, I love the Huskies moving forward from that matchup. I see it as a barometer of sorts.

I also wish Uconn could trade that home game with Houston to end the season with the home game vs Cincy. I feel like the best thing Uconn can take from the AAC, as of now, is a new found rivalry with Cincy, hopefully they at least split with the Bearcats. But I feel like Cincy/Uconn should ALWAYS close the season for both teams, they should always play twice.

The addition of WSU is a solid one, it will be interesting to see how those two games go, the first being the last day of the year.

The thing is, you can't say jipped because the league has not had a strong out-of-conference record of late

Again, I kind of agree with you but I still think in a few cases, Uconn 2014 and SMU last year (UCLA in round 2? for real) and to a lesser extent Cincy last year were undervalued. Otherwise, teams got what they deserved. I was actually shocked that Temple got in two years ago and is maybe the one and only case where the seletion committee was generous to an AAC team. Uconn two years ago probably could have been a 7 seed instead of a 9, but it was not a huge gripe for me.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Mr Aresco wrote off basketball in 2013/2014 . I suppose having back to back NC made it look easy .
I know that there are other factors involved in poor performance from Temple , Memphis , and us has other factors but conference perception certainly didn’t help
The fix was simple
1. Keep ECU as football only as originally intended
2. Add two B.B. onlies
In the East
VCU or Dayton
In the West WSU
A conference of
UConn
Temple
VCU/Dayton
Cinn.
WSU
SMU
Houston
Tulsa
UCF
USF
Tulane
I love the scheduling incentives of
Restrict NCAA distributions to teams maintaining RPI under ( 200)
That’s about as good a B.B. conference you can get without
Going way far west for Gonsaga or BYU
I know guys on the board will scoff
but it’s the Mr McGoo vision that brought us to the brink
Play the Tourny at a permanent venue
I favor New Orleans
or Philly

 

[kobe]

Tulane never should have been added and were the straw that broke the camel's back in regard to the Catholic schools leaving.

 

[Fishy]

Tulane never should have been added and were the straw that broke the camel's back in regard to the Catholic schools leaving.

No, they weren't.

They weren't happy that Tulane was added without their input, but it was the bad news surrounding the television negotiations in December, 2012 that finally convinced them to go.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Tulane never should have been added and were the straw that broke the camel's back in regard to the Catholic schools leaving.

That was their excuse
But the BB schools had a voting majority.What prevented them from blocking Tulane. I beleave they had been negotiating long before the Tulane add.
If your saying Aresco could have saved the Big East , I doubt it.
But he certainly had the ability to max basketball potential .
He was a football only guy and basketball fans suffered the consequences.

 

[kobe]

No time for your reasoned explanations. I want to blame everything on Tulane. kthxbye.

 

[A10 fan]

No, they weren't.

They weren't happy that Tulane was added without their input, but it was the bad news surrounding the television negotiations in December, 2012 that finally convinced them to go.

Not sure it would have made that much of a difference if they had stayed. The big plus would be keep Villanova, but keep in mind, other than Nova, the biggest plus for the current BE has been the performance of Xavier, Butler, and Creighton, none of whom would have been invited had the Catholics stayed. PC and SH have stepped up, but SJU, Marquette, and especially Georgetown, have performed far below expectations. Geographically, it would certainly be abetter fit for UConn, and it would be a better league than the AAC has been, but overall, it would be about the same as the new BE has been, nice, but a huge step down from what it was.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Mick needs to understand that he is not the mouthpiece of the AAC. Win more than 1 game in the NCAA tournament and then you can start talking. We will own them in March when it matters most

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Why would anyone on the BY critize any coach who talked up our conferences,
That’s just bizarre
Politics is a big part of respect
Winning OC is number 1 but making sure everyone knows about it is second

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I feel like the committee let that crappy Tulsa team in a few years ago just so they could say seeeeeee we respect the AAC when this argument comes up every year.