The AAC is an absolute train-wreck

[tzznandrew]

Louisville also had exactly zero impressive wins out of conference.

Right. But they had impressive wins in conference. Against us, and others. Without Louisville in the league anymore, where are we picking them up in conference?

 

[Gurleyman]

We got screwed on locations as a high seed in the Big East all the time, right up until 2011 when we had to play SDSU in Anaheim. If we played Wisconsin in Milwaukee it would be the same ol, same ol and we'd have to bring it like we did in Anaheim (or against Texas).

Being underseeded, though, is a problem - it makes it harder to get out of the first round or two while you're still adjusting to tourney pressure. Even Bazz had a really off day against St. Joe's, and you can survive something like that much easier against a 13 seed*. Once you get to the Sweet 16, you have a few days to settle in and have some confidence and then you can throw some haymakers at whoever is in your way. But if you get a bad seed, you lose your chance to settle in and have to play well from the start. I don't think our ceiling is a 4 - Wichita, Memphis and Gonzaga have been 1s, but we can't make up ground with a strong finish like we did in 2002 or 2005 on our way to 2 seeds after several early losses (or like 2011 in getting a 3 with a good BE tourney).

* does not apply to Georgetown

 

[CTBballfan243]

It's a new world order and we just need to get use to it. UCONN is now in a mid-major conference. We might not like it but hey, that's life. UCONN will make the best of it. Gonzaga is able to make it work and so won't UCONN!!!! REMEMBER PEOPLE, WE ARE UCONN AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO COMPETE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. #Bleedblue

 

[nelsonmuntz]

ECU loses to Hawaii and UCF is getting tuned up at home by Davidson. This league is so freaking brutal.

 

[Gurleyman]

I damn near just posted that at least TCU played well today and won by 24.

I don't even know what's in this pu pu platter yet.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Loses to West Virginia, Duke, Florida, and like Cincinnati/Temple will not give us a 3/4 seed. We would have 2 or 3 quality wins depending on how Dayton does.

yeah we have to definitely beat texas at home, stanford away, and at worst split duke/florida... It all depends if the team comes out ready and not scared, i believe we have the talent to do very well the rest of the schedule just depends on the team... uconn has always come together late jan/feb. but we have also had teh big east to play quality opponents so the ooc becomes much more important... against WVU the team was shocked by the way WVU came out, seemed like no one but boat and hamilton wanted the ball... I have faith in Ollie

 

[UConnSwag11]

the ACC can use one more school to make 16 also depends if fsu and clemson leave then they can use a few more, the big 12, big east, and big 10 can use several more schools

 

[CTBasketball]

@UConnSwag11

Realistically, I think Florida and Texas are very winnable games. Stanford and Duke will be harder. Especially Stanford, playing in Palo Alto is not easy.

 

[Cheeky]

It's really been wonderful the last 3 days logging in and seeing "the AAC is a trainwreck" at the top of the board. Let's all work together to keep this thread bumped up to the top over the next 4 months, which will be like taping a picture of the ex who ran off with your best friend on your car's rear-view mirror so that you don't go long without reliving at least a small portion of the misery.

 

[itgoeslike]

ECU loses to Hawaii and UCF is getting tuned up at home by Davidson. This league is so freaking brutal.

Davidson is always tough. I'm not sure if either of these losses are too surprising.

 

[kobe]

I am definitely concerned that weakness of the AAC will hurt Cincinnati. We have a very young team that is really struggling to find itself right now. We've got a tough stretch of games coming up w/ possible game vs Creighton, @Nebraska, VCU, San Diego State, and @NC State. Usually I wouldn't worry too much about losing games in December but those may be our only chances for quality wins outside of a few games against Connecticut!

 

[metsfan2323]

I am definitely concerned that weakness of the AAC will hurt Cincinnati. We have a very young team that is really struggling to find itself right now. We've got a tough stretch of games coming up w/ possible game vs Creighton, @Nebraska, VCU, San Diego State, and @NC State. Usually I wouldn't worry too much about losing games in December but those may be our only chances for quality wins outside of a few games against Connecticut!

wrong, being in the AAC actually gives you a shot at the tournament, if you had to play all of those Big East teams twice they would bury you this year, you would finish in the bottom half of the league and be NIT bound.

This ass backwards logic that the conference will be to blame if your team sucks is mindless liberal bullcrap, blaming someone else for your shortcomings.

 

[chapwilvaug72]

be more concerned that all pseudo nonteams which are unknown to e. seaboard fans which comprise aac will plummet home attendance to nil

 

[intlzncster]

wrong, being in the AAC actually gives you a shot at the tournament, if you had to play all of those Big East teams twice they would bury you this year, you would finish in the bottom half of the league and be NIT bound.

This ass backwards logic that the conference will be to blame if your team sucks is mindless liberal bullcrap, blaming someone else for your shortcomings.

waaaaat.

 

[champs99and04]

wrong, being in the AAC actually gives you a shot at the tournament, if you had to play all of those Big East teams twice they would bury you this year, you would finish in the bottom half of the league and be NIT bound.

This ass backwards logic that the conference will be to blame if your team sucks is mindless liberal bullcrap, blaming someone else for your shortcomings.

Right, we should all abide by your infallible logic that UConn performs in a vacuum and external variables never come into play.

 

[champs99and04]

Some results from the last few days:

Davidson 95, UCF 69
Hawaii 75, East Carolina 73
SMU 72, Texas Southern 59
Oklahoma State 73, Tulsa 58
Baylor 71, Memphis 47
Cincinnati 69, Middle Tennessee 51
Tulane 71 SE Louisiana 61
Memphis 72, Indiana State 62
South Florida 79, Jacksonville 65
Wichita State 75, Tulsa 55
Ole Miss 66, Cincinnati 54

Per kenpom, the conferences best win to date is over #47 Dayton. The best non-UConn win? Temple over #59 Louisiana Tech. Those are amazingly the only two top 100 wins the conference has recorded. And the wins over top 200 teams are few and far between.

Things look very bleak. UConn is the only top 50 team in the entire conference. For those of us who grew accustomed to playing in America's premier conference every year, that's almost unfathomable. To be looking at the possibility of not playing a top 50 team from January onward is tough to reconcile, both in terms of the teams development and my own personal enjoyment as a fan.

I still think SMU ends up a top 25ish team. Memphis and Cincinnati won't be as bad when they play us as they are now. Tulsa and Temple might end up NIT caliber squads. But, damn...it's hard to see this program remaining a perennial power over the long haul if things don't get a whole lot better.

 

[metsfan2323]

Things look very bleak.

Maybe you are a loser.

 

[CTBasketball]

People laugh at me when I say this conference is getting 2 bids max. And the only scenario for that to happen is we get upset in the AAC Tournament.