Busting Brackets
Fansided

AAC Basketball Power Rankings: Two clear tiers emerge nearly a month into the season

ByBrian Rauf|
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley reacts as the Connecticut Huskies bench celebrates after the Huskies rebound in the first half of the game against Syracuse Orange during the 2k Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley reacts as the Connecticut Huskies bench celebrates after the Huskies rebound in the first half of the game against Syracuse Orange during the 2k Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
1 of 7
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 25: Penny Hardaway, head coach of the Memphis Tigers, watches the action during the game against the Charleston Cougars at HP Field House on November 25, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 25: Penny Hardaway, head coach of the Memphis Tigers, watches the action during the game against the Charleston Cougars at HP Field House on November 25, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

The AAC has proven to have better teams than expected – but several teams have also been worse than expected, creating two clear tiers in the standings.

This has been a good news-bad news situation for the American early on this season.

The good news? The teams in the conference that were expected to be good have delivered and a few we weren’t sure about have been pleasant surprises. UConn looks like an NCAA Tournament team a year sooner than expected under head coach Dan Hurley, Houston hasn’t missed a beat following Rob Gray’s departure, and Tulsa is kind of decent maybe!

The bad news? The bottom teams in the conference are bad and a number of others have underachieved. Memphis is very clearly at least a year away under new head coach Penny Hardaway and SMU and Wichita State, perennial tournament teams this decade, are a combined 7-6 on the year.

As a result, there are two clear tiers of teams in the AAC. There are those that are rebuilding and clearly don’t have a chance at making the Big Dance while the other teams should be in barring epic collapses or injury.

So, which programs are in which tier and how do they all stack up against each other at this point in the season? Let’s get into this week’s Power Rankings.