AAC Basketball: Breaking down the NCAA Tournament hopefuls

With non-conference play over, several AAC basketball teams have put themselves in a position to make a run at an at-large bid this season.

2018 has started and it is time to look towards the future as fans of college basketball. With that being said, making the postseason is one of the ultimate goals for every team in the nation. Alas, only 68 teams hear their name called on Selection Sunday and that is a special feeling for both those teams and their fans.

Since its inception in 2013-14, the American Athletic Conference has been excluded from discussions of being a Power 6 conference. However, I do not think that this is fair, especially this season. With the inclusion of Wichita State, the conference now has two teams that have shown to be extremely competitive in recent years with Wichita State and Cincinnati.

Add in the fact that Connecticut is just a few years removed from winning a national championship and this is clearly a top-8 league in the country. Considering the AAC’s reputation for sending multiple teams to the Big Dance, I think it is the time that the conference is recognized as one of the best. The AAC may never be on the same level as the “Power 6,” but is certainly a high major league.

For this season, in particular, I think that there are six teams from the conference that will be fighting for at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. It is possible that another squad makes a big run to get into consideration but these are the top six. Let’s take a look at each and where their resume stands.

All Bracketology seeds are updated as of Jan. 1. For the full projected bracket, see here.

Wichita State Shockers: 11-2 (1-0)

Bracketology seed: 4

Wichita State has been somewhat disappointing so far this season but they are only just now getting healthy. Their leading scorer from last season, Markis McDuffie, has missed the majority of the season and only just returned. The return of McDuffie is arguably the best mid-season addition by any team in the country. With star point guard Landry Shamet running the show for head coach Gregg Marshall, the Shockers are in great shape to reach the Big Dance.

On their current resume, the Shockers have four solid wins: Marquette, South Dakota State, Oklahoma State, and Baylor. In addition, their two losses are not detrimental to their resume. Oklahoma is a top-10 team in the nation and their loss to Notre Dame came without McDuffie and while Notre Dame still had Bonzie Colson.

Cincinnati Bearcats: 12-2 (1-0)

Bracketology seed: 7

Mick Cronin once again has a quality team in Cincinnati. The Bearcats have not been tremendous this season but they should be an NCAA Tournament team. They boast a solid record through non-conference and four players are scoring in double figures. The biggest issue with the team remains the play at the point guard position but Cane Broome is coming along. They are also giving up less than 60 points per game a defense, which ranks fourth in the nation.

Their resume is also fairly solid. Much like Wichita State, the Bearcats have suffered a loss to a very good team (Xavier) and to an underachieving squad (Florida). In regards to victories, though, the team is missing a couple of high-quality wins. To this point in the year, their best win was a road victory over UCLA, a bubble team.

SMU Mustangs: 12-3 (2-0)

Bracketology seed: 7

Many thought that SMU would take a step back this season but they are doing just fine. Behind the stellar play of Shake Milton, the Mustangs have quickly risen into comfortable shape for the NCAA Tournament. In addition to their solid record, SMU’s wins continue to look better with every day. Specifically, the Mustangs were able to take advantage of catching Arizona during an off stretch and came away with a big neutral-site victory.

In addition, they have a couple of other tournament-quality wins over Boise State, USC, and UCF (more on them later). Their losses are also not too bad. The teams they lost to aren’t great, but both Western Kentucky and Northern Iowa are solid mid-major squads. It is also no big deal to fall to TCU this year.

Houston Cougars: 12-2 (2-0)

Bracketology seed: 11

Led by Rob Gray, the Houston Cougars have impressed this season. They are solid on both ends of the floor and have already moved into my projected field. While shooting over 40% from three as a team this season, the Cougars rank 29th in the nation in splashing from deep. In fact, they are so good from three and on the defensive end that they are shooting a higher percentage from three (40.1%) than they are allowing opponents to shoot from the field (39.7%).

While their road loss to LSU is not too bad, it is Houston’s neutral-site defeat at the hands of Drexel that has them ranked so low in terms of tournament teams. Nonetheless, the team can boast victories over Arkansas, Temple (more on them later), and Providence.

UCF Knights: 11-4 (2-1)

Bracketology seed: First Four Out

Behind one of the best defenses in the nation, the UCF Knights have played their way into contention for an NCAA Tournament bid early this season. Even though the team has been forced to play without B.J. Taylor for almost this entire season, they have put themselves in solid position thanks to the play of A.J. Davis and defensive anchor Tacko Fall.

When the team gets Taylor back, they will be in even better shape. As far as their resume goes, the Knights have a quality win over Alabama headlining. After that, their best calling card is that they have no bad losses. Missouri, West Virginia, St. John’s, and SMU are all either in my projected field or sitting on the fence.

Temple Owls: 7-6 (0-2)

Bracketology seed: Next Four Out

Temple is not off to a tremendously good start to this season but their strength of schedule is the best in the entire nation. The Owls have tested themselves more than anyone else and that is showing with their record right now. Nonetheless, they do hold quality wins over Clemson, Auburn, and South Carolina. They do, however, have three losses to teams outside of the RPI top-100 and that could come back to hurt them.

The three-headed scoring output of Shizz Alston Jr., Obi Enechionyia, and Quinton Rose are leading the way for the Owls. If the team is to make the NCAA Tournament, the key will just be winning games. The RPI and SOS numbers will take care of themselves given how much the team tested itself in the non-conference slate.

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This is bound to be an incredibly fun conference season for the American Athletic Conference and they could send up to five or six teams to the Big Dance. Be on the lookout for a few of these teams to make a splash in your March Madness bracket.