Memphis and Florida Atlantic, which face off for the second time this season Saturday (11 a.m., CBS), were expected to run through this year’s iteration of the American Athletic Conference (AAC). But it hasn’t gone that way—not even close.
Amir Abdur-Rahim’s South Florida Bulls (21-5, 16-1 AAC), who’ve won their last 15 games, have the already clinched the AAC regular season title by a landslide. Meanwhile, Penny Hardaway’s Tigers (22-8, 11-6 AAC) sit in fourth place and Dusty May’s Owls (23-7, 13-4 AAC) are in second place. Fifth place SMU is ranked No. 55 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, which is higher than both Memphis (No. 70) and South Florida (No. 74).
“I’ve learned that even though you’re the favorite, that doesn’t mean that you’re gonna win. There are a lot of teams out there that have better chemistry [than we do]…We’re always adding 12 players, 11 players, so it takes a while [for us to click]…A lot of these teams have been together for a minute—North Texas, Rice, Charlotte,” Hardaway said Thursday. “It seemed as if it was gonna be us and FAU for the title, and it didn’t happen. You just have to tip your hat to South Florida for running through the league and taking care of business.”
The American, however, is currently projected to send just two teams to the NCAA Tournament: USF as the league’s automatic qualifier and Florida Atlantic as a fringe at-large team. Memphis, despite owning six wins inside Quads 1 and 2, is on the outside looking in. South Florida, which is ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25, would likely be left out too if it doesn’t win the AAC Tournament.
“Every night [in the AAC], you gotta battle. The nation doesn’t wanna respect our league, but there are some pretty good teams,” Hardaway said.
The Atlantic 10 (A-10), West Coast Conference (WCC) and Pac-12 join the American as leagues expected to have two schools in March Madness, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. But other conferences will likely have much better representation during the Big Dance.
The Big 12 is projected to send nine teams to the tournament. The SEC is expected to send seven. The Big East and ACC are expected to send five. But the one that irks Hardaway the most is the Mountain West’s projected total of six schools, which is the same number as the Big Ten.
The sixth-year coach says he believes the AAC should get as much, if not more respect than a league like the Mountain West. But he doesn’t see a clear path to making that happen.
“I don’t think they ever will [respect the AAC]. It’s sad to say. They love the Mountain West…I think I looked the other day—San Diego State was fifth in the league and they’re 21st in the country. They give the Mountain West a lot of love, so that takes away from us. If that was a four-bid league, maybe they’d give us one more. I know [the AAC] is a three-bid league, at least,” he said. “The top 7 teams [in the AAC] can play with any top 7 teams around the country…I won’t say never. [But] I don’t know what it’s gonna take for them to respect what’s going on, because FAU didn’t just blow through this league. We haven’t blown through this league.”
Forward Nick Jourdain, who announced he’s returning to Memphis next year after last week’s win at East Carolina, is playing his fourth season in the AAC—three with Temple and one with the Tigers. He says he would’ve disagreed with Hardaway’s sentiment in other seasons, but this year is different.
“This year, it definitely feels like we’re a three-bid league,” Jourdain said Thursday. “There are so many high-major players this year that are playing great ball…It’s been a lot of fun playing the league this year, because every game is competitive. It really forces everyone that’s playing to bring their best game every game.”