Year one is in the books for the American Athletic Conference, and it was quite an eventful one. Four out of the then 10 teams made it to the NCAA Tournament, but some would argue SMU should have made the Big Dance to make it five. UConn even made an unforeseen run to be crowned National Champions.
The 2013-14 season was saturated with many inner-conference nail biters that kept the FedExForum rocking. Now with the addition of three new colleges added to the conference’s roster, a spot in the pool of 68 could be a greater battle for the Tigers this upcoming season.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, Louisville left the American after just one season. The Cardinals, who stayed with the American when it changed its name from the Big East, is now apart of the AAC, which houses some of the top-ranked teams in the country.
Despite the loss of Louisville, the AAC added several new teams, which are no stranger to FedExForum. East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa joined the AAC from the U of M’s former conference – Conference USA.
The most interesting out of the three new team is Tulsa. Tulsa is coming off a decent 21-12 season and 13-3 in conference play. They were crowned C-USA champions, and landed a 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season.
The Golden Hurricane, mostly, remains the same with only one senior leaving and a new coach in Frank Haith, who coached Missouri a season ago. The team is stacked with juniors like Rashad Smith, James Woodard and Shaquille Harrison. The coaches in the American picked Tulsa to finish fifth in the regular season.
The reigning National Champion, UConn poses, arguably, the biggest threat in conference play to the Tigers. Despite being champions, the Huskies lost some pieces that played a major role in beating the U of M three times last season. Guard DeAndre Daniels left early to enter the NBA Draft, and star point guard Shabazz Napier and 3-point specialist, Niels Giffey, graduated.
Uncertainty surrounds Ryan Boatright and how he will fill the hole left behind by Napier. Boatright was picked to win the AAC Player of the Year by the conference’s coaches.
The Huskies were picked to finish third in the American, but coach Kevin Ollie and UConn have made a habit of exceeding expectations.
The team who was kept on the outside looking in of the Big Dance, due to weak non-conference schedule, is the team who is projected to finish second in the AAC. The SMU Mustangs beefed up their out-of-league schedule, scheduling teams like Gonzaga, Indiana and Michigan.
According to CBSSports.com, the only reason why SMU is not number one in its conference rankings is because of the mishandling of eligibility status of Emmanuel Mudiay. Mudiay a 6-foot-5 point guard from Dallas who was heavily scouted from schools like Kansas and Kentucky, committed to coach Larry Brown’s Mustangs. Mudiay elected to go overseas to help support his mother, according to the future NBA first-round pick.
Still, the Mustangs have a solid backcourt in Keith Frazier and Nic Moore. Moore received several votes to possibly win AAC Player of the Year.
Most projections have three teams from the American heading to the Big Dance next March, and Tiger fans can expect some great basketball to come through FedExForum this winter.
