American Athletic Conference (AAC): Central Florida Knights, Cincinnati Bearcats, Connecticut (UCONN) Huskies, Eastern Carolina Pirates, Houston Cougars, Memphis Tigers, South Florida (USF) Bulls, Southern Methodist University (SMU) Mustangs, Temple Owls, Tulane Wave, Tulsa Golden Dragons.
Now that the regular season title has been claimed it's time to focus on the college basketball conference tournament for the AAC, which is sure to have a huge impact on the NCAA tournament seeding. The tournament action take place March 12-15, taking place at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
The American Athletic Conference, better known as the AAC, crowned their 2014-15 regular-season champions, Southern Methodist University (SMU) on Sunday, March 8, after defeating the Tulsa 67-62. This is the Mustangs' first conference title in 22 years.
In 2014, the road to the National Championship began in the AAC tournament for the reigning National Champion, Connecticut (UCONN) Huskies. After entering the conference tournament as the no.4 seed, the Huskies went on a run and beat Cincinnati and former-American Athletic Conference member, Louisville Cardinals, to claim the conference tournament. After winning the conference tournament UCONN was able to position themselves as 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they continued their run and shocking the world as they defeated the no.1-overall-seed Florida Gators in the Final Four to claim a spot in the National Championship, where they would face-off against an 8-seeded Kentucky Wildcats team. After defeating Kentucky 60-54 it showed the world that it's about getting hot at the right time and that your seed in the tournament can play a huge role in how far you go. Also, I believe that it opened some eyes on this young American Athletic Conference.
The 2015 AAC tournament looks to be nothing short of amazing. The top three seeds automatically receive a first-round bye: 1. SMU; 2. Tulsa; 3. Cincinnati; The no.4-seed Temple will play the 5-seed Memphis; 6-seed UCONN plays the 11-seeded University of Southern Florida (USF) ; 7-seed Tulane will go head-to-head with 10-seeded Houston; and 8-seeded East Carolina will face-off against the 9-seed University of Central Florida (UCF).
The Favorites going into the tournament are the SMU Mustangs who finished the season with an overall record of 24-6, and conference record of 15-3. Two of their losses coming from Cincinnati, the other from UCONN. But this SMU team that is led by head coach, Larry Brown who is a tough, veteran coach. They're averaging the highest ponts per game (PPG) in the conference with 69.5, the highest shooting percetage (48%), and the highest Free throw percentage (70.6). Also, they have the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference, averaging 15.7 assist per game and just 13 turnovers per game. However, the location could play a determining factor in their success. 5 of their 6 losses have come on the road.
The team that may be the scariest to face are the Cincinnati Bearcats. After having some struggles through the season- losing head coach, Mick Cronin due to illness, having offensive struggles, and going on a 3-game losing skid in February- they managed to end the season with a 5-game winning steak. three of which were road game. With a top-10 defense and their offense catching fire as of late, this Cincinnati team could make a run similar to the 2014 UCONN team. The major downfall to this Cincinnati team is that they are still extremely young, with only one senior, Jermaine Sanders, on the team. But what they're lacking in age they've seemed to make up for with heart and a great deal of basketball intelligence.This Cincinnati looks a lot different than it has in years' past, there's no dominant scorer, and that can be a defensive headache for opposing teams. Any player get hot on any given night. In the last two games, Guard, Farad Cobb has an average of 19 PPG, with a phenomenal field-goal-percentage of 62, including 54% in three-point field goals. Interim coach, Larry David has done a great job with this team, he's even receiving consideration for the Conference Coach of The Year, after finishing the season with a record of 22-9 (13-5 in conference play).
Other Teams To Watch:
Tulsa- They are extremely tough on the defensive side of the ball and finished second in the conference, behind SMU. Their biggest downfall, however, has been the lack of quality wins. This season they are 0-3 against ranked teams. I'm not really sold on this team to win in a tournament that's not on their home court.
Temple- This team struggled at times through the season, especially early on. One thing they have, however, is quality wins. They defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, who at the time were ranked the no.9 team in the country, by 25 points. Also, they had a 20-point victory over Cincinnati this season. When this team gets hot, they're blazing and this could be a dangerous 4-seed in the tournament. Remember, UCONN pulled it off last year. The biggest downfall of this team is they "live and die" by the three-pointer, at times.
UCONN- With senior guard, Ryan Boatright who is the leading scorer in the conference, averaging nearly 18 PPG. And head coach, Kevin Ollie, this team will be tough to beat. Despite having a rough year, finishing the season 17-13 (10-8 in conference play), this team still has the experience and championship pedigree to make a run, like they did in 2014. They're the reigning national champions, you can't count them out just yet.
The AAC tournament looks to be one of the best in the country, there's a lot riding on this tournament for some of these teams ... For some, this tournament will mean nothing but the difference between a 6- or 7-seed in the NCAA men's national tournament. For others it could mean the difference between an invitation to play in the "field of 68" or playing in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT)
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