There is more excitement surrounding the Memphis Tigers this basketball season than there has been in recent years due to a combination of an influx of high-profile recruits and Penny Hardaway being hired as head coach.
In Hardaway’s first season at the helm, he has insisted he is open to all challengers moving forward. After adding Tennessee back to the schedule that already featured Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, fans were beginning to see how the nonconference schedule would look. However, after releasing the entirety of their conference schedule this week, the full season slate has cleared up, and fans now know which dates to circle on their calendars.
The Tigers will kick off conference play with a home game against Wichita State on Jan. 3, 2019, at 8:30 p.m. in a game that figures to have potential NCAA Tournament implications. While Memphis will play against the Shockers twice this season, there is no doubt they will be looking to secure Hardaway’s first American Athletic Conference win early. After opening against Wichita State, the Tigers will travel to Houston on Jan. 6, 2019, for another game that could become very important later in the year when the stakes are raised.
This season, the Tigers will only play at home against UConn and SMU, and they will only travel to USF. Despite being predicted to finish in the lower half of the conference, the team will look to improve on last year’s conference record of 10-8. Although the Tigers have five returning seniors, the competition from around the rest of the conference seems to be stiff yet again.
Defending champion Cincinnati will be solid once again, and head coach Mick Cronin will attempt to continue his run of stellar regular seasons with the Bearcats. With Cronin at the helm, Cincinnati has appeared in eight straight NCAA Tournaments, posted an overall win-loss record of 133-40 since 2013 and finished in the top-three of the AAC in each of the last five years.
While the Bearcats figure to stand in the way of any tournament hopes Hardaway and the Tigers may have, the rest of the field will prove to be rigid competitors, too. The previously mentioned Wichita State has appeared in seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments, and Houston has spent time in the Top-25 at various periods during the last few seasons.
While the in-conference schedule certainly appears to be tough for the Tigers, they may have an advantage they haven’t seen in years on their side. This year, the AAC tournament will be held at Fedex Forum, which will be the first time the league tournament has been in Memphis since the 2014 edition, on March 14-17, 2019.
With Memphis Madness rapidly approaching, all that is left for Tiger fans to do is prepare. The Memphis Tigers basketball team may have gotten their swagger back.
Jeremiah Martin goes up for a layup against Wichita State.
