Busting Brackets
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AAC Basketball Tournament: Houston and Cincinnati favored

By Jason Burgess

HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 07: (L-R) Fabian White Jr. #35, Dejon Jarreau #13, Nate Hinton #11 and Armoni Brooks #3 of the Houston Cougars look on in the closing moments of the game at Fertitta Center on March 07, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 07: (L-R) Fabian White Jr. #35, Dejon Jarreau #13, Nate Hinton #11 and Armoni Brooks #3 of the Houston Cougars look on in the closing moments of the game at Fertitta Center on March 07, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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Houston has been the class of AAC basketball all season. Can the Cougars finish the season by taking home the tournament title?

For much of the season, AAC basketball had the best team in the country that nobody was talking about, the Houston Cougars. It seems as though not much was thought of the 13-0 start that Kelvin Sampson’s team got off to early in the season, despite having wins over BYU, Oregon, LSU, and Utah State. Well, Houston finished the regular season 29-2, with the only losses coming at Temple and at home to Central Florida.

However, Houston was unable to run away with the regular-season title. By virtue of their win at Cincinnati in the regular-season finale, the Cougars earned a season sweep of Cincinnati and the title by two games. Houston may be the top cat heading into the tournament but they aren’t the heaviest of favorites.

Cincinnati will be looking to take home the trophy for the second straight year, but Central Florida and Temple have already proven they have the chops to take down Houston, so they as well would like a say in who earns the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Speaking of the Big Dance, the AAC is hoping to have a better showing in the tournament than they did last season.

The three teams the conference sent to the tournament were in the middle of all the early-round drama, and none of it was good. Wichita State was knocked off in the first round by No. 13 Marshall, both Houston and Cincinnati was beaten in the second round, by a Michigan buzzer beater and a cinderella Loyola respectively. Before getting to that tournament, however, teams must perform well in the conference tournament.