(03-21-2016 02:52 PM)johnbragg Wrote: When the C7 split off, the risk was that the new league would bring down Memphis, Cincinnati, UConn and Temple. That doesn't seem to be happening. So chin up.
Not so sure. UConn and Memphis are not what they were even three years ago, Memphis hasn't even made the tournament the past two years, the first full ones of the AAC. Temple has been weak sauce, missing the NCAA last year and then losing first round this year despite winning the AAC regular season title. Cincy has been Cincy, a consistent, good program, but that means going 22-11 and getting a 10th seed in the tournament. Nice, but nothing to really hang your hat on.
And every top conference needs not just 3-5 teams making the tournament, it needs at least one team that is a real power, a top-10 team that is a threat to win the title or at least make the Final 4. That role should be played by UConn, but they haven't been close to that the last two years.
I wonder, how many weeks did any AAC teams spend in the top 10 of the polls this year? It probably wasn't very many. If you aren't in the top 10, you aren't being talked about during the season, and that hurts perceptions.
IMO, the main reason our basketball has disappointed overall is that while the bottom has been every bit as bad as many feared it would be, the top hasn't been as good as it was expected to be.