AAC Basketball: Could this be a one-bid league next season?

The AAC has been battling perception problems since the league has been created. It’ll be tested like never before next season.

For the American Athletic Conference, the goal has always been to be considered a power conference (at least in basketball). And for the most part, it’s worked. No one considers them a mid-major, and they have a few historically good programs within.

But outside of UConn winning a national title several years ago, there hasn’t been much for the AAC to celebrate. This season they brought in just three teams (Cincinnati, Wichita State, and Houston), who unfortunately couldn’t make the Sweet Sixteen. It was particularly disappointing for the Bearcats, who wouldn’t have had to face a team lower than a nine seed had they not choked against Nevada.

Taking a look at next season for the AAC, and it doesn’t look great. With the announcement that Landry Shamet is leaving for the NBA Draft, nearly 4/5 of Wichita’s offense will be gone. Star guard Rob Gray is graduating and while the Cougars have some decent transfers, they’re likely going to take a step back.

As far as the teams who missed out on the NCAA Tournament, there are plenty of questions. I think it’s safe to say that East Carolina, Tulane, South Carolina, and Tulsa aren’t likely bets to go dancing. SMU was devastated by injuries but could lose their top three players depending on player decisions. Same thing with Central Florida, who has a ton of transfers but loses the starting frontcourt.

Memphis, UConn, and Temple have enough talent to make the Big Dance but are all dealing with coaching transitions. Who knows what the rosters for the teams will look like after the hires/in-waiting hires?

The only team who retains quality players is Cincinnati, but even they lost a couple of valuable seniors. A down conference could drag them down as well.

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The AAC has some good coaches and players. But it has to be a collective effort by the 12 teams to bring the league up, rather than relying on a couple of teams. Next season will be a test of that. If not, this conference and their reputation will be straits.