The American 2019-2020

[BFieldHusky]

The last time we have to do this! Where do people have UConn and the rest of the American pre-season. Here are my rankings:

1. Memphis
2. Houston
3. Cincinnati
4. USF
5. UConn
6. Witchia
7. Temple
8. Tulsa
9. SMU
10. UCF
11. ECU
12. Tulane

I think 1-3 could go in any order. Maybe 4-7 as well.

But when I look at the teams in front of us and around us...they all have major question marks. Memphis has a ton of pressure on them, and they are so young. Do they have an upperclassmen even on the roster? Houston should be good but lost a TON. Cincinnati has the best player in the league, but a whole system/coach and I think their front court is very thin.

USF will be good, but I still don't know if they have enough skill players. Witchia lost their 2 best players, and then lost what would have been a starter when Allen got kicked off the team. They also were the opposite of us last year in that they won a ton of close games.

My point is I think this league is wide open. Not suggesting we should be the favorite, but we have a chance to sneak up on people. Especially if Josh can dominate down low. This league doesn't have a lot of good bigs.

 

[MattMang23]

I’ll go with

1. Memphis
2. Houston
3. Cincy
4. Wichita
5. UConn
6. USF

7-12 I prefer to forget they exist.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Is it terrible to say I don’t care? Just want to win as many as possible to have a shout at the tourney. The rest of the league can go kick rocks.

 

[Dooooooomed]

1. ECU
2. Tulane
3. Everybody else

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

1. Houston
2. Memphis
3. Wichita State
4. Cinci
5. UConn

USF is my overrated pick of the year. If we are not better than South Florida this year then I will be disappointed.

Last year my overrated pick was UCF, so I’m 0 for 1, because they should’ve beaten Dook.

Wichita will be good. Lets not forget this is like a 2nd tier powerhouse program. Marshall was dealt a tough hand losing like everyone from the previous year and magically got to the NIT semis.

Memphis will be most talented team in the league, but raw talent doesn’t normally win college trophies. But they might just be so overwhelmingly talented that they win the league. But I could see it go either way.

 

[Guapo]

1. Memphis
2. Cincy
3. UConn
4. UL-Lafayette
5. Southern Miss
6. Florida International
7. Florida Atlantic
8. South Dakota State
9. East Carolina
10. Westboro Baptist
11. Charlotte
12. Tulsa

 

[imno1]

I think Cincinnati may be overrated this year. I like Houston and Memphis to battle it out at the top with WS. After that we have as good a chance to be in the top 4 as the rest.

 

[Jaker]

The American is dead to me.

 

[gtcam]

Houston will win the league again
WSU will be in top 3
UConn, USF or Cinci will battle for the top 3 spot

Let's win this on the swan song

 

[MU in MKE]

Memphis is too young. They'll win some big games with their raw talent, but won't be consistent. I want to see UConn move up into 3rd or higher but as an emotional hedge bet I've put them at 5... plus next year I'll have to root against them, so might as well start dialing things back this year to prepare.


1 Cincinnati

2 Houston

3 Memphis

4 Wichita St.

5 Connecticut

6 South Florida

7 Temple

8 Tulsa

9 UCF

10 SMU

11 East Carolina

12 Tulane

 

[Bonk]

I think Temple will be top 5 in the AAC this year, sneaky good

 

[Kenny11]

The American is dead to me.

I'm feeling the same way. UConn should be a top four seed. Time to finally raise the expectations around here. My guess is number 3.

 

[Excalibur]

This is a two, maybe 3 bid league this year. League is significantly weaker than last year.

 

[Austin316]

Nope. Not doing this again.

 

[Guapo]

Very much looking forward to flipping around the TV and seeing a ranked Memphis or Wichita State playing and thinking “well that’s cute that these guys are ranked” before not thinking about them again.

 

[McLovin]

People will have UConn at 4 or 5, but I think we finish top 2 or 3. The rest of the league can fall into place however they want. Top 2 or 3 finish and we should have a shot at an NCAA bid. Anything worse and its NIT.

 

[Huskyfan4evr]

Was Quinton Grimes ruled eligible this year for Houston?

 

[ctchamps]

Was Quinton Grimes ruled eligible this year for Houston?

No.

 

[thatguyed]

1. Memphis
2. Cincy
3. UConn
4. UL-Lafayette
5. Southern Miss
6. Florida International
7. Florida Atlantic
8. South Dakota State
9. East Carolina
10. Westboro Baptist
11. Charlotte
12. Tulsa

Gotta challenge you on Westboro. Everything they do is CRAZY!! Won't hold up. They're behind Charlotte and Tulsa.

 

[MattMang23]

1. Memphis
2. Cincy
3. UConn
4. UL-Lafayette
5. Southern Miss
6. Florida International
7. Florida Atlantic
8. South Dakota State
9. East Carolina
10. Westboro Baptist
11. Charlotte
12. Tulsa

If you take out the first three, you have really captured ECU and Tulsa’s peer institutions well, though I do think Liberty would be a fine expansion candidate for this group to add.

 

[cap10dingus]

What is an AAC?

 

[ctchamps]

1. Houston
2. Memphis
3. Wichita St.
4. Cincinnati
5. UConn
6. USF
7. Temple

Don't care about the rest. The AAC is the product of three institutions. I'm not going to bad mouth it because UConn was one of those institutions. And we struggled in it.

What I care most is we are on an upward swing. Can't wait until we have a rivalry with Providence, St. Johns, Georgetown, Seton Hall and Nova.

 

[CTBasketball]

I really hope we finish top 3. That’d be a big accomplishment.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

1) Cincinnati - really impressive late offseason for Brennan
2) Memphis - Losing Tucker to the pros late will be a tough blow as he provided much needed experience.
3) Houston - Lots of size starting lineup all likely 6'5+. 2020 big year for them.
4) UConn - Let's go
5) USF - All the good players return.
6) Wichita State - Want to like this team, but their backcourt is a trio of freshmen
7) Temple - Quinton Rose might be my favorite non-UConn player in the AAC.

Don't plan on watching any non-UConn AAC conference games, but a few interesting OOC games within the conference:

11/5 9 PM - Houston vs BYU
11/6 8:30 PM - Cincy @ Ohio State
11/12 8 PM - Memphis @ Oregon
11/22 9 PM - Houston @ Oregon
11/23 12 PM - Ole Miss vs Memphis
12/3 7 PM - Vermont @ Cincy
12/7 5 PM - Cincy @ Xavier
12/8 2 PM - Wichita State @ Oklahoma State
12/14 2 PM - Memphis @ Tennessee
12/18 7 PM - Tennessee vs Cincy
12/18 TBA - USF vs Utah State
12/21 12 PM - USF @ Florida State
12/21 12 PM - Wichita State vs VCU
1/4 12 PM - Georgia vs Memphis

 

[Caronimo]

We’ll be lucky to finish top 5. It’s a league that we shouldn’t be in, but also can’t compete in at the same time lol