18. Memphis (6-1)
A recent trend at Memphis has been excellent teams that don’t quite produce on the court. Exciting prospects have come and gone and the Tigers simply haven’t been winning as much as they should. We’re talking too much about last year, because Memphis did quietly solid work in the first few weeks of the season before really grabbing national attention over in Maui.
They started the Maui Invitational with a monumental upset, knocking off Connecticut 99-97 in an overtime thriller. Tyrese Hunter had 26 points while PJ Haggerty added 22 against the Huskies. The result was just as sweet in the semifinals, as the Tigers won 71-63 over Michigan State, getting 23 points from Hunter in the win. Wednesday’s title game didn’t go their way, as they lost 90-76 to a very strong Auburn team despite a 27-point, 9-rebound effort from Haggerty.
Regardless of how the trip ended against their fellow Tigers, Memphis really showed something while over in Maui. They didn’t have their best defensive performances in Hawaii, but the offense really showed up and played efficient basketball, pushing Memphis on that unexpected run to the title game. Moving forward, Memphis won’t face anything close to that kind of challenge again this season, seeing the likes of Louisiana Tech and Arkansas State at home next week.