The American has had some good recent wins, some good losses, very few bad losses, and all but two teams have won 60%+ of their games thus far. As a result, AAC is back to #7 in most, but not all rankings, maintaining its status as a "Major 7" conference.

Top 10 conferences (Massey Composite)

1 Big 10
2 Big 12
3 ACC
4 BE
5 SEC
6 PAC (pun not intended)
7 AAC (41-17; .707)
8 A10
9 WCC


https://barttorvik.com./#

1 Big 10
2 Big 12
3 SEC
4 BE
5 ACC
6 PAC (pun not intended)
7 A10
8 AAC (41-17; .707)
9 WCC


Massey Composite Rankings (12/19):

3 Houston
50 SMU
57 Memphis
61 Cincinnati
74 Wichita St.
97 UCF
98 Tulsa
120 USF
136 Temple
141 ECU
187 Tulane

UPDATE:

Massey Composite Rankings (12/20):

5 Houston
51 SMU
57 Cincinnati
69 Memphis
81 Wichita St.
87 UCF
103 Tulsa
120 USF
129 ECU
151 Temple
162 Tulane

Best wins, to date:

Memphis 73, St. Mary's 56
Houston 68, Boise St. 58
Houston 64, Texas Tech
UCF 63, Auburn 55
SMU 66, Dayton 64
Houston 77, South Carolina 67
UCF 86, FSU 74

.

12/17:

USF 74, Cincinnati 71
SMU 70, ECU 55
Memphis 80, Tulane 74

12/18:

Tulsa 82, NW St. 55
Wichita State 73, Emporia St. 57

12/19:

ECU 73, JMU 64
Tulane 77, Grambling St., 65
Temple 72, NJIT 60
Cincinnati 68, Georgia 83
UCF 86, FSU 74

12/20:

Houston 88, Alcorn St. 55

.

The Temple box score contains a lot of surprises:

1. Most surprisingly, Temple started two freshman guards. They played quite a bit better than many had expected:

--Damian Dunn (RS Fr G; 37 min) 18 pts (FG 4-12; 10 FTs), 5 asts, 7 rb

--Jeremiah Williams (32 G min.) 11 pts (4-9), 4 asts, 4 rb, 2 stl, 2 blk

2. Temple's 3 other starters, all upperclassmen, averaged ~22 minutes

3. Soph. transfer PG Tai Strickland, who had shoulder surgery after a pre-season injury, was able to play 15 productive minutes.

--Few had expected him to play this early after his shoulder surgery.

4. Temple's newest player, graduate transfer G Brandon Barry - - who just joined the roster last week after completing a Dartmouth degree - - played 25 minutes in the game, despite practicing very briefly with the team. His manner on the court was described as being very "poised."

--Teammates are describing him as being a "quick study."

5. DeVondre Perry (Forward) played 32 minutes, far-surpassing his 2019-20 average of 17 mpg. Perry, who some had expected to play most of his minutes at the "3" (SF or Wing) position, played most of the NJIT game at the "4" (PF) position, due in part to the fact that one of the team's starting PFs only played 11 minutes with 4 PFs. Moorman, the other starting PF, played most of the game at the "5" (PF/C) position.

--Perry scored most of his 12 points "in the paint" - while setting a personal record of 14 rebounds - suggesting that he may be able to excel when he plays more like a traditional SF than as a "guard/wing," (e.g., Quinton Rose).

6. The Owls pulled down a total of 50 rebounds (19 by guards, 14 by F/W Perry), which far surpasses its 35.8 rpg average in 2019-20.

7. Only 18 of Temple's 72 points were scored from beyond the 3-point line. The Owls had been expected by some to thrive on 3-point shooting in 2020-21.

8. The five Owl Guards in the playing rotation played more than half (111; 55%) of the team's total of 200 minutes, and Forward (F/W) Dre Perry only played 9 minutes at the SF/Wing position. This means that Temple's Guards played 92.5% of the minutes at the PG, SG, & Wing positions in game 1.

--With five capable guards and two wing players, it appears likely that the team will run a "four guard offense" at times this season, as they did in 2019-20.

9. Freshman PF Nick Jourdain played 12 minutes, while G/W Quincy Ademokoya only made a brief (2 min.) appearance.

10. Three Owls missed the game and shoot-arounds:

--SG Khalif Battle (hamstring) is expected to play fairly soon.

--G Jahlil White (recovering from preseason knee surgery; may be able to play by mid-season).

--Sage Tolbert (Tolbert has had some knee issues stemming from last season, and coaches are conferring re. when he'll be able to play).

.
Summary:

*Although the situation may change when Battle enters the rotation, the indications from Temple's first game are that the playing time, going forward, may be allocated quite differently than might have been expected during the preseason, particularly in the back court.

*With Strickland available, and with Dunn and Williams being tapped to play 37 and 32 minutes in game 1, Temple's back court may be quite a bit deeper and more talented than expected.

*If Strickland's shoulder holds up, Temple may be able to put a former Big Ten (Wisconsin) PG on the floor for significant stretches.

*When Strickland isn't in the game, the trio of Barry, Dunn, and Williams appear able to handle the PG duties admirably (combined 11 assists in game 1).

*Temple may be a better rebounding team in 2020-21 than in 2019-20.

.

Of course, these observations must be qualified by the fact that they are based on a single game vs. a somewhat unheralded regional team, whom they beat by a modest 12 points.

Much more will be learned from the next few games, including the team's road game at Houston on the 22nd.

Great win for UCF over FSU. That win & the one over Auburn are solid OOC wins. UCF, USF & SMU have been surprisingly impressive at times, UH solid on top, Memphis & Cincy unimpressive & need to pick it up - as does the rest of the AAC.

AAC basketball is like a game of Whac-A-Mole. If only Memphis and Cincinnati lived up to their reputations and Temple too, the AAC would be a top 4-5 basketball conference this season.

(12-20-2020 05:24 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  Best wins, to date:

Memphis 73, St. Mary's 56
Houston 68, Boise St. 58
Houston 64, Texas Tech
UCF 63, Auburn 55
SMU 66, Dayton 64
Houston 77, South Carolina 67
UCF 86, FSU 74

.

12/17:

USF 74, Cincinnati 71
SMU 70, ECU 55
Memphis 80, Tulane 74

12/18:

Tulsa 82, NW St. 55
Wichita State 73, Emporia St. 57

12/19:

ECU 73, JMU 73
Tulane 77, Grambling St., 65
Temple 72, NJIT 60
Cincinnati 68, Georgia 83
UCF 86, FSU 74

I didn’t realize a bball game could end in a tie. 73-64 Pirates

SMU vs Houston is a must watch game, unless it’s too creepy for fans of other schools to watch.

. The think the schools with lower profiles (e.g., ECU and Tulane) have improved. However, it will be difficult for the AAC to improve its performance and media perception until Memphis realizes its program potential. We will keep at it.

(12-20-2020 09:38 AM)mustangxc Wrote:  AAC basketball is like a game of Whac-A-Mole. If only Memphis and Cincinnati lived up to their reputations and Temple too, the AAC would be a top 4-5 basketball conference this season.

Memphis will eventually stumble into something with the way they recruit. I am not as confident in Cincy.

(12-20-2020 09:55 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  . The think the schools with lower profiles (e.g., ECU and Tulane) have improved. However, it will be difficult for the AAC to improve its performance and media perception until Memphis realizes its program potential. We will keep at it.

Agree with the improvement at the bottom. I remember when the bottom was so bad that the RPI of a top team would often drop some after beating the snot out of a bottom of the league team. That’s truly a “no win” situation for a league. That doesn’t even consider the devastating damage to RPI an off night loss by a top team to a bottom team might do. At least now, I feel like the bottom of the league is at least “average” and no longer represents a drag on the league. That’s a huge and very welcome improvement to the AAC. We are a much better league when we avoid having any teams in that 200-300 RPI/NET range.

(12-20-2020 09:55 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  . The think the schools with lower profiles (e.g., ECU and Tulane) have improved. However, it will be difficult for the AAC to improve its performance and media perception until Memphis realizes its program potential. We will keep at it.

True. The program definitely has potential, with their excellent recruiting and their impressive defeat of St. Mary's (8-1; Massey Composite #61). They only lost their games to WKU (6-2; Massey Composite #68), VCU (6-2; Massey Composite #39), and Auburn (5-2; Massey Composite #55) by an average of 6.7 points. With a few more Q1/Q2 wins, the Tigers could become a NCAA bubble or NIT team.

The conference also needs its other former elite programs (Cincy, Wichita State, Temple, etc.) to get back on track.

If the American sends 3 teams in the 2021 NCAA tournament, it's at least conceivable that they might be Houston, SMU (5-0), and UCF (2-1; wins over Auburn and FSU).