Busting Brackets
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AAC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season

By Joey Loose

Mar 13, 2021; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Houston Cougars guard Marcus Sasser (0) dribbles the ball against Memphis Tigers guard Landers Nolley II (3) during the second half at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ben Ludeman-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 13, 2021; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Houston Cougars guard Marcus Sasser (0) dribbles the ball against Memphis Tigers guard Landers Nolley II (3) during the second half at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ben Ludeman-USA TODAY Sports /
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AAC Basketball Jaylen Forbes Tulane Green Wave (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
AAC Basketball Jaylen Forbes Tulane Green Wave (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /

10. South Florida

Last season, South Florida had six players on their roster averaging at least 8 points per game, but five of them have moved on, mostly to transfer, leaving the Bulls to reshuffle the deck. Last year’s leading scorer was David Collins (now off to Clemson), and he’ll certainly be missed the most, but South Florida got busy and added a few pieces to this team. In all, the Bulls greatly added to their roster with seven transfers.

That one scorer that’s back is Caleb Murphy (8.3 ppg, 2.9 apg), a skilled and talented sophomore guard who struggled as a shooter for most of the year. Last year, South Florida was one of the worst teams in the nation in interior offense, and they’ll hope additions like Jalyn McCreary (South Carolina), Corey Walker Jr. (Tennessee), and Bayron Matos (New Mexico) can help out with that issue. All in all, Murphy’s the best piece left on a team that will try to piece together a competitive roster from a large pile of misfits; another bottom of the AAC finish seems likely.

9. Tulane

After working his magic at Georgia State, Ron Hunter took the Tulane job in 2019 and is still working hard to pull off similar results with the Green Wave, no matter how difficult. He’s just 22-31 to this point, and lost two of the three best players from last year’s squad to transfer. Tulane had one of their best defensive seasons in some time last year, but offensively the shooting was really rough. Fortunately, this year’s roster is pretty young, even with a slew of new faces and transfers.

Jaylen Forbes averaged 16.4 points per game last season and returns for his junior year as the program’s most talented shooter. The frontcourt adds transfers Jalen Cook, who showed flashes of brilliance at LSU, and DeVon Baker, who put up 13.0 points per game at UNC Asheville. Even if the scoring doesn’t have a considerable uptake, Hunter’s defense should continue to be a force, especially with the defensive talent of these guards and the other new members of the program. It may not be enough to take a big step forward, but it should keep the Green Wave out of the cellar.