It appears that 2020-21 will be one of the less successful seasons for the AAC, unless 3 teams make their way into the NCAA tournament.

This raises the question - what has the overall trajectory been for the AAC, as represented by the top four teams in the conference from year to year?

AAC teams that played in the NCAA, NIT, and finished in the AP Top 25:

.................NCAA tourney.....NIT....NCAA or NIT..........Final AP Top 25

2013-14...........2(+4)~..........1...........3(+3)~.................1(+3)~

Louisville departs (to ACC); Tulsa, Tulane, & ECU join AAC.......

2014-15...........2(+1)~.........2(+1)~....4(+2)~................1(+1)~

2015-16...........3(+2)~.........1............4(+2)~.................1(+1)~

2016-17...........2(+1)~..........2.............4(+2)~................2(+1)~

Wichita State joins AAC...................................................

2017-18...........3.................1...............4.......................3

2018-19...........4.................2...............6.......................2

2019-20........NA(2-3?)~.....NA(1-2?)~....3-4?....................1

Connecticut departs (to BEC)..........................................

2020-21...........2?.................2?............3-4?...................1 (likely)

~Louisville,^* UConn,^* and Wichita St.^* played in the 2014 NCAA tournament and finished in the Final AP Top 25. Tulsa played in the 2014 NCAA tournament, but was still in C-USA.

~ Wichita St.^* played in the 2015 NCAA tournament and finished in the Final AP Top 25; UConn played in the 2015 NCAA tournament.

~ Wichita St.^* and Connecticut^ played in the 2016 NCAA tournament; Wichita St. finished in the Final AP Top 25.

~ Wichita St.^* played in the 2017 NCAA tournament and finished in the Final AP Top 25.

~ The 2020 NCAA and NIT tournaments were canceled, due to pandemic.

^ Played in NCAA tournament

* Finished season in Final AP Top 25

.

.

Massey Composite Rankings

2020-21 (current):

#6 Houston (NET: #6) (^* expected; 1 LIKELY TEAM IN FINAL TOP 25)
#49 Memphis (NET: #61)
#50 SMU (NET: #59)..........................3 top 50 teams, currently
.
#57 Wichita St. (NET: #68)

NOTE: Wichita State is now listed as the top team under the (NCAA bubble) category of "Other At-Larges," which often translates into "first four (or next four) out."

For example, the Shockers are now projected to be an 11 seed by CBS Sports' Jerry Palm (https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...etology/), and Joe Lunardi now projects WSU as a 12 seed (https://twitter.com/ESPNLunardi?ref_src=...5Eauthor).

The Shockers only got 4 votes before beating Houston, but now has 63 votes (i.e., 63 out of 111 bracketologies surveyed now include Wichita State, with an average projected seed of 11.67).

They are close behind UConn (78 votes, average projected seed of 11.44) in the projected seedings.

2019-20: (NO NCAA TOURNAMENT; 1 TEAM IN FINAL AP TOP 25)

#18 Houston*
#33 WSU
#44 Cincy.........................3 top 50 teams (1 of 3 is in the top 30)
.
#53 Memphis

2018-19: (4 NCAA TEAMS; 2 TEAMS IN FINAL AP TOP 25)

#10 Houston^*
#22 Cincy^*
#28 UCF^....................3 top 50 teams (all 3 in the top 30)
.
#56 Memphis
(#57 Temple^)

2017-18: (3 NCAA TEAMS; 3 TEAMS IN FINAL AP TOP 25)

#6 Cincy^*
#18 Houston^*
#19 WSU^*..................3 top 50 teams (all 3 in the top 30)
.
#85 Temple

2016-17: (2 NCAA TEAMS; 2 TEAMS IN FINAL AP TOP 25)

#14 SMU^*.......3 NCAA teams from current AAC schools
(#16 Wichita St.^* was still in the MVC)
#17 Cincy^*
..............3 top 50 teams from current AAC schools (all 3 in the top 30)
#56 Houston
#64 UCF

2015-16: (4 NCAA TEAMS; 1 TEAM IN FINAL AP TOP 25)

#17 SMU*.......5 NCAA teams from current AAC schools
(#24 Wichita St.^* was still in the MVC)
(#29 UConn^ is now in the BEC)
#40 Cincy^
...............3 top 50 teams from current AAC schools (2 in the top 30)
#65 Houston
#66 Tulsa^
(#71 Temple^)

2014-15: (2 NCAA TEAMS; 1 TEAMS IN FINAL AP TOP 25)

(Wichita St.^* was #13, but was still in the MVC)
#24 SMU^*.............3 NCAA teams from current AAC schools
#42 Cincy^
#50 Temple
..................4 top 50 teams from current AAC schools (2 in the top 30)
#69 Tulsa

2013-14: (2 NCAA TEAMS; 1 TEAM IN FINAL AP TOP 25)

(#6 UConn^* moved to the BEC)
(#4 Louisville^* (#5 AP) moved to the ACC)
(#5 Wichita St.^* (#2 AP) was still in the MVC)
#19 Cincy^*.......3 NCAA teams from current AAC schools
#32 Memphis^ (AP Top 25 on 3/10/14)
#34 SMU (AP Top 25 on 3/10/14)
..................4 top 50 teams from current AAC schools (2 in the top 30)
#126 Houston

.....................................................................................................

Historical trends:

Among the 11 current AAC schools, there were 4 top 50 teams in the Massey Composite rankings at the end of every season in 2013-14 and 2014-15. Since then (2015-16 through 2019-20), there have been only 3 teams in the top 50 by season's end.

However, those 3 top 50 teams from among the 11 current AAC schools happened - in each case - to be ranked in the top 30 of the Massey Composite rankings (an improvement, since there had been fewer in 2013-14 and 2014-15).

Over half (11/21) of the NCAA appearances by teams representing the current AAC schools, since the inception of the conference, have been made by Cincinnati and Wichita State.

Two-thirds (20/30) of the combined NCAA and NIT appearances by teams representing the current AAC schools, since the inception of the conference, have been made by Cincinnati, Wichita State, Houston, and Temple.

The three best seasons for the 11 current AAC teams - as a group - on the basis of tournament appearances and final AP Top 25 teams were: 2015-16, 2017-18, and 2018-19.

Over half (11/21) of the NCAA appearances by teams representing the current AAC schools, since the inception of the conference, have been made by Cincinnati and Wichita State.

Two-thirds (20/30) of the combined NCAA and NIT appearances by teams representing the current AAC schools, since the inception of the conference, have been made by Cincinnati, Wichita State, Houston, and Temple.

The three best seasons for the 11 current AAC teams - as a group - on the basis of tournament appearances and final AP Top 25 teams were: 2015-16, 2017-18, and 2018-19.

2013-14 had louisville--that year doesn't count

besides that your entire comp is flawed.... your thread doesnt answer your thread title

your thread answer has the "top of our league" improved... ignoring anything outside of the top 50/ranked top 25/ncaa tourney (68 teams)..when there are 350 teams is very narrow and flawed

from 2014 to now.. the top has clearly gotten worse
from 2014 to now, our entire league has gotten better

we gone from 3 elite teams and no depth...to tons of depth and 1 elite team

also we should have had 3 more bids... smu was post season banned on a tourney year, and was the "official 1st team out" a different year.. temple was the official "1st team out" the following year .... if we are talking ncaa caliber teams i consider those 3 team ncaa calibur

(02-23-2021 08:19 PM)pesik Wrote:  from 2014 to now.. the top has clearly gotten worse

from 2014 to now, our entire league has gotten better

we gone from 3 elite teams and no depth...to tons of depth and 1 elite team

It does seem that the conference's basketball fortunes peaked in 2017-18 and 2018-19, with respect to the upper tier of the AAC, and one could say that things have gone downhill to some extent for the upper echelon programs over the past two years.

However, there's a caveat - - the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons have been adversely affected by Covid and by coaching transitions/issues in three of the four programs that have played in the most NCAA/NIT tournaments since 2013-14 (Cincy, Temple, & WSU).

Comparisons of 2020-21 data with numbers from from prior seasons are bound to be problematic "apples-to-oranges" comparisons - - particularly since some AAC teams have played very few OOC games.

It will be interesting to see if things improve next season, or if it will take more than one additional season to get things back on the right track. The only program that I follow closely is Temple, and they should/could be quite a bit more competitive next season, due to the addition of up to 3 new players (2 freshmen (one of which has "blown up" in his Senior HS year, one likely transfer (TBD)), 2 very capable redshirt players, and several freshmen who could make a leap forward during their sophomore year.

Helpfully, both Jerry Palm and Joe Lunardi now have Wichita State in their bracketologies, albeit as an #11 or #12 seed, so it's certainly possible that the AAC could have 2 NCAA teams and 2 NIT teams (if the NIT isn't canceled).

One of the problems, with regard to the competitiveness of the AAC, is that only 6 of the 11 current schools have managed to play in 3+ NCAA or NIT tournaments since 2014.

Tournament appearances by current AAC schools since 2013-14:

.......................NCAA.........NIT.......Total

Cincinnati............6...........0.............6

Wichita St............5............1............6

Houston...............2...........2.............4

Temple................2...........2.............4

SMU....................2...........1.............3

Tulsa...................2...........1.............3

Memphis..............1...........1.............2

UCF....................1...........1..............2

ECU....................0...........0..............0

Tulane................0...........0..............0

USF....................0...........0..............0

.....................................................................................................

If the success of the conference in 2018-19 (4 NCAA & 2 NIT bids) represents a "ceiling" for the American, the only way for the conference to be able to send more than 5 teams to future tournaments might be to add 1 or more upper echelon BB/olympic schools from other conferences.

Some of those most likely to be considered:

Schools in the AAC's geographical footprint:

NET/Team/W-L...............NCAA.........NIT........Total

#35 VCU (17-5)...............5.............0............5 (A-10)

#79 Dayton^ (12-7).........4.............1............5 (A-10)

#67 Buffalo (18-6)............4.............0............4 (MAC)

#48 St. Louis (11-4).........2.............2............4 (A-10)

#99 URI (10-13)...............2.............1...........3 (A-10)

#281 MTSU (4-13)............2.............1............3 (C-USA)

#221 GW (4-9).................1.............2^.........3 (A-10)

#38St.Bonaventure(11-3)..1.............1............2 (A-10)

#89 UAB (16-5)...............1.............1............2 (C-USA)

#137 ODU (11-6)..............1.............1............2 (C-USA)

#182 Louisiana (11-6)........1.............1...........2 (Sun Belt)

^ GW won the 2016 NIT Championship

^ Dayton advanced to the 2014 NCAA Elite Eight.
.

Small colleges & universities in/near the conference footprint that might be considered:

#161 Iona (8-5)...............4.............2............6 (MAAC)

#78 Davidson (12-7).........2.............3............5 (A-10)

#63 Belmont (23-1)..........2*............3...........5 (OVC)

#101 Vermont (10-4)........2..............2............4 (America East)

#274 FGCU (7-6)..............2..............2............4 (ASUN)

#167 Murray St. (11-10)....2.............1............3 (OVC)

#202 N. Kentucky (13-10)..2..............1............3 (Horizon)

#110 Wofford (12-8)..........2.............0............2 (SoCon)

#11 Loyola^ (IL.; 17-4).......1.............1............2 (MVC)

#308 Robert Morris (3-14)....1.............1............2 (Horizon)

*Belmont also qualified to play in the 2020 NCAA tournament.

^ Loyola (IL) advanced to the 2018 NCAA Final Four.
.

Distant BB/olympic schools that might be considered:

#1 Gonzaga^ (22-0).........6............0............6 (WCC)

#239 New Mexico St (3-6).5............1............6 (WAC)

#70 St. Mary's (12-7)........2............4............6 (WCC)

#21 BYU (16-5)................2............3............5 (WCC)

#24 SDSU (16-4).............3.............1............4 (MWC)

#102 Nevada (13-7)..........3.............0...........3 (MWC)

#32 Boise St. (17-4).........1.............2............3 (MWC)


^ Gonzaga was the 2017 National Runner-Up in the NCAA Tournament.
.

Over the course of our history we've either been the worst major conference or the best mid-major. The ambiguity of our status (major v mid-major) has made it difficult to properly judge this league. I think UConn's departure seals our fate as a mid-major. Imo, thats both good and and bad. On the one hand it will hurt the perception of the league over the coming years but on the other it will make our accomplishments stand out even more. In reality though the only thing changing is perception. As our relative position in the national landscape won't actually change. We'll still be the 7th best league.

(02-23-2021 10:39 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  Over the course of our history we've either been the worst major conference or the best mid-major. The ambiguity of our status (major v mid-major) has made it difficult to properly judge this league. I think UConn's departure seals our fate as a mid-major. Imo, thats both good and and bad. On the one hand it will hurt the perception of the league over the coming years but on the other it will make our accomplishments stand out even more. In reality though the only thing changing is perception. As our relative position in the national landscape won't actually change. We'll still be the 7th best league.

This is a possibility, but as long as the AAC remains the 7th best league, it will be considered one of the "Major 7" conferences.

The A-10, MWC, and WCC are in the best position to move ahead of the AAC, but the American remains the #7 conference due to the improvements to the lower-tier AAC programs.

The MWC is projected to send as many as 3-4 teams to the 2021 NCAA.

The WCC is projected to have two teams with seeds of #8 or higher.

The A-10 has 3 top 50 NET teams and 4 NCAA bubble teams.

.

Dropping from the Major 7 would hurt recruiting and national perception a great deal, and it's possible that the American would begin to be referred to as a "Mid-Major" basketball program at that point. However, as long as the American is able to maintain its status as the top G5 B conference with 2+ top 25 teams, it might continue to be referred to as a "major" CFB conference, assuming that it continues to be much more similar to the PAC-12 than it is to the MAC. Unfortunately, from that standpoint, the AAC had a subpar year in 2020, with only 2 top 25 teams, and there were 6 other non-P5 teams in the top 25.

Needless to say, dropping down to "Mid-Major" status would undermine the conference in every way (e.g., recruiting, ability to hire great coaching talent), and it would reduce its revenue-generating potential going forward.

.

It's not quite a crisis situation yet, but the AAC has had a bad year, overall. This might give the conference Presidents the motivation that they need to make a strategic move to keep the "P6" project on track.

It's a much stronger FB than BB conference, and it would make a great deal of sense to give the AAC a boost by bringing aboard one of the highest-quality BB schools, such as VCU.

Commissioner Aresco has given plenty of signals recently that he is determined to move the conference toward P6 status, and that he is confident that this goal will be attained. The effort to bring Boise State aboard was an indication that he's prepared to take bold action.

If the conference is going to make a move, it might be announced in the Spring, after the NCAA tournament, or in mid-summer, after the end of the school year.

(02-23-2021 11:17 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(02-23-2021 10:39 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  Over the course of our history we've either been the worst major conference or the best mid-major. The ambiguity of our status (major v mid-major) has made it difficult to properly judge this league. I think UConn's departure seals our fate as a mid-major. Imo, thats both good and and bad. On the one hand it will hurt the perception of the league over the coming years but on the other it will make our accomplishments stand out even more. In reality though the only thing changing is perception. As our relative position in the national landscape won't actually change. We'll still be the 7th best league.

This is a possibility, but as long as the AAC remains the 7th best league, it will be considered one of the "Major 7" conferences.

The A-10, MWC, and WCC are in the best position to move ahead of the AAC, but the American remains the #7 conference due to the improvements to the lower-tier AAC programs.

The MWC is projected to send as many as 3-4 teams to the 2021 NCAA.

The WCC is projected to have two teams with seeds of #8 or higher.

The A-10 has 3 top 50 NET teams and 4 NCAA bubble teams.

.

Dropping from the Major 7 would hurt recruiting and national perception a great deal, and it's possible that the American would begin to be referred to as a "Mid-Major" basketball program at that point. However, as long as the American is able to maintain its status as the top G5 B conference with 2+ top 25 teams, it might continue to be referred to as a "major" CFB conference, assuming that it continues to be much more similar to the PAC-12 than it is to the MAC. Unfortunately, from that standpoint, the AAC had a subpar year in 2020, with only 2 top 25 teams, and there were 6 other non-P5 teams in the top 25.

Needless to say, dropping down to "Mid-Major" status would undermine the conference in every way (e.g., recruiting, ability to hire great coaching talent), and it would reduce its revenue-generating potential going forward.

.

It's not quite a crisis situation yet, but the AAC has had a bad year, overall. This might give the conference Presidents the motivation that they need to make a strategic move to keep the "P6" project on track.

It's a much stronger FB than BB conference, and it would make a great deal of sense to give the AAC a boost by bringing aboard one of the highest-quality BB schools, such as VCU.

Commissioner Aresco has given plenty of signals recently that he is determined to move the conference toward P6 status, and that he is confident that this goal will be attained. The effort to bring Boise State aboard was an indication that he's prepared to take bold action.

If the conference is going to make a move, it might be announced in the Spring, after the NCAA tournament, or in mid-summer, after the end of the school year.

It would only be dropping to mid-major status in some peoples minds. A sizeable percentage, if not majority of fans, have always considered the AAC to be mid-major. As for talking about the number of bids by other mid-major leagues, lets see those leagues do that in a real year.

Edit: And by "that" I mean outperform us.

(02-23-2021 11:32 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(02-23-2021 11:17 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(02-23-2021 10:39 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  Over the course of our history we've either been the worst major conference or the best mid-major. The ambiguity of our status (major v mid-major) has made it difficult to properly judge this league. I think UConn's departure seals our fate as a mid-major. Imo, thats both good and and bad. On the one hand it will hurt the perception of the league over the coming years but on the other it will make our accomplishments stand out even more. In reality though the only thing changing is perception. As our relative position in the national landscape won't actually change. We'll still be the 7th best league.

This is a possibility, but as long as the AAC remains the 7th best league, it will be considered one of the "Major 7" conferences.

The A-10, MWC, and WCC are in the best position to move ahead of the AAC, but the American remains the #7 conference due to the improvements to the lower-tier AAC programs.

The MWC is projected to send as many as 3-4 teams to the 2021 NCAA.

The WCC is projected to have two teams with seeds of #8 or higher.

The A-10 has 3 top 50 NET teams and 4 NCAA bubble teams.

.

Dropping from the Major 7 would hurt recruiting and national perception a great deal, and it's possible that the American would begin to be referred to as a "Mid-Major" basketball program at that point. However, as long as the American is able to maintain its status as the top G5 B conference with 2+ top 25 teams, it might continue to be referred to as a "major" CFB conference, assuming that it continues to be much more similar to the PAC-12 than it is to the MAC. Unfortunately, from that standpoint, the AAC had a subpar year in 2020, with only 2 top 25 teams, and there were 6 other non-P5 teams in the top 25.

Needless to say, dropping down to "Mid-Major" status would undermine the conference in every way (e.g., recruiting, ability to hire great coaching talent), and it would reduce its revenue-generating potential going forward.

.

It's not quite a crisis situation yet, but the AAC has had a bad year, overall. This might give the conference Presidents the motivation that they need to make a strategic move to keep the "P6" project on track.

It's a much stronger FB than BB conference, and it would make a great deal of sense to give the AAC a boost by bringing aboard one of the highest-quality BB schools, such as VCU.

Commissioner Aresco has given plenty of signals recently that he is determined to move the conference toward P6 status, and that he is confident that this goal will be attained. The effort to bring Boise State aboard was an indication that he's prepared to take bold action.

If the conference is going to make a move, it might be announced in the Spring, after the NCAA tournament, or in mid-summer, after the end of the school year.

It would only be dropping to mid-major status in some peoples minds. A sizeable percentage, if not majority of fans, have always considered the AAC to be mid-major. As for talking about the number of bids by other mid-major leagues, lets see those leagues do that in a real year.

Edit: And by "that" I mean outperform us.

True, they'll have to outperform the American in a real year to take the #7 spot.

The more snobbish P5 fans and some other CFB fans may consider the American to be mid-major, but ESPN and other sports commentators haven't applied that term to the American in recent years, and most people seem to regard the conference as being in between the P5 and other G5 conferences. In FB, it's because we've generally had more ranked teams than the other conferences, and in BB, it's because we've sent more teams to the NCAA than any non-P5 conference but the Big East.

Do we need this thread right now? Why don't wait until the current season is over. A lot of moving pieces going on right now.

(02-23-2021 11:57 PM)Memphis Yankee Wrote:  Do we need this thread right now? Why don't wait until the current season is over. A lot of moving pieces going on right now.

We'll see if the thread generates enough interest to stick around. It will be up to the users to decide, as always.

I have expressed many thoughts regarding this in the past and will add some tonight (headed to the salt pit).

But in a general sense ... the AAC in men's basketball has declined a bit overall the past few years. And it's troubling.

(02-22-2021 08:46 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  It appears that 2020-21 will be one of the less successful seasons for the AAC, unless 3 teams make their way into the NCAA tournament.

This raises the question - what has the overall trajectory been for the AAC, as represented by the top four teams in the conference from year to year?

AAC teams that played in the NCAA, NIT, and finished in the AP Top 25:

.................NCAA tourney.....NIT....NCAA or NIT..........Final AP Top 25

2013-14...........2(+4)~..........1...........3(+3)~.................1(+3)~

Louisville departs (to ACC); Tulsa, Tulane, & ECU join AAC.......

2014-15...........2(+1)~.........2(+1)~....4(+2)~................1(+1)~

2015-16...........3(+2)~.........1............4(+2)~.................1(+1)~

2016-17...........2(+1)~..........2.............4(+2)~................2(+1)~

Wichita State joins AAC...................................................

2017-18...........3.................1...............4.......................3

2018-19...........4.................2...............6.......................2

2019-20........NA(2-3?)~.....NA(1-2?)~....3-4?....................1

Connecticut departs (to BEC)..........................................

2020-21...........2?.................2?............3-4?...................1 (likely)

~Louisville,^* UConn,^* and Wichita St.^* played in the 2014 NCAA tournament and finished in the Final AP Top 25. Tulsa played in the 2014 NCAA tournament, but was still in C-USA.

~ Wichita St.^* played in the 2015 NCAA tournament and finished in the Final AP Top 25; UConn played in the 2015 NCAA tournament.

~ Wichita St.^* and Connecticut^ played in the 2016 NCAA tournament; Wichita St. finished in the Final AP Top 25.

~ Wichita St.^* played in the 2017 NCAA tournament and finished in the Final AP Top 25.

~ The 2020 NCAA and NIT tournaments were canceled, due to pandemic.

^ Played in NCAA tournament

* Finished season in Final AP Top 25

.

I believe the product has improved and the strength of the conference has improved but the perception of AAC basketball has diminished because the media and so called "experts" are hellbent on pushing that ESPiN false narrative.

(02-22-2021 08:46 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  It appears that 2020-21 will be one of the less successful seasons for the AAC, unless 3 teams make their way into the NCAA tournament.

FWIW, I think this has been the best AAC season in the past several, and especially relative to the competition - for the first time, the AAC is better than the Big East, for example.

I think the AAC is underrated, and expect AAC teams that make the tournament to do better than their seedings predict. The quality of play in the league has been good this year overall (even my often dreadful USF isn't dreadful, far from it), and at the top Houston is a genuine Elite 8 maybe even Final Four threat.

I agree with those who complain about perceptions - the AAC has had several bad years, and because of that, it is not getting the respect it should for the good year it is having right now.

Nice to get three AAC teams invited to the NCAA tournament, but if only Houston wins their first tournament game, what does that say about the AAC?

The addition of White has definitely strengthened Houston’s team. Looking forward to seeing their draw in the first round, and likely draw in the second round.

I believe we have 3 NCAA worthy teams and possibly 2 NIT worthy teams...

but under the cover of COVID-19 only Houston will participate in post season and a ton of unworthy losers from the privileged conferences will be in in the NCAA and NIT similar to what happened in football.

The Conference is worse right now than it has ever been at the top (other than Houston who is in the discussion for best team we've seen in the conference's short history).

The Conference is better at the bottom than it has been but not enough to make up for the weakness at the top.

The Conference is about the same in the middle.

All of which is to say, the conference is probably about the same overall, but the top matters more than the rest so I feel worse about the conference now than ever before.

(02-24-2021 11:50 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  The Conference is worse right now than it has ever been at the top (other than Houston who is in the discussion for best team we've seen in the conference's short history).

The Conference is better at the bottom than it has been but not enough to make up for the weakness at the top.

The Conference is about the same in the middle.

All of which is to say, the conference is probably about the same overall, but the top matters more than the rest so I feel worse about the conference now than ever before.

This year is just more of the same. Its been the same issue from the outset---the teams expected to be the bell cows are not doing the bell cow thing. The league was expected to be be led by UConn, Cinci, Memphis, and perhaps Temple. Of those, only Cinci has been performing as expected. Yes, Cinci's down this year, but one bad season out of nine is all you can ask for in terms of performance. They pulled their share of the load and more.

On the other hand, outside of their first year, UConn has not been what we hoped they would have been---then they left. Memphis basketball has performed far below expectations. Temple has been up and down---but mostly down. So, its the key programs that we hoped would lead the way that have struggled more than expected.

That said, the top of the league got a shot in the arm with the Wichita addition.
The Shockers have been pretty solid. Furthermore, the middle of the league has developed into some decent teams---Houston, SMU, UCF, Tulsa, and USF--have all contributed NCAA bids. The bottom has also firmed up and is now respectable---no longer a heavy anchor on the rest of the conference.

At this point, its about Cinci, Memphis, and Temple getting well. I'm still of the mind that adding a top quality heavy hitter basketball program to replace the basketball strength lost when UConn exited the league should be a priority. If I had my druthers, Id add VCU as a non-football member yesterday. Dayton could be an option of VCU is not interested. We need one more heavy hitter basketball program to shore up the top of the league. Otherwise---its a darn good basketball league---and will be a great basketball league once Memphis and Cinci are rolling again.

Though I find the AAC very average this year (if not below average), I could say the same about most other leagues, too. The SEC, ACC, Big East and Pac-12 are so-so, also.

Not a good year for college hoops in some respects.

I do agree with the posters who note the American has nice balance this season. That's a positive.