Where Memphis basketball sits in penultimate AP Top 25

Memphis basketball received a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament Sunday, but saw no movement in its Associated Press (AP) Top 25 ranking.

The Tigers (29-5, 16-2 AAC) are still No. 16 in Monday’s poll for the third week in a row. This is the AP’s final release of the rankings before the end of the season.

Penny Hardaway’s club—already the American Athletic Conference (AAC) regular-season champion—expanded its trophy case with the AAC Tournament crown last weekend in Fort Worth, Texas. The Tigers dominated UAB 84-72 in the final round, even without starting point guard Tyrese Hunter (foot) and backup Dante Harris (ankle).

Memphis trailed the Blazers at halftime after shooting just 38.2% in the first half, but PJ Haggerty later flipped the script. The 6-foot-3 guard exploded for 17 second-half points, including 8 in the first 6:04 of the period. The Tigers shot 56% in the final 20 minutes compared to UAB’s 28.9%, and outscored the Blazers 52-37 in that span.

Haggerty finished with 23 points (8-for-22 shooting), 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Dain Dainja recorded his eighth double-double of the year with 22 points (11-for-18 shooting), 12 boards, 5 blocks and 4 assists. Colby Rogers added 15 points (5-for-12 shooting), 3 rebounds and a couple steals.

Haggerty, Dainja and Moussa Cisse, who recorded a 10-point, 11-rebounds double-double against Tulane Saturday and grabbed 14 boards vs. UAB, garnered All-Tournament Team selections. Haggerty, the AAC Player of the Year, was also named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He dropped a career-high 42 points on Wichita State Thursday, tying Louisville’s Russ Smith (2014) for the tourney’s single-game scoring record.

Memphis certainly built the resume necessary for its favorable position in March Madness by winning 11 combined Quad 1 and 2 games. But many, including Hardaway, thought the Tigers wouldn’t get their due on Selection Sunday, largely because of their two Quad 3 losses (vs. Arkansas State and at Temple) and a weak AAC schedule that dwindled their advanced metrics.

Their computer numbers, in fact, still don’t represent that of a top-5 seed. Memphis presently sits at No. 49 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), No. 51 in KenPom and No. 60 in Bart Torvik. But the NCAA Tournament selection largely disregarded the formulas that seemed destined to undermine the Tigers’ body of work.

“We heard so much 8-9 [seed talk] for the last month, and that’s kinda what pushed us through—even though there was nothing we could do about it. But it does make [me] feel good to see the 5. That’s respecting us a lot. We put the work in, [and] we earned it,” Hardaway told reporters postgame. “At the end of the day, if they’re gonna go by resumes, we have one of the best resumes in the country…And when you win games—whether it’s non-conference or the AAC—it’s tough. And I’m just thankful for [the selection committee] respecting that.”

Memphis, residing in the West Region, gets its Round of 64 matchup with No. 12 seed Colorado State in Seattle on Friday (1 p.m., TBS).