2017-18 Basketball happenings around the American Athletic!

[WuShock Reaper]

"LOOK: UCF unveils fun rollercoaster-themed court design for upcoming season, What a wild ride." - CBS Sports

by Pete Blackburn
Oct 20, 2017

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/look-ucf-unveils-fun-rollercoaster-themed-court-design-for-upcoming-season/

"A typical college basketball season has plenty of ups and downs, twists and turns, and loop-de-loops. With that in mind, UCF's new court design seems pretty perfect, especially considering the school's location.

The Knights unveiled their new rollercoaster-themed court on social media this week, and it's as goofy and wild as you could ever hope for. If you're a fan of college basketball steering directly into its weirdness, this is the court for you!

I'm sure not everyone is going to love a design as bold and unique as this one -- the traditionalists will likely throw a fit -- but I'm here for it. The Knights can only hope their season is as fun a ride as their court is."

UCF New Basketball Court.jpg

Glad they left room on the floor to add the "Wheatshocker's House of Horrors". :devilish: UCF is going to wish they only had a "rollercoaster" to deal with this season.

[WuShock Reaper]

"UC basketball season tickets sold out for first time since Martin era" - USA Today (Cincinnati Edition)

By Tom Groeschen, tgroeschen@enquirer.com
Published 3:18 p.m. ET Nov. 1, 2017

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/college/university-of-cincinnati/2017/11/01/uc-basketball-season-tickets-sold-out-first-time-since-martin-era/820716001/

"...UC athletic director Mike Bohn said recently that 5,608 season tickets had been sold.As of Wednesday, the precise number of season ticket sales was not announced by UC. The NKU arena seats 9,400.

UC also announced that all tickets for the Wichita State game on Feb. 18 at BB&T Arena are sold out. The Shockers play their first season in the American Athletic Conference in 2017-18, with UC and Wichita State picked to finish 1-2 in the preseason AAC coaches poll...."

[WuShock Reaper]

"Podcast: How many more players will be sidelined because of the FBI investigation?' - CBS Sports

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander discuss the latest developments connected to the scandal
Posted: 11/02/17, 4:00pm cst

https://soundcloud.com/cbssportspodc...to-follow-suit

..."And how will Wichita State's move to the American Athletic Conference go? Norlander wrote about it this week. So we closed the podcast by discussing that and Gregg Marshall's team in general. That conversation begins at the 45:49 mark...".

[WuShock Reaper]

"Coaches on the Hot Seat" - NBC Sports

By Rob Dauster
Nov 2, 2017, 11:17 AM EDT

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2017/11/02/coaches-on-the-hot-seat-2/

"...KEVIN OLLIE, UConn: It sounds ridiculous to have a UConn coach on the hot seat less than three years removed from winning a national title, but that’s exactly where we are with Kevin Ollie right now. Ollie has missed two out of three NCAA tournaments since winning that title and has yet to finish better than a tie for third in the AAC, a league that just got tougher with the addition of Wichita State. Last year can be forgiven after injuries to Alterique Gilbert and Terry Larrier. There are no excuses this season, now with Jalen Adams back as well. Ollie signed a contract this year that runs through 2021...."

[WuShock Reaper]

"68 things to look forward to in 2017-18 college basketball season" - FanRag Sports

ByJon Rothstein
Posted on Nov 3, 2017

https://www.fanragsports.com/68-things-to-look-forward-2017-18-college-basketball-season/

..."13. UConn’s bounce-back attempt
Injuries decimated the Huskies last season, which ended with a 16-17 record, a mark well below the expectations for a fan base that has enjoyed four national titles since 1999. UConn should be better than it was last season as long it’s healthy thanks to the returns of Alterique Gilbert and Terry Larrier, but the Huskies will also need to find a proven post producer following the graduation of Amida Brimah and the transfers of Steve Enoch and Juwan Durham.

14. The American Conference
This is another thing to monitor regarding UConn. The American Conference has often been an afterthought, but the addition of Wichita State gives this league a completely different feel than it’s had since it was created. The Shockers and Cincinnati are both ranked in the top 15 of the FanRag Sports Top 25 while Temple, Houston, UConn, SMU, UCF, and Houston are all legitimate NCAA Tournament contenders. How will Wichita State handle better competition? How many teams will the American Conference put in the 2018 NCAA Tournament? These are all questions to ponder over the next five months.

22. Cane Broome
Cane is able? Cincinnati fans certainly hope so. This transfer from Sacred Heart will take over point guard responsibilities from Troy Caupain as Mick Cronin tries to lead his alma mater to its eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The difference between Broome and other floor generals who preceded him at Cincinnati? His ability to get into the teeth of the defense and create for others. This guy has the chops to give the Bearcats the dimension they haven’t had under Cronin.

23. Tacko Fall
It’s not shots blocked, it’s shots altered. The 7-6 Fall was one of the primary reasons UCF led the nation in field goal percentage defense last season and won 24 games. His return ensures that Johnny Dawkins will compete for an NCAA Tournament bid in his second year in Orlando.

24. Fran Dunphy
Great coaches always find a way to bounce back after frustrating years — that’s what Dunphy aims to do in 2017-18. Temple managed early-season triumphs over both Florida State and West Virginia last November, but ultimately couldn’t overcome the loss of veteran point guard Josh Brown. The Owls finished 16-16 last year with Brown logging only 102 minutes due to an Achilles injury — his return ensures that Temple is in position to be a serious player in the American Conference. With Dunphy pulling the strings on the sidelines, it’s hard to expect anything less.

26. The Missouri Valley Conference
Someone other than Wichita State is guaranteed to win this league this season — imagine that? :good:

27. Mike Rhoades’ first season at VCU
This job has been a stepping stone for nearly every coach who has preceded Rhoades, but he’s made it clear that VCU is his destination. A coach’s coach, the successor to Will Wade has his work cut out for him thanks to a slew of key departures and a vicious non-conference schedule. It will be interesting to see if Rhoades can keep things rolling in Year 1 in Richmond.

29. Mike Brey
Betting against this guy is like betting against Christian Bale in a Batman movie. One of college basketball’s best coaches who doesn’t get nearly enough credit, Brey has another team ready to challenge for a top-five finish in the ACC as well as a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame has reached the field of 68 in seven of the last eight seasons under Brey’s watch, with the only miss coming in 2014 when Jerian Grant missed the second semester due to academic issues.

56. Tubby Smith
People have said over the years that Memphis is a tougher job than Kentucky. Smith may know that firsthand after this season. The Tigers didn’t reach the NCAA Tournament last year — Smith’s first in Memphis — and lost three key players in Dedric and K.J. Lawson as well as Markel Crawford. Smith has taken five different teams to the field of 68 during his legendary career; if he takes a sixth it may wind up being among his greatest accomplishments...."

[WuShock Reaper]

"Sixty-eight predictions for the new college basketball season that are sure to come true (unless they don't)" - The Dagger on Yahoo Sports

Jeff Eisenberg
Nov 6, 2017, 9:51 AM

College basketball season tips off Friday night with all but four Top 25 teams in action. To celebrate the end of the offseason, here are 68 fearless predictions for the new season:

https://sports.yahoo.com/sixty-eight...155126547.html

16. American Athletic Conference breakout star: Alterique Gilbert, UConn

35. With Wichita State having left for the stronger American Athletic Conference this past offseason, the Valley appears unlikely to produce more than one NCAA tournament team this year. Missouri State could be the class of the league, but the Bears didn’t assemble a strong enough non-league schedule to give themselves hope of an at-large bid.

42. South Dakota State’s Mike Daum will lead college basketball in scoring this season. The 6-foot-9 forward’s combination of efficient post play and lethal perimeter shooting is almost unstoppable at the mid-major level. He should eclipse the 25.1 points per game he averaged last year and perhaps make a run at the 30-point mark.

49. Maui Invitational prediction: Notre Dame over Wichita State

64. Conference title predictions: Duke (ACC), Cincinnati (AAC), Villanova (Big East), Michigan State (Big Ten), Kansas (Big 12), Arizona (Pac-12), Florida (SEC)

65. Most compelling conference title race: American Athletic Conference. It could be a two-horse race between Cincinnati and newcomer Wichita State, but watch out for UConn and SMU. Both have the guard play to jump into the fray.

68. Most of these preseason predictions will probably be wrong. The most fun part of college basketball is that it always defies expectation.

[Aargh]

Looks like Marshall still has some ammo left for the "no respect" and 'we're the underdog" mantras.

[WuShock Reaper]

"The Uni Watch college basketball preview" - ESPN

by Paul Lukas
Posted: 11/07/17, 7:20 AM CT

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/21312534/every-color-patch-court-change-more-uni-watch-college-basketball-preview

The past few months have arguably been the most intense period ever here at Uni Watch HQ. First came the annual college football season preview, which is always a huge enterprise. Then came the NFL preview, which was more complicated than usual because most teams had switched to a new jersey template. After that came the NHL and NBA previews, which were much more involved than usual because both leagues had switched to new uniform outfitters.

Now it's time for the last major season preview of the year, which is also the biggest: college hoops. Three hundred fifty-one schools! Thirty-two conferences! New court designs to go along with the new uniforms! It's enough to make your friendly uniform columnist's head spin....
American Athletic

• Tulane has redesigned its white and green uniforms. Among the new features: a slimmer tailoring silhouette, blue numbers, a cresting wave pattern on the shorts, and, for the first time, the team's "Angry Wave" logo. The school plans to release additional photos and a video this Friday, Nov. 10.

• The good news is that Tulsa is switching to a very nice chest script. The bad news is that the new uniforms also feature Adidas' annoying shoulder harness, plus the blue lettering is going to be hard to read on the black alternate design. Also, the school has added a "STEAD" memorial patch for former university president Steadman Upham, who passed away in July.

• No photos yet, but UConn will be playing at the PK80 Invitational in late November, and all participating teams will have special uniform designs.

• Interesting situation at Wichita State, which is now playing in the American Athletic Conference after 67 years in the Missouri Valley Conference. The women's hoops team has switched to Under Armour, but the men's team is still being outfitted by Nike for one more season. The men have changed the chest insignia on their black road uniforms from the team name to the school name, among other changes:

• UCF has a new court design...."

[Signman]

Just noticed yesterday that the American Conference ranking in KenPom was off. After contacting Ken Pomeroy he adjusted the American ranking from 7.82 to 9.05. See below.



conference rankings
KP
Ken Pomeroy <kenpom@gmail.com>



|
Today, 12:39 AM
Hey, thanks for catching this, Joe. I was working off of last season's conferences for those calculations. All is fixed now.


Ken

JP
Joe



Reply all|
Yesterday, 12:44 PM
ratings@kenpom.com

Was looking at your conference ratings and was wondering why the large variance in the American Conference overall rating from the average or the median. Just curious how you arrive at the overall rating.

Joe

	Wichita St.	0-0	0-0		25.48	4	114.7
	Cincinnati	0-0	0-0		22.10	11	111.7
	SMU	0-0	0-0		18.78	24	111.3
	UCF	0-0	0-0		11.97	60	105.2
	Houston	0-0	0-0		11.49	64	109.4
	Temple	0-0	0-0		10.78	67	106.4
	Connecticut	0-0	0-0		10.20	69	105.8
	Tulsa	0-0	0-0		7.15	82	105.1
	Memphis	0-0	0-0		2.26	132	100.7
	East Carolina	0-0	0-0		-0.97	171	99
	Tulane	0-0	0-0		-2.17	189	99.1
	South Florida	0-0	0-0		-6.13	242	96.1
				average	9.25
				median	10.49
				KenPom	7.82

[WuShock Reaper]

"AAC College Basketball 2017-18 preview" - FanSided

by Connor Muldowney
Posted: 11/08/17, 10;00am cst

https://fansided.com/2017/11/08/college-basketball-aac-2017-preview-predictions/

"The AAC might be top-heavy, but college basketball might be on notice of this mid-major in 2017-18.

When you look at the American Athletic Conference, you don’t exactly think of a league full of college basketball powerhouses, but it might just sneak up on people this year. In fact, the AAC added Wichita State who was a staple of the Missouri Valley Conference, which instantly strengthens the league. All of the doubt regarding conference strength might be put to rest this season if the Shockers’ preseason hype rings true. Along with Wichita State, there are teams like Cincinnati, UConn, Houston and Central Florida which will be near the top of the conference standings.

There will be plenty of questions surrounding the AAC this season, though. First, will Wichita State be too good for everyone else? Second, will the conference avoid being top-heavy? And third, can a usually-strong team like Memphis rise from the doubt and compete?
Preseason Player of the Year: Shake Milton, SMU

The Rest of the All-AAC First Team:

• Landry Shamet, Wichita State
• Jalen Adams, Connecticut
• Rob Gray Jr., Houston
• Tacko Fall, UCF

Preseason Freshman of the Year: Keith Williams, Cincinnati

The Favorite: Wichita State

The rest of the league has to be thankful for the addition of Wichita State to boost the conference’s overall strength, but facing off against the Shockers is another story. No team will want to see the likes of Landry Shamet, Markis McDuffie and the hot-shooting Conner Frankamp on the other side of the floor.

Although Cincinnati, SMU, Connecticut, Houston and UCF are top contenders for the conference crown, I just can’t see anyone taking down the Shockers. This team has dominated the Missouri Valley over the years and Gregg Marshall may have his most impressive team yet.

There’s a reason the Shockers are considered a top-10 team in the country and they will prove it with a near-perfect conference record. I can see Wichita State losing two, maybe three, games in AAC play, but that’s only because upsets happen all the time in college basketball. A perfect AAC record isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Projected Order of Finish:
1. Wichita State
2. SMU
3. Cincinnati
4. UCF
5. Connecticut
6. Houston
7. Temple
8. Memphis
9. Tulane
10. Tulsa
11. East Carolina
12. South Florida

[wufan]

AAC mid-major? Really?

[WuShock Reaper]

"Here's how the University of Cincinnati Bearcats will do in the American Athletic Conference" - Cincinnati Enquirer

Published 3:46 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2017

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/college/university-of-cincinnati/2017/11/08/university-cincinnati-basketball-season-preview/845481001/

Projected order of finish (Record from last season)

1. Wichita State (31-5, *17-1)
2. Cincinnati (30-6, 16-2)
3. UCF (24-12, 11-7)
4. SMU (30-5, 17-1)
5. UConn (16-17, 9-9)
6. Temple (16-16, 7-11)
7. Houston (21-11, 12-6)
8. Tulsa (15-17, 8-10)
9. Memphis (19-13, 9-9)
10. East Carolina (15-18, 6-12)
11. Tulane (6-25, 3-15)
12. USF (7-23, 1-17)

*Record in Missouri Valley Conference

DON’T MISS GAMES
Cincinnati at Xavier - Dec. 2
Wichita State vs. Baylor - Dec. 2: Baylor is considered by many as Top 25 material, and Wichita State must travel to Waco, Texas for this one.
UConn vs. Arizona - Dec. 21
UCF at SMU -Dec. 27
Cincinnati vs. Wichita State - Feb. 18 and March 4: The Bearcats and Shockers both are in the Top 15 of many preseason polls. Wichita State and UC are picked by most to finish 1-2 in the league, and they will meet Feb. 18 (at UC’s one-season home of Northern Kentucky University’s BB&T Arena) and March 4 at Wichita.

PRESEASON PROJECTIONS

PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Landry Shamet, G, Wichita State
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - Keith Williams, G, Cincinnati

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
First team
Landry Shamet, G, So., Wichita State, 6-4, 188
Rob Gray, G, Sr., Houston, 6-2, 185
Jacob Evans, G, Jr., Cincinnati, 6-6, 210
Jalen Adams, G, Jr., UConn, 6-3, 195
Tacko Fall, C, Jr., UCF, 7-6, 290

Second team
Gary Clark, F, Sr., Cincinnati, 6-8, 225
Markis McDuffie, F, Jr., Wichita State, 6-8, 212
Shake Milton, G, Jr., SMU, 6-6, 205
B.J. Taylor, G, Jr., UCF, 6-2, 200
Kyle Washington, F, Sr., Cincinnati, 6-9, 230

PROJECTED CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Wichita State

[WuShock Reaper]

"Eight Predictions for 2017-18 Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball" - SB*Nation

An “elite eight” of predictions. That’s what we call foreshadowing.

Nov 9, 2017, 2:08pm EST

https://www.downthedrive.com/2017/11/9/16628166/eight-predictions-for-2017-18-cincinnati-bearcats-basketball

"We made it. In less than 24 hours, Cincinnati Bearcats basketball will be back in our lives full force. They will open the season against the Savannah State Tigers at BB&amp;T Arena tomorrow at noon sharp. But there is a whole season to be played after that. With expectations seeming to grow by the minute for this UC squad, its time we sit down and set them ourselves, with eight (this number will come up again) predictions.

1. Jacob Evans will average at least 15 points per game and lead the team in scoring...

2. Cane Broome will set a career-high in assists...

3. Keith Williams will play more minutes than any other freshman...

4. Nysier Brooks will play at least 13 minutes per game...

5. At least one Bearcat will be on the American Athletic Conference first team...

6. UC will win the American Athletic Conference
Third time is a charm, right? This is the third-straight season I’ve predicted the Bearcats would win the league and so far I’m 0-for-2. It’s not as if they haven’t been close. Last year, they went 16-2 in league play and reached the conference championship game. Unfortunately, SMU went 17-1 and beat them in said game. The year before that they went a respectable 12-6 (Temple won with a 14-4 mark) and got ousted in four overtimes by eventual champion UConn during the conference tournament. The field will be tough again this year what with Wichita State in the mix, but this is the best team Cronin has had in a while. The opportunity that presents won’t be squandered.
.
7. ...and make the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament...

8. One Bearcat will be a second round pick in the NBA Draft..."

[WSUwatcher]

Well, give him credit for enthusiasm and optimism -- why not? Besides, his Elite Eight pick is actually surpassed by ESPN's Sean Farnham, who has WSU and Cincy both in his predicted Final Four. That would certainly be a nice turn of events for the American.

[WuShock Reaper]

"UConn’s Jalen Adams charged after crashing during on-campus motorized scooter race" - NBC Sports

By Scott Phillps
Nov 9, 2017, 5:49 PM EST

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2017/11/09/uconns-jalen-adams-charged-after-crashing-during-on-campus-motorized-scooter-race/

"UConn junior guard Jalen Adams has been charged with “evading responsibility” after leaving the scene of an accident as he was apart of a motorized scooter race on campus.

According to a report from David Borges of the New Haven Register, Adams was released on $500 non-surety bond. Adams is due in Rockville Superior Court on Nov. 21.

The police report of the incident had three witnesses who saw four males racing on four separate scooters. One of the riders crashed his scooter and got onto the back of another one as the group fled the scene. Police soon caught up with the group and Adams admitted to participating in the race before crashing and leaving the scene. Adams was given a misdemeanor summons.

This wasn’t exactly a Dominic Toretto-level street race featuring high-octane vehicles, but you have to wonder what Adams was thinking getting into a race like that on the eve of the regular season. Thankfully, nobody appears to be injured after the accident.

Adams was suspended from practice on Thursday and his status with the team will be evaluated on a day-by-day basis, according to a release from the school.

UConn opens its season on Friday at home against Colgate."

[wichshock65]