Playoff games in the American

[tomcat]

I did something this year that I could not manage to do previously -- I watched some of the non-UConn quarterfinal games. The Houston-Temple and SMU-USF games were close and interesting. None of these teams are offensive juggernauts (well, SF is supposed to be, but came up against some pretty good SMU defense) but because the games were close, it was worth watching them. IIRC-- and correct me if I'm wrong -- a lot of these games in past years have been pointless, with the better teams trouncing the weaker ones.

With Houston playing better, SMU having a coach who seems to know what he's doing, and Central Florida tremendously improved, the overall quality of the league seems to me to have taken a significant step upward. Probably UC0nn's presence in the league has something to do with the improvement in talent, but it's also likely that at least some of the schools are investing a little more in WCBB. At least we can hope.

Let's also hope it's a trend that continues.

 

[UcMiami]

You are correct!
Because we mostly watch UConn vs. ______ games and UConn is in a different class, we (and most of the country) get a distorted view of the quality of the other AAC teams. But UConn makes most teams outside the top ten look bad - their MOV against ranked teams during this streak is over 20 points and has been that high probably for the last 10 years. They beat up on TX and MsSt by 50+, they beat up on Ohio St, and Syracuse and ... So people don't really notice how well other AAC teams are doing and how much they have improved over the last 3 years. And unlike an ND or SC or even Baylor, we don't often throw a 'Tulane game' into the mix - the other top ten teams throw those kinds of games three or four times during the year making their opponents in their conferences look much stronger than they really are.

The fact that we are likely to get three and have an off chance of getting four teams into the NCAA is big news. The other big news that was mentioned during the awards but sort of passed unnoticed was that the AAC is now the #5 conference in RPI ahead of the Big10. I know RPI is a really flawed measure, but it is out there and constantly being referenced and for the AAC to be ranked above a 'P5' should not go unreported.

 

[ctfjr]

I did something this year that I could not manage to do previously -- I watched some of the non-UConn quarterfinal games. . . .

. . . Central Florida tremendously improved, the overall quality of the league seems to me to have taken a significant step upward. Probably UC0nn's presence in the league has something to do with the improvement in talent, but it's also likely that at least some of the schools are investing a little more in WCBB. At least we can hope.

Let's also hope it's a trend that continues.

I can't speak to the other two games you mentioned but the UCF - Tulane game was a 1st class stinker. All my son & I could say as Tulane was leading most of the game was, "this team lost by 3 pts to us???". It seemed neither team wanted to win and iirc the shooting %'s were horrible to go with just terrible turnovers.

 

[1971Husky]

I watched most of the three games on Friday and all but the second half of USF/SMU on Saturday. Other than UConn, all teams are challenged at scoring the basketball. But I was impressed with the rosters of four teams - UCF, SMU, Memphis and Houston. All four have some very energetic and athletic young players who were very active. Once the basketball skills catch up I expect the quality of basketball played to be significantly improved. This, I believe, bodes well for the AAC.

In the battle of the bands, I rate them UConn, USF and Memphis. It was unfortunate that Memphis did not advance and we did not get another opportunity to hear their very good band!

 

[OldAlum]

I was sad to see Tulane lose. First because I wanted our team to be able to trounce them to end the "they only lost by 3" repetition. But secondly because their band is so much fun! UCF didn't appear to have a band.