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5 questions entering the American Athletic Conference

College basketball season is almost here!

Between now and Nov. 7th, we’ll take an in-depth look at different conferences around the country.

Today’s focus is on the American Athletic Conference:

1. How many teams from the American Athletic Conference will reach the 2023 NCAA Tournament?
Houston feels like the only lock. The Cougars are again slated to be one of the best teams in the country under Kelvin Sampson, but every other team that is projected to be towards the top of this league needs to prove on the floor that they’re truly capable of earning a bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Memphis had a nucleus in place to hear its name called on Selection Sunday for the second consecutive year, but suffered a big loss when Boise State transfer Emmanuel Akot decommitted from the Tigers’ program and enrolled at Western Kentucky. Meanwhile, Cincinnati, Temple, and Tulane should all be better than they were a year ago. Will that collective growth translate to multiple NCAA Tournament bids for the American Athletic Conference in 2023? It all depends how this league does in November and December during the non-conference portion of the season. 

2. Which Houston veteran is ready to become a national name?
Tramon Mark. People from the periphery will say Marcus Sasser, but it’s hard to say someone isn’t a national name when they’ve scored 20 points in a Final Four game like Sasser did in 2021 against Baylor. Like Sasser, the 6-5 Mark only played a small portion of last season due to injury, but the former Top-100 prospect is fully cleared following shoulder surgery and should be a major producer during the 2022-23 season. Mark averaged 10.1 points in seven games last season and 11.7 points during the 2020-21 season in games where he logged 20 minutes or more. This kid is a player.

3. Will Memphis have enough to return to the NCAA Tournament?
TBD. Penny Hardaway deserves credit for the coaching job that he did a year ago when he led Memphis to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before it lost a close game to Gonzaga. Getting back to that point will be an arduous task. The Tigers lost two double figure scorers — Jalen Duren and Lester Quinones — from last season as well as several other key players who averaged double figure minutes. Hardaway did land the reigning American Athletic Conference Player of the Year — Kendric Davis (19.4 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds) — from SMU via the transfer portal, but it remains to be seen just how much Davis, DeAndre Williams (11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds), and veteran guard Alex Lomax (6.1 points, 4.1 assists, 3.1 rebounds) can carry this team. This feels like the least talented roster that Memphis has had in the past four seasons. 

4. How good is Temple?
Good enough to be the best team that this program has had since the Owls played their last NCAA Tournament game in 2019 under Fran Dunphy. Aaron McKie has assembled one of the sport’s most underrated backcourts in Khalif Battle (21.4 points) and Damian Dunn (14.9 points); he also has a potential future star in 6-7 sophomore Zach Hicks (8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds). And the non-conference schedule? Temple will play Villanova, Rutgers (Mohegan Sun), VCU, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, St. John’s (Empire Classic), and either Syracuse or Richmond (Empire Classic) prior to beginning league play. The Owls can put themselves in position to be in position for the 2023 NCAA Tournament with a quality showing in November and December.

5. Who is the sleeper?
Cincinnati. Could the Bearcats go from a team that finished eighth in the league standings a year ago to one that makes a move towards the 2023 NCAA Tournament? Without question. Wes Miller has significantly upgraded Cincinnati’s roster with the additions of transfers Landers Nolley (Memphis), Rob Phinisee (Indiana) and Kalu Ezikpe (Old Dominion) as well as four-star freshman guard Daniel Skillings. The Bearcats also return three players who averaged 8.6 points or more last season in David DeJulius, Jeremiah Davenport, and Mika Adams-Woods. Miller has this program in position to have a strong season in its final year in the American Athletic Conference prior to leaving for the Big 12.

Leftovers