Busting Brackets
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AAC Basketball power rankings: Wichita State rises to the top

By Ben Andreatta

WICHITA, KS - JANUARY 25: Darral Willis Jr. #21 of the Wichita State Shockers reacts after scoring a basket against UCF Knights during the first half on January 25, 2018 at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
WICHITA, KS - JANUARY 25: Darral Willis Jr. #21 of the Wichita State Shockers reacts after scoring a basket against UCF Knights during the first half on January 25, 2018 at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 15: Christian Vital #1 of the Connecticut Huskies (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 15: Christian Vital #1 of the Connecticut Huskies (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

8. Tulane Green Wave (Prior Ranking:11)

Tulane has been solid, 2-2 to start conference play and I think Ron Hunter would be pleased with the way his tenure at Tulane has gone. Wins against Cincinnati and Temple are good ones and they deservedly move up because of them.

TeShaun Hightower has been really underappreciated this season, 17.3 points per game this season is a team-best and a significant improvement from the 6.6 he averaged last season at Georgia. Fellow transfer K.J. Lawson has been a stud this season also, he’s putting up 14.2 points per game after averaging only 3.1 at Kansas last season.

Ron Hunter is getting a lot of help from transfers as he looks to build a better basketball culture at Tulane. He’s off to a great start and has exceeded a lot of people’s expectations this season. They’ve already more than doubled last seasons win total of 4 in just 16 games.

7. UConn Huskies (Prior Ranking: 5)

A bumpy start in conference play got worse as it was announced on Sunday that Tyler Polley would miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Polley was coming off his best game of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds in a win against Tulane. A difficult replacement for Hurley.

UConn proceeded to fall in overtime against Wichita State in their first game without Polley. Vital had 25 but the fact of the matter is, UConn isn’t deep enough right now. The rebuild continues and Hurley even admitted that following the loss.

It’s likely to be a long season for Hurley and company but the NIT is not out of the question yet, Hurley will look to use this season as a building block for a team that will only lose Vital. They have a non-conference game with Villanova sandwiched in between these conference games.