AAC Basketball: Preseason rankings for 2019-20 season

AAC Basketball could be wide open at the top this upcoming season. Who is most likely to finish No. 1?

The 2019-20 AAC Basketball season figures to be one of the best in league history. The conference is welcoming exciting new coaches, the top recruiting class in the country, returning players and strong rosters hungry to make deep runs in March. Almost every program in the league looks to be on an upward trajectory – some, dramatically; others are on their way back to the top.

There are plenty of big storylines heading into this season in the American, perhaps none more so than Penny Hardway’s top-ranked recruiting class which includes the top-ranked 2019 prospect and potential first overall pick in next year’s NBA draft James Wiseman. But while the national media’s attention was focused squarely on the Tigers this off-season, plenty of other programs were making major moves. Tulane, East Carolina, Temple, and Cincinnati are all being led by first-year head coaches, South Florida suddenly has a roster ready to compete, and Kelvin Sampson landed former top-ten prospect and Kansas transfer Quentin Grimes to join a Houston program that will be contending for league titles for the foreseeable future.

Major contributors like reigning player of the year Jarron Cumberland, Dejon Jarreau, Quinton Rose, and Laquincy Rideau are back, being joined by talented newcomers like Wiseman, Precious Achiuwa, Akok Akok, Tyson Jolly. The conference is as good as it ever has been, and shows no signs of slowing down the overall improvement it’s been making since it was founded.

But we’re here to cut through all the hype and break down the league heading into the 2019-2020 season. For the final year with UConn’s impending exit, we’ve ranked the twelve teams of AAC Basketball from worst to first.