American Athletic Conference 2020-21 - College Basketball Preview

The American Athletic Conference is heading to the season here with a few question marks in the conference. However, the conference could surprise some people with the incoming classes. The problem for the conference is it will require a lot of work for the teams to adjust and bring home the chance to send more than a single team to the tournament. Here is a quick take on the teams.

Houston is coming in as one of the better teams in the AAC. The Cougars are bringing back a very strong backcourt on the season, but the Cougars did drop 2 players this year as one graduated and another tore his ACL during the offseason. The Cougars are one team that could potentially win the AAC.

Memphis is one team that could be good if Moussa Cisse can adjust quickly to the college game. However, the other thing that is going to be called into question is how well Penny is able to bring along the younger talent. If Penny does good then the Tigers could dance, but if not look for an NIT invite.

SMU is one team that could have a good run, but the college basketball talent on the SMU team is NBA bound and they did lose one of their talented players who did stay in the NBA Draft. The loss of one talented player could make it harder for SMU to be seen serious this year.

South Florida is heading to this season with horrible shooting on the year. That coupled with the fact the Bulls are relying on Alexis Yetna to come back after a knee injury it will be nearly impossible to see South Florida as a team that can provide a threat.

Cincinnati is one team that will not really look like they did last year. The Bearcats lost Cumberland and Scott due to graduation and will rely on a group of new player to guide the team. Until those younger players step up it will be impossible to see the Bearcats as a threat.

Wichita State is looking to replace their top 3 scorers from last year. Now, if that problem was not enough the Shockers have to figure out how to play with some dissention in the team this year.

UCF is questionable at best this year. The UCF team does not have a strong roster and any hope they have is pinned on C.J. Walker being declared eligible for the year.

ECU has all of their big scorers coming back from the team last year. That should definitely help the Pirates out quite a bit. However, one thing that the Pirates have to do is try to figure out how to play defense or they will continue to struggle.

The Golden Hurricanes are one team that a lot of people discount. However, Haith has the coaching talent that not many coaches have. He is able to get his players to perform better than what they should be doing and that is why Tulsa should finish in the middle of the pack.

Temple is coming to the game here without much going for them. The Owls lost 2 star player this past year to the NBA Draft and graduation. Now, that allows the Owls to get some younger players in the game, but it will be difficult without much leadership.

Tulane is going to have a very rough time this year. The Green Wave lost almost all of their scoring threat as the top 6 scorers all left. To make it even harder the Green Wave have a so-so coach and he will be severely taxed to get the Green Wave playing as a team.