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AAC Basketball: 5 key questions and storylines for 2021-22 season

By Tristan Freeman

Ypsi Prep forward Emoni Bates (21) celebrates a play against SPIRE Academy during the second half at Central Academy in Ann Arbor, Saturday, March 13, 2021.
Ypsi Prep forward Emoni Bates (21) celebrates a play against SPIRE Academy during the second half at Central Academy in Ann Arbor, Saturday, March 13, 2021. /
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AAC Basketball Memphis Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
AAC Basketball Memphis Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports /

The AAC has been involved with some big storylines this offseason as a conference, particularly when it comes to realignment. Programs such as Cincinnati, Houston, and Central Florida are joining the Big 12 Conference in a couple of years, which will have a big effect on AAC Basketball.

While that saga in itself is a major storyline off the court, the attention now turns towards the upcoming basketball season. One specific program has been the talk of the town, but the rest of AAC Basketball has some interesting topics as well. To help with answering some questions is a roundtable, featuring a few Busting Brackets contributors providing their input as well.

Here are the writers involved, along with their social media handles to follow them throughout the season.

Cooper Watson – @coopertwatson

Jason Burgess – @collegehoopsguy

Joey Loose – @jloose128

1. What is the proper ceiling and floor for Memphis Basketball this season?

Watson

Whether or not they effectively realize it, Memphis’ ceiling is the Final Four, competing for a National Championship. Their floor has increased from the last few seasons: There will be no NIT for Memphis this season. Having said that, there is still a chance that Jalen Duren underperforms and this team struggles to score, relegating them to a lower-seeded at-large bid.

Burgess

While Memphis certainly has the shiny new toys in Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren, it’ll be the veterans Landers Nolley, DeAndre Williams, and Lester Quinones that will be the key to them reaching their ceiling, which I think is as high as the Final Four if everything goes right. Even if it doesn’t, there is so much talent on this team that its rock bottom floor is probably 1 win in the NCAA Tournament, especially if they don’t fix their turnover issues.

Loose

There’s been plenty of excitement at Memphis this offseason, especially with Duren and Bates providing a major boost to that roster. This is a very talented unit that could gel and make a deep (Final Four?) NCAA Tournament run if everything comes together, but these Tigers had talent last season and couldn’t even sniff the Big Dance. I’d call the floor another NIT bid, which would certainly be a sheer disappointment.