AAC Non-Conference Report Cards: Part II
Posted by Mike Lemaire on January 6th, 2015Conference play is well underway by now, so here is the second part of our report cards on AAC teams. Part I, including UCF, Cincinnati, Connecticut, East Carolina and Houston, released last week.
Memphis: D
It’s Been A Rocky Start To The Season For Memphis’ Coach Josh Pastner
The good news is that all of the Tigers’ non-conference losses to date have come against teams ranked (KenPom) higher than them. The bad news is that all four of those losses have been by 12 points or more, and, even if Stephen F. Austin is putting together a pretty good season, losing to the Lumberjacks at home is not what the Tigers had in mind. A January date with Gonzaga looms, but you would be hard-pressed to find anyone across the country who thinks Memphis will win that game in Spokane. Now Memphis has to hope it can dominate conference play, because if the Tigers don’t, they have an almost zero chance at securing an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament and saving Josh Pastner‘s job.
South Florida: D
Much like the Tigers, the Bulls don’t have any truly awful losses this season. But their best win was by one point at home against a mediocre Hofstra team, and the rest of their wins are against teams so bad that they’re not even worth listing here. Everyone in Tampa knew it was going to be a rebuilding year for Orlando Antigua‘s club and so losing to teams like Alabama and North Carolina State was expected. Fans, however, were also hoping for a better showing than a home loss to Georgia Southern.
SMU: C+
The saving grace for the Mustangs is that they have played a very difficult non-conference schedule and have survived it without an ugly loss on the resume. The downside, of course, is that even the road win at Michigan doesn’t carry much weight, given the Wolverines’ recent struggles, and the Mustangs’ other best wins came against Wyoming and UC Santa Barbara. SMU also kicked away a road game at Indiana that it probably should have won, and didn’t seem to wake up for its home date with Arkansas until the second half. Otherwise, the Mustangs might have passed the non-conference part of their schedule with flying colors.
Temple: B
The Owls probably would have earned a solid “C” before torching Kansas at the Wells Fargo Center two weeks ago, but now Temple has a statement win to put on its resume. Given that two of its four losses have come against legitimate national title contenders, Fran Dunphy‘s team has nothing to be ashamed of. Sure, Temple probably wishes it had beaten UNLV and especially St. Joseph’s, but the committee will note they lost those games without the services of two key players who are now eligible. The Owls played the conference’s second-toughest non-conference slate and came away with something to show for it, so they deserve an “honor roll” grade here.
Tulane: C+
For quite some time I thought I would give the Green Wave a B- because they have exceeded expectations. Then I dug a little deeper and realized Tulane’s non-conference schedule was one of the worst in the country, and they lost the only games they played against potential NCAA Tournament teams. They have a pair of mini-upsets over Loyola (Chicago) and Mississippi State, which is why they earned the plus tacked on to their grade, but they can’t earn “honors” without beating someone the rest of the country actually pays attention to.
Tulsa: D-
The Golden Hurricane returned basically everyone from an NCAA Tournament team and capitalized on that momentum by losing their opener to a not-so-great Oral Roberts team and being blown out by all three quality teams they have played (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Wichita State). Tulsa even lost at home to Division II Southeast Oklahoma State in their ninth game of the season! The only reason they weren’t outright flunked here is because they somehow roasted a decent Creighton team, but even that win came at home. The Golden Hurricane now almost certainly need an automatic berth if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.
