Tulsa could be ranked come 2/12/15

[willyd24]

Currently sitting at 16-5 overall and 9-0 in AAC play, Tulsa has found themselves sitting at #34 in the latest AP poll. They have a game this Thursday (2/5/15) at Houston which assuming they can overcome the inevitable onslaught of 3's they should win and then they would head home on Saturday (2/7/15) to take on #23 SMU. If they can win both games and improve to 18-5 and 11-0 in conference then I think it would be hard for the coaches to justify leaving them off of next week's Top 25 poll. This would set up a rematch between UCONN and a ranked Tulsa team at the XL Center on 2/12/15.

I know this is largely speculation but I'm just excited about the prospect of getting to play a ranked opponent at home this season. I never thought at the beginning of the season that our best conference game would be against Tulsa but that could definitely be the case next Thursday.

On the other hand if SMU walks out of there with a win then maybe they can improve up the rankings and maybe we get a shot at a ranked SMU squad on March 1st. I know that people on this board always criticize people for looking too far ahead but it's pretty painful to look back at what has transpired over the past couple weeks so I'd rather look forward at what could be than look back at what has already happened.

 

[CTBasketball]

So either way we're going to have either SMU or Tulsa ranked. AP Ranking means squat other than conference morale.

 

[willyd24]

What's wrong with a little conference morale?

 

[CTBasketball]

What's wrong with a little conference morale?

Unless Rashad Anderson, riding on a gold-plated chariot, can descend from the clouds and equip us with a never-ending supply of 3 pointers - there is no morale to be had.

 

[willyd24]

I'm pretty sure beating a ranked conference opponent at home in a revenge game and handing them their first conference loss as a member of the AAC would give the team some morale

 

[CTBasketball]

In the eyes of us, no. In the eyes of the conference, yes. In the eyes of the national scene, what's the AAC again?

 

[champs99and04]

No, beating a ranked team - whether the rankings actually mean anything or not - is a good thing. The rankings might not matter to the selection committee, but they matter to the players and to a lot of fans as well. If there's a number next to your name, opponents are naturally going to be at the top of their game - we have had to deal with this all season being the national champs, so I'd love to get back to situations where the team feels like they're the hunters rather than the hunted.

 

[Kitaman]

Well the AAC has had the last two Champions. I'll take any conference team that can keep that streak going.

 

[pnow15]

In the eyes of us, no. In the eyes of the conference, yes. In the eyes of the national scene, what's the AAC again?

Home of the NCAA Basketball champion.

 

[pnow15]

In the eyes of us, no. In the eyes of the conference, yes. In the eyes of the national scene, what's the AAC again?

Home of the NCAA Basketball champion.

 

[ConnZag3]

No team should ever be ranked with a regular season loss to a team called Southeast Oklahoma St...

 

[CallMeBruce]

No team should ever be ranked with a regular season loss to a team called Southeast Oklahoma St...

In before the list of other ranked teams with losses to crappy, no-name programs.

 

[willyd24]

People can say whatever they want about this conference but if you look at AAC recruiting for this year compared to last year there's already a noticeable improvement.

2014 ESPN 100
30. Daniel Hamilton SG UCONN
67. Dominic Magee PG Memphis

2015 ESPN 100
24. Jalen Adams PG UCONN
26. Dedric Lawson PF Memphis
44. KJ Lawson SF Memphis
74. Shake Milton PG SMU
93. Levan Alston SG Temple
94. Tacko Fall C UCF
99. Steven Enoch C UCONN

As you can see 5 different teams will be getting Top 100 recruits next season. Memphis has been awful this year but they will be getting two Top 50 recruits and our own UCONN Huskies will get two Top 100 recruits. Temple has been better this year and add a Top 100 recruit and UCF will be noticeably better if they can pair a 7'5 270 pound Tacko Fall with a 6'10 325 pound Justin McBride underneath the basket. SMU adds another Top 100 recruit and although Tulsa has no Top 100 recruits next year there roster is largely underclassmen who will grow and develop hopefully continuing their success. People can whine all they want about being members of the AAC and believe me I wish we were in another conference too but all we can do now is hope that schools in this conference add highly ranked recruits and continue to improve.

 

[champs99and04]

Yeah, being in the AAC definitely sucks, but the conference should be a lot better next season. SMU could be very good provided the program doesn't get the death penalty, Cincinnati will be bringing back most of their roster and head coach, Memphis should return everybody, and Tulsa's pretty young, as you mention. I could definitely see 3-4 teams in the AAC being ranked next year.