Thoughts on AAC Men's Basketball

[1972Shocker]

With Temple losing in the 1st round of the NIT and Wichita State's, Houston's and Cincy's 1st and 2nd round losses in the NCAA Tournament with WSU and Cincy losing to much lower seeds should the AAC think about doing things a bit differently. In particular, should they rethink the the AAC Conference Tournament.

If I understood 3G's comments correctly I think he prefers the Valley's approach of holding their tournament on the weekend prior to selection Sunday. I don't know if it is necessary to do that but you do wonder if the meat grinder these teams went through in the AAC Tournament may have had some impact on their NCAA performances.

Personally, I dislike post-season conference tournaments in basketball. They are nothing more than a money grab.

My suggestion to the AAC is to split into two divisions. For now I won't discuss how to divide the teams up. Play everyone in your Division home and away and everyone in the other division once. alternating home and away from one year to the next. This would give you a 16-game regular season schedule. After the end of the regular season have a single championship game between the Division winners to determine the conference auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament. Schedule that game for the maximum TV exposure and bucks you can get but have it prior to Selection Sunday.

If you want to play some of the AAC teams in the other division twice you can schedule a non-conference game with that team.

Is this something the AAC should thing about or should they just stay with the status quo?

[ShockerFever]

Do you want me to list all of the teams who have made the Sweet 16 out of a conference that has their tournament on the weekend of Selection Sunday?

[WheatShock]

I'm fine with the way it is now.

I would be fine with moving the conference tournament up by a day but I never liked having a week and a half between the tournament and the NCAA's like in the Valley.

I also don't think divisions are a good idea at this point. The way the schedule is built now is set to maximize SOS and the chance at bids for the best teams in the conference. We need to keep the current scheduling model until RPI anchors like ECU & USF can raise their water level. Once the AAC is a perennial 5-6 bid league divisions can be considered.

[MrsHenryLevitt]

I believe it might be sometime before we see three Top 25 teams from the AAC, due in large part to the outcomes from the first weekend.

[Rlh04d]

Would you like me to list the number of times the majority of the B12 has flamed out in the first weekend, while continuing to get 6-8 bids?

[GreatWhiteBuffalo]

There was one year not too long ago, when the BEAST sent like eight teams to the dance. Only one emerged from the first round. It happens. Houston and Cincy won a game. If anyone has to be worried, it is the Pac12. They looked really bad.

[wusphlash]

When is the last time an NCAA champion didn't come from a conference that played their tournament on Selection Weekend?

Status quo. We had 3 Sweet 16 quality teams that just didn't get it done. I would consider the tournament calendar to be a weak excuse.

[WheatShock]

I believe it might be sometime before we see three Top 25 teams from the AAC, due in large part to the outcomes from the first weekend.

Other than preseason rankings previous years results have little to do with top 25 rankings.

[ShockerFever]

I believe it might be sometime before we see three Top 25 teams from the AAC, due in large part to the outcomes from the first weekend.

Here's how this is gonna go.

I'm gonna call Uncle Mike/KU/AAC troll out.
Nobody will listen.
Repeated slights will continue.
Poster will then throw in a Go Shox somewhere just for good measure.
Repeated call outs gonna go without action.
Poster then gets greedy and plays his hand too hard where it becomes 100% obvious.
Several months later, same poster finally gets banned.

It happens every time. There a couple of dead giveaways with this particular clown that I can't believe anybody with a ban hammer hasn't picked up on.

[ShockerDropOut]

I am with you on this one Fever. My troll meter is pegged.

[Rlh04d]

I don't care if they change the conference tournament or not. So far this just seems like an insane tournament all the way around -- we can question whatever, but the Big East has flamed out as well with the exception of Villanova, and the P12 didn't win a single game.

Hell, the ACC sent 9 teams -- teams #8 and #9 have has many combined wins (5) as teams #1-7! Try to figure that **** out. If they'd moved the goal post slightly for the ACC and only sent 7 teams, the story would be how badly the ACC was exposed this year -- instead, it'll be about how deep the ACC was.

Building narratives on limited datasets in the tournament is fun but woefully misleading.

[WuShock16]

Granted, this year was a bit different because of the Big Ten and future seasons will play earlier in the day on Sunday, but I wouldn’t be opposed to move the tournament up a day, playing the title game on Saturday. The Big 12 has done that. I think it would be especially important for The American to do that since teams are so spread out. It’s not as a big deal for the Big Ten to play on Sunday because most schools have short flights, especially when the tournament is in Chicago or Indy. Going home from Orlando is a bit tougher...as will it be for east coast teams going home from Fort Worth in 2020-2022.

[ShockerPhi]

I definitely don't think our flame outs were a result of our tournament schedule. It's just been a wild tournament.

However, I also wish they would at least move up the tournament by 1 day. Having the championship game finish up 30 minutes prior Selection Sunday can't be helpful. I would guess that game is completely meaningless to the committee unless a team that doesn't have an at-large locked up wins. Plus, the teams that played in that game probably barely had time to sit down and watch the show after the emotion of the turnout of the game they just played.

[another shocker]

agreed, with you and wushock16.

[ShockerFever]

TV slots dictate when our title game will be played. Unless somebody else is getting bumped, we will be playing on Sunday for the foreseeable future. And nothing's gonna change that.

[WuShock16]

You aren’t wrong but there are other options. We probably won’t get CBS again next year with the B1G back in their normal spot. In 2017, the tournament games were on the ESPN channels.

Just brainstorming a bit.

[ShockerFever]

You’re right about the semis being on ESPN but I believe the title game has been on CBS for a while now.

I guess it depends if you want that CBS championship time slot or not.

[WuShock16]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_American_Athletic_Conference_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournament

I also thought that CBS was involved, but upon inspection, that is incorrect. Before this year, the ESPN family was the only TV coverage for the entire history of the American Tournament. No CBS, CBS Sports Net, or anything else.

That said, since the American used CBS Sports Net this year, maybe that’s something new this year.

To your point, yes, I’d love for title game to continue on CBS, but that might not be under the AAC’s control.

[SHOXAAC]

Here's how this is gonna go.

I'm gonna call Uncle Mike/KU/AAC troll out.
Nobody will listen.
Repeated slights will continue.
Poster will then throw in a Go Shox somewhere just for good measure.
Repeated call outs gonna go without action.
Poster then gets greedy and plays his hand too hard where it becomes 100% obvious.
Several months later, same poster finally gets banned.

It happens every time. There a couple of dead giveaways with this particular clown that I can't believe anybody with a ban hammer hasn't picked up on.

Fev, I'm apauled you don't have more respect for this grand ole' lady Levitt. I mean she washed her hands after going to the rest room and announced herself prior to sitting down for dinner. I insist, no demand, you hold the door open for her as she departs. Oh, and please pass the butter.

[Dan]

If you read any articles leading up to the tourney, you should have read that this was going to be a wild ride. The rankings were in constant flux all year. It’s playing out exactly like they thought it would, which is lots of upsets.

[FadedCrown]

OK I am just going to get this out now, am I the only one that thinks AAC sounds midmajor? I'd much prefer to call it the American from now on.

[WheatShock]

OK I am just going to get this out now, am I the only one that thinks AAC sounds midmajor? I'd much prefer to call it the American from now on.

Does ACC sound midmajor? How about SEC?

[FadedCrown]

No, I can't explain why AAC sounds midmajor, it just does

[RoyalShock]

What about "The Valley"?

[FadedCrown]

RoyalShock MVC sounds midmajor for sure, Valley does not sound like anything