Busting Brackets
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AAC Basketball Power Rankings: Memphis holds top spot, Cincinnati Struggles

By Ben Andreatta

ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 11: The AAC Championship trophy to be presented to the Cincinnati Bearcats after the final game of the 2018 AAC Basketball Championship against Houston Cougars at Amway Center on March 11, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 11: The AAC Championship trophy to be presented to the Cincinnati Bearcats after the final game of the 2018 AAC Basketball Championship against Houston Cougars at Amway Center on March 11, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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COLUMBUS, OHIO – MARCH 22: Jarron Cumberland #34 of the Cincinnati Bearcats reacts after being defeated by the Iowa Hawkeyes 79-72 in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO – MARCH 22: Jarron Cumberland #34 of the Cincinnati Bearcats reacts after being defeated by the Iowa Hawkeyes 79-72 in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

6. Cincinnati Bearcats

Certainly not how Bearcats nation wanted to see the season start, a tough loss on the road to Ohio State now doesn’t seem so bad but an extremely poor showing in the Virgin Islands left more unanswered questions.

Teams that UC should be blowing out have taken the Bearcats down to the wire and into overtime while Bowling Green managed to go one step further. Cincinnati sits at a disappointing 6-3 following a loss last weekend in the Crosstown Shootout to hated rival Xavier.

Jarron Cumberland doesn’t look like the same player he was last year and there have been rumblings of a bad relationship between him and new head coach John Brannen. Chris Vogt has probably been the biggest surprise for the year, a guy that didn’t get a lot of minutes at Northern Kentucky has come in right away and made a big impact for the Bearcats.

Cincinnati will close non-conference play with a currently nationally ranked Tennessee and a very solid Iowa team before a New Years’ night showdown with UConn to open up the conference schedule. Good showings against Tennessee and Iowa can get the Bearcats right back on track before conference play.

5. UConn Huskies

UConn had a ton of momentum leaving Charleston and looked to be primed for good season before taking a gut punch from Indiana. A horrible game from the Huskies on both sides of the ball saw the Huskies give the game away and fall to 6-3 also.

Quality wins against Florida and Miami are being overshadowed by losses to Saint Joe’s and now Indiana. When UConn is playing well, they can hang with just about anyone, when they can’t get it together, they’re really bad.

Josh Carleton for me has been the most impressive player for the Huskies this season, Akok Akok and James Bouknight have come on and played a big role as freshmen, Akok is averaging three blocks per game.

The lack of consistency from Gilbert and Vital has been concerning. Dan Hurley is and his guys are going to have a chance, but they have to show some more consistency.