The University of Memphis men’s basketball team continues to work towards the AAC tournament. After their win over UCF, ranked 30 spots above them, their ranking has improved and helped their chances at obtaining a bid to the tournament.
The University of Memphis men’s basketball team put themselves in prime position for making a possible tourney bid by defeating Central Florida, 77-57, on Jan. 27. At the same time, Memphis has yet to prove themselves on the road against top conference teams such as Houston and Temple.
The Tigers still have a lot of work to do rankings-wise to impress the NCAA committee enough to give them a bid without running the table in the conference tournament. Beating UCF, who was 30 spots ahead of them, in the NET rankings helped improve their chances.
 Worst case scenarios
 The Tigers have struggled on the road this year as they have won one out of four games so far this season. They will be on the road for their next two games, which will be against Tulsa on Jan. 30 and USF on Feb. 2.
Head coach Penny Hardaway preaches daily the importance of his team “punching first†at the Tigers’ practoces. If Memphis doesn’t listen to his warning, they will not have an impressive résumé for the commitee.
The Tigers must play with the same level consistency as they do at home. At FedEx Forum, Memphis shoots 41 percent from the field compared to their 31 percent on the road.Â
Additionally, the Tigers need their playmakers to be elite. For example, Kyvon Davenport, who is the second leading scorer on the team, only averaged 18 points in the last two games accompanied by eight turnovers.Â
Davenport is averaging 14 points and six rebounds per game this season, yet he had four games where he earned 20 points or more. Memphis needs that type of scoring across the board ensure victories when they are not at FedEx Forum.Â
Best case scenarios
If they want to make it to the big dance, Memphis’ goals should be to score, be consistent, and ultimately win on the road. In order to do this, the Tigers should build on the momentum they had against UCF on Jan. 27.Â
In that game, Memphis won the rebound battle by 19, despite UCF having Tacko Fall, who is the tallest college basketball player in the country, standing at 7-foot-6, in the paint.Â
Memphis is facing two subpar teams in Tulsa and Southern Florida over the next week. The Golden Hurricane is currently 2-6 in conference play and have won only one game in their last five match-ups, while the Bulls are at .500 and 4-4 in the American Athletic Conference.
Regardless of their records, Hardaway said at his press conference Monday that Memphis must come out swinging and dominating the tempo. If not, they can find themselves in an uphill battling and potentially losing either one of these games.Â
Overall
With 11 games remaining until the NCAA tournament, which will be in Memphis, the Tigers are still in prime position to get a potential tourney bid.
If they can play at a high level like they do on their home floor, then they can earn a spot in the tournament. The team is talented and can play against anybody in the nation, as Hardaway mentioned Sunday night. Nevertheless, if they allow their opponents to jump ahead and get big leads accompanied by their own poor shooting, that could result in an unsuccessful season, particularly for the seniors.Â
Mike Parks said, “It’s tourney or bust.â€
The ball is in their hands to determine if they make it or not.Â
