Yeah, it was a bit of a down year for the conference as a whole but there are some gems. Who impressed you - teams, players, coaches? Central Florida was not a team I expected to be 20-10 and fourth in the conference standings at this point. Oh, they've won five in a row to finish out the regular season. They look like a program on the rise - which is good for our conference. Along those same lines, I'm very impressed with Coach Johnny Dawkins and the job he has done this year. UCF seems to be a good fit for him after so-so seasons previously at the helm at Stanford. Players-wise I have to go with Houston's Gray (leading scorer in the conference and only player to average over 20 ppg). The kid can make his own shot and he is still a junior. Also, SMU's Ojeleye. Another junior that is 6' 8" 230 lb. and can score. Dude is built like a brick shithouse. What say you?

SMU and Cincy the class of the conference. Houston and UCF on the rise. Memphis and Temple need a dose of their long-standing basketball heritage to be re-established. UConn a mystery wrapped in an enigma this year under Kevin Ollie. USF, Tulane and ECU unfortunately are deadweight she around the ankles of this conference in hoops. Tulsa will be better next year, but they and virtually every school in this league deserve more fan support. Jankovich is Coach of the Year and Semi Ojelye is Player of the Year. Dedrick Lawson, Rob Gray, Jalen Adams, Sterling Brown, Shake Milton, Kyle Washington, Jacob Evans, Tacko Fall and DJ Taylor of UCF join Ojelye on the first and second teams as All-conference performers. Cincy and SMU both get to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Me, as a Memphis homer, I was ok with our season. Tubby may not recruit to what folks expect, but I know his past history and shows he develops his players. So, I'm ok with our progress. I think we make a run next year into the big dance.

UC had some impressive freshmen. They lose Caupain and Johnson, but everyone else is back next year including freshmen Cumberland, Brooks, and Scott to go with Evans, Clark, and Washington. And they may have a real point guard in Cane Broome.

We should be significantly better next year.

1. SMU
2. Cincinnati
3. Houston

(03-03-2017 10:24 PM)bearcatfan Wrote:  UC had some impressive freshmen. They lose Caupain and Johnson, but everyone else is back next year including freshmen Cumberland, Brooks, and Scott to go with Evans, Clark, and Washington. And they may have a real point guard in Cane Broome.

Cane Broome. Cool name.

UCF in general impressed me the most this year. I expected SMU to be good, although maybe not this good. But UCF impressed me the most.

I was most disappointed with Temple. I thought they would be better (I admit, I didn't know that much about the team, but just based on my impression of the program, I hold them in fairly high regard. And when they beat FSU and WVA early it only reinforced what I hoped).

This may be a little off the mark, but Tulsa surprised me this year. I figured Tulsa to have a USF type season, since they had to replace 4 of 5 starters. I believe these 4 new starters were not even from last years roster. I thought they would look like UC in Micks first couple of years on the job. Memphis would have been better but needed something else to go with Lawson. Tubby is a good hire and a great face for the conference as a whole. Same with Dawkins and Sampson. Conn. will be back next year. SMU and Cincy performed as I believed they would. Very pleased with the Cincy addition of Kyle Washington, but that shot though. Lebo needs fired, nothing new there. Temple needs a coaching change, they have stagnated. Tulane, ECU, USF need to get their heads out of their rears.

Dawkins was very impressive this year for UCF, a bonafide COY candidate. But my vote would go to rookie coach Jankovich at SMU.

Here's how the conf looked backed in their pre-season polls:



SMU, UCF and Tulsa exceeded their projections while UCONN had the biggest disappointment...along with Temple.

Did I mention SMU? Dominating Memphis and assuming they can hold on to their 40+ point lead in the second half:

AAC Conference Champs
#1 Seed AAC Tourney
Won 13 in a row
Won 23 of the last 24 games



Hell of a season!

SMU. Incredible.

(03-04-2017 08:31 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  UCF in general impressed me the most this year. I expected SMU to be good, although maybe not this good. But UCF impressed me the most.

I was most disappointed with Temple. I thought they would be better (I admit, I didn't know that much about the team, but just based on my impression of the program, I hold them in fairly high regard. And when they beat FSU and WVA early it only reinforced what I hoped).

You should blame yourself if you thought a team lead by Mark Williams and Daniel Dingle would be much better.

ECU

Cheers!

(03-04-2017 08:39 PM)JHG722 Wrote:  

(03-04-2017 08:31 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  UCF in general impressed me the most this year. I expected SMU to be good, although maybe not this good. But UCF impressed me the most.

I was most disappointed with Temple. I thought they would be better (I admit, I didn't know that much about the team, but just based on my impression of the program, I hold them in fairly high regard. And when they beat FSU and WVA early it only reinforced what I hoped).

You should blame yourself if you thought a team lead by Mark Williams and Daniel Dingle would be much better.

as I admitted, I didn't know your team at all, I was going off of your reputation. When I hear Temple basketball, I think good program and you guys are one of the ones that are supposed to be ncaa caliber in the aac any given year. The fact you beat who you did in the ooc early only reinforced my stance.

Most teams would be in trouble with two of their best players out for the year.

Who will be freshman of the year?

SMU when clicking which has been these last few weeks, could easily beat anyone in the country. I hope they keep it going!

Who impressed? Not ECU the TEAM... but one player stood out to me as a bright spot for the future of the Pirates.

Jeremy Sheppard - PG

He was a true freshman, and I'm thankful UCF let him slip away. He had his ups and downs, but I really liked what I saw out of him this season.

Fingers crossed he doesn't transfer!