Bracketology 2020: Virginia, DePaul and Washington among week’s losers

AAC

1. Temple

The Owls may have ended their bid to return to the NCAA Tournament before it ever really got started, as the team fell to 1-3 overall in the American after last week’s two-loss performance.

The first one came against Houston, as Temple just couldn’t close the deal against the Cougars at home. After an embarassing 70-44 loss to Tulsa back on Jan. 3, the Owls needed to put a better taste in their mouth. But a four-point loss at home to one of their main competitors for an at-large bid out of the ACC was a bitter pill to swallow.

Things got even worse on Saturday, when Temple lost the plot once again, falling to Tulane by two touchdowns at home. The 65-51 loss brings the Owls to 9-6 on the season, and there is simply very little to like about their tournament chances at the moment.

2. Houston

Yes, we just discussed how Houston beat Temple earlier in the week to prop themselves up unequivocally higher than the Owls in the AAC pecking order.

The Cougars were riding a six-game winning streak into the weekend when they ran into a Tulsa team that seems hell-bent on handing out frustrating losses to everyone in the league. Saturday’s 63-61 loss to the Golden Hurricane was the first stumble for Kelvin Sampson’s squad since before winning the Diamond Head Classic.

Houston also couldn’t have been too excited about watching Washington stumble last week. The Huskies are just about the only notable win on the Cougars’ resume, so they’ll be rooting for Mike Hopkins to get things turned around out west.

3. Memphis

The Tigers nearly ended up much higher up this list, but they were able to salvage something positive out of the week when they clawed their way out of a big deficit to avoid a loss to South Florida on Sunday.

Still, it was a tough week for Penny Hardaway’s crew.

The win over USF stopped a two-game losing streak that began a week and a half ago when the team lost its final non-conference tune-up to Georgia. But the big news this past week was that Wichita State defended their home court against the Tigers.

That result puts the Shockers in the driver’s seat for the American. Memphis should still have little issue making the Big Dance, but we could see their seeding take a huge hit as Wichita State continues to look like the class of the league.

Memphis has fared admirably without James Wiseman, but the other shoe may be starting to drop for the Tigers. Even with all the rest of the talent their roster possesses, there’s no doubt that having the touted big man back would ease a lot of the concern surrounding this team right now.