Busting Brackets
Fansided

AAC Basketball: Examining 8 potential candidates for expansion

By Joey Loose

ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 11: during the final game of the 2018 AAC Basketball Championship against at Amway Center on March 11, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 11: during the final game of the 2018 AAC Basketball Championship against at Amway Center on March 11, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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NCAA Basketball Mubarak Muhammed Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
NCAA Basketball Mubarak Muhammed Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

Louisiana Tech

We could sit here and list a few dozen schools with a chance to join the AAC but we’re limiting our scope somewhat. There are a number of teams in Conference USA or the Sun Belt that we won’t list that could make solid additions, heck Louisiana started the football season among the Top 25. Instead, we’ll turn our focus towards Louisiana Tech for a number of reasons.

Louisiana Tech holds the current advantage of having a very solid program in both basketball and football at the moment. We say solid, however, because there’s still plenty of improvement for these programs to make, the kind of step forward they could take in the AAC, a pseudo-power conference in basketball (at least compared to Conference USA). They make a natural local rival for Tulane and help push the conference’s focus more towards the west, or at least the Midwest.

Would the growth continue a few years from now in the AAC? The Bulldogs are looking to make their eighth straight Bowl Game, while the basketball team has won 20 games in eight of the last nine seasons. Nothing is guaranteed in collegiate sports, but Louisiana Tech has proven that they deserve a chance to compete at the next level after nearly a decade in Conference USA.