Busting Brackets
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AAC Basketball Power Rankings: Temple, UCF, Houston in top tier

By Brian Rauf

VILLANOVA, PA - DECEMBER 05: Shizz Alston Jr. #10 and Quinton Rose #1 of the Temple Owls reacts after an offensive foul in the second half against the Villanova Wildcats at Finneran Pavilion on December 5, 2018 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the Temple Owls 69-59. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
VILLANOVA, PA - DECEMBER 05: Shizz Alston Jr. #10 and Quinton Rose #1 of the Temple Owls reacts after an offensive foul in the second half against the Villanova Wildcats at Finneran Pavilion on December 5, 2018 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the Temple Owls 69-59. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 22: DaQuan Jeffries #2 of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane dunks against the Nevada Wolf Pack during the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 22, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nevada defeated Tulsa 96-86. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 22: DaQuan Jeffries #2 of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane dunks against the Nevada Wolf Pack during the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 22, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nevada defeated Tulsa 96-86. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /

6) Tulsa Golden Hurricane (12-7, 2-4)
LW: 5

The Golden Hurricane hold quality non-conference wins over the likes of Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and Dayton, and they’ve backed up those victories with wins over South Florida and UConn in conference play. They were also two points away from upsetting UCF on the road and lost to Cincinnati in overtime, so we know they can play at a high level.

However, they were also blown out by Houston and suffered a 20-point loss at SMU, which is one of the more puzzling results from AAC play so far.

Head coach Frank Haith uses a balanced and deep rotation, and several different players contribute as a result. That said, without a true on-court go-to guy, we’ve seen them struggle late in close games.

5) Memphis Tigers (12-6, 4-1)
LW: 10

Memphis was not supposed to be good this year and, for a while, it didn’t look like they would be after starting 5-5.

Now, the Tigers have won seven of their last eight games and don’t have a bad loss on their resume.

New head coach Penny Hardaway is taking advantage of Memphis’ super athletic roster by playing at one of the fastest paces in the country and that style, coupled with their high-pressure defense, makes them a real pain to play against.

Of course, Memphis has benefitted from some weak competition to this point – their four wins have been over the bottom four teams in these rankings. We’ll find out if they’re for real this week when they face Temple on Thursday and UCF on Saturday.