College basketball season is approaching!
Between now and November 7th, we’ll take a closer look at various conferences across the country.
Today’s focus is the American Athletic Conference.
1. How many teams from the American Athletic Conference will qualify for the 2023 NCAA Tournament?
Houston feels like the only rock. The Cougars are once again set to be one of the best teams in the country under Kelvin Sampson, but all the other teams projected to head to the top of this league are confident they can really get a bid. Must prove on the floor to the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Memphis had the nucleus to hear its name called on Selection Sunday two years in a row, but when Boise State transfer Emmanuel Acott was dropped from the Tigers’ program and enrolled in Western Kentucky. Meanwhile, Cincinnati, Temple and Tulane should all be doing better than they were a year ago, but will that growth lead to multiple NCAA tournament bids to the American Athletic Conference? It all depends on how the league performs during the non-conference portion of the season in November and December.
2. Which Houston veteran is poised to become a national name?
Tramon mark. People around will say Marcus Susser, but it’s hard to say someone isn’t a national name when they score 20 in the Final Four games like Susser did against Baylor in 2021 Like Sasser, the 6-5 mark played only a handful of games last season due to injury, but the prospects of the former top 100 have been completely cleared after surgery, and he is expected to be a major player during the 2022-23 season. Should be a producer. Mark averaged 10.1 points over seven games last season, and 11.7 points in games lasting 20 minutes or more in 2020-21. This kid is a playboy.
3. Is Memphis good enough to return to the NCAA Tournament?
to be decided. Penny Hardaway deserves credit for his coaching work a year ago when he led Memphis to the second round of his NCAA Tournament in a close loss to Gonzaga. Getting back to that point is a lot of work. The Tigers lost his two key players, Jalen Duren and Lester Quinones, who scored in double figures from last season, and several other key players who averaged double-digit minutes per game. . Hardaway won the incumbent American Athletic Conference Player of the Year from SMU via the transfer portal — Kendrick Davis (19.4 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds), but lost out to Davis, DeAndre Williams (11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds). ), and veteran guard Alex Lomax (6.1 points, 4.1 assists, 3.1 rebounds) can carry this team. This feels like the least talented roster Memphis has had in the last four seasons.
4. How good are the temples?
Enough to be the best team the program has had since the Owls played their last NCAA Tournament game in 2019 under Fran Dunphy. 14.9 points) and assembled one of the most underrated backcourts in the sport. He also has a potential future star in his sophomore Zach Hicks (8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds) who is 6-7. What is your schedule outside of meetings? Temple will face Villanova, Rutgers (Mohegan Sun), VCU, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, St. John’s (Empire Classic), Syracuse or Richmond (Empire Classic) before starting league play. The Owls can put themselves in a strong position heading into his NCAA Tournament in 2023 with quality performances in November and his December.
5. Who is the sleeper?
Cincinnati. Could the Bearcats go from a team that finished eighth in the league standings to him in 2023, no doubt. Wes Miller significantly boosts Cincinnati’s roster by adding Landers Norrie (Memphis), Rob Finnishy (Indiana), Cal Ezikpe (Old Dominion), and four-star freshman guard Daniel Skillings. The Bearcats also bring back three players who averaged over 8.6 points last season: David De Julius, Jeremiah Davenport and Micah Adams Woods. Miller is positioning the program to have a strong season in his final year in the American Athletic Conference before leaving for the Big 12.
leftovers
