SEC Basketball: Georgia vs. Memphis highlights new alliance with AAC
By Neil Adler
A new partnership between SEC Basketball and The American Athletic Conference will create additional non-conference contests for schools in both leagues.
SEC Basketball and The American Athletic Conference have joined together to form a scheduling alliance that officials with the two leagues say will produce more high-quality affairs for each conference during the non-conference slate. Per a press release from the Southeastern Conference, four squads from both leagues will compete in a two-year, home-and-home series that will begin with the 2019-20 stanza.
On Dec. 8 of this year, Houston, coming off a tremendous 2018-19 campaign, will travel to South Carolina, a Final Four participant in 2017. Then, on Jan. 4, 2020, three match-ups will take place. Georgia is at Memphis, Ole Miss visits 2013 Final Four member Wichita State, and SMU heads to Vanderbilt.
In the 2019-20 version of the SEC/American Alliance, the marquee encounter is undoubtedly between the Bulldogs and the Tigers. Memphis possesses the top-rated 2019 recruiting class across all of collegiate hoops, led by five-star center James Wiseman, who is almost universally regarded as the No. 1 prospect nationally in the 2019 class.
Georgia, meanwhile, brings in its own stellar 2019 class, which is slotted in the top 10 overall by numerous recruiting services. The Bulldogs feature five-star shooting guard Anthony Edwards, who is deemed as the No. 2 player in the 2019 class. Any occasion where the top-two prospects in a particular recruiting cycle will go toe to toe is a terrific treat, in my humble opinion.
As far as pre-season projections for 2019-20, Georgia is flying a bit under the radar screen, at least for now. Memphis, on the other hand, is considered by many industry pundits as a legit top-15 crew, although the Tigers’ roster is fairly young. According to an announcement from The American Athletic Conference, Memphis and the Bulldogs will do battle for the third time in history, and for the first instance since 1996-97.
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“Men’s basketball in the SEC has been on the rise and this scheduling alliance will help to continue the growth of the sport,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in his league’s statement.
This past March, seven SEC groups received invites to the Big Dance, and four outfits from The American Athletic Conference suited up in the NCAA Tournament.