The Tigers remain on the bubble after back-to-back wins

Throughout the rest of the season, Bluff City Media will track Memphis’ NCAA tournament resume every week. Using the NET rankings, KenPom rankings, and ESPN bracketology, we will keep you updated on where the Tigers are ranked.

The Memphis Tigers are now 14-5 overall and 4-2 in American Athletic Conference (AAC) play after a back-to-back wins over Temple and Wichita State. The two-win week has helped the Tigers jump from 50 to 43 in the NET rankings over the last week but drop in the KenPom rankings from 36 to 37. The Tigers avoided two Quad 3 losses to Wichita State and Temple and remain undefeated in Quad 3 and 4 games.

In ESPN’s latest Bracketology (released on 1/20/23), Joe Lunardi still has the Tigers on the bubble in the “Last Four Byes” as they remain as a No. 11 seed but in the East (New York) region and not in the play-game.

Next up, the Memphis will visit the Cincinnati Bearcats Sunday afternoon in what looks to be a Quad 2 game as the Bearcats are currently ranked 82nd in the NET rankings. Also, Cincinnati is ahead of Memphis in the AAC standings by a half-game with a 5-2 conference record. Memphis will then return home to face off against SMU in what looks like a Quad 4 game.

Although the Temple game was tough and Wichita State kept things interesting for most of the game, the Tigers escaped this week unscathed. Also, the Tigers kept pace with the upper echelon in the AAC standings. The next game at Cincinnati is a huge opportunity for the Tigers to potentially get to second place in the AAC standings while also giving themselves a quality Quad 2 win to help their NCAA Tournament resume.