2023-2024 Games of Interest

[BAShocker]

Wednesday Play in Game watch:

Good news: Shocks won
Bad news: Rice also won, probably unexpectedly

Lots of work to do. Need to get around a team or two.

[forevershockerfan]

Was surprised how Rice beat UAB so easily.

[ShockTalk]

Was surprised how Rice beat UAB so easily.

Rice was probably surprised how WSU beat Tulsa so easily.

[Stickboy46]

I have no idea who is going to win the conference tournament at this point.

[forevershockerfan]

Rice was probably surprised how WSU beat Tulsa so easily.

We get Rice at home and we better get that win. We also get Temple again and better get that win at home.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

I have no idea who is going to win the conference tournament at this point.

It's going to be Memphis and we're all going to hate it

[shocker43]

I have no idea who is going to win the conference tournament at this point.

I think it's the year of the bid thief. Memphis is way too inconsistent and has locker room issues. IMO, FAU is the best team, but will lose to someone bad. USF and SMU could be sleeper picks.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

Ranked in order, according to me...

Conference Tournament Contenders

1) SMU - most well-rounded team in the AAC, has the athleticism to compete with anyone
2) FAU - highest ceiling of any team (beat Arizona), Johnell Davis is a bucket, but often plays down to their opponents and has been bad defensively this year
3) Memphis - most talented team, has the athleticism to compete with anyone, but has chemistry issues, numerous mental lapses and suspect coaching
4) USF - well-coached, veteran guards who can shoot, won many close games (regression candidate), lacking interior presence (Pryor can't bang with true bigs)

Dark Horses

5) North Texas - stout defense, lost many close games (regression candidate), Jason Edwards = pure scorer, need Jones and Noland healthy to have a shot
6) Charlotte - plays methodical offense, has benefitted from favorable schedule, talent-level outside top 3-4 players is questionable
7) UAB - Lendeborg is a game-breaker inside, poor outside shooting, 23-point loss to Rice yesterday makes me question whether they should be on this list

[Woodrow]

I'm guessing none of the top teams would want to play us. We are better reffing and ft shooting away from 4 or 5 more wins. There are no teams we looked like we couldn't beat. Hopefully we play up to our potential the last 4 games.

[asiseeit]

At the very beginning of the season I said our success would depend on A/TO's and IMO that still holds true post season. Have to slog our way through Game one and then have a nice game with that combined with above average 3 pt shooting to advance further. Doubtful.

[WuShock16]

I'm guessing none of the top teams would want to play us. We are better reffing and ft shooting away from 4 or 5 more wins. There are no teams we looked like we couldn't beat. Hopefully we play up to our potential the last 4 games.

Unfortunately, with our inconsistency, there are also no teams that couldn’t beat us by double digits.

[Dan]

Ranked in order, according to me...

Conference Tournament Contenders

1) SMU - most well-rounded team in the AAC, has the athleticism to compete with anyone
2) FAU - highest ceiling of any team (beat Arizona), Johnell Davis is a bucket, but often plays down to their opponents and has been bad defensively this year
3) Memphis - most talented team, has the athleticism to compete with anyone, but has chemistry issues, numerous mental lapses and suspect coaching
4) USF - well-coached, veteran guards who can shoot, won many close games (regression candidate), lacking interior presence (Pryor can't bang with true bigs)

Dark Horses

5) North Texas - stout defense, lost many close games (regression candidate), Jason Edwards = pure scorer, need Jones and Noland healthy to have a shot
6) Charlotte - plays methodical offense, has benefitted from favorable schedule, talent-level outside top 3-4 players is questionable
7) UAB - Lendeborg is a game-breaker inside, poor outside shooting, 23-point loss to Rice yesterday makes me question whether they should be on this list

Good breakdown, but I think the real contenders are the teams that can play at a high level for a 3 or 4 game stretch. That rules out Memphis. I'm going with USF in this one with UNT as the dark horse.

[BostonWu]

I'm guessing none of the top teams would want to play us. We are better reffing and ft shooting away from 4 or 5 more wins. There are no teams we looked like we couldn't beat. Hopefully we play up to our potential the last 4 games.

We're pretty easy to scout. Turn us over and allow 3 pt shots is a decent recipe for opponent victories.

[Kung Wu]

FAU has the ability and experience to go into tournament beast mode. They will start playing at another level, IMO.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

Good breakdown, but I think the real contenders are the teams that can play at a high level for a 3 or 4 game stretch. That rules out Memphis. I'm going with USF in this one with UNT as the dark horse.

I really like USF's backcourt of Youngblood, Reid, and Miguel. Strong backcourts tend to do well in March. UNT also has a good stable of guards so I could see it.

It's exciting that games on Thursday-Friday should actually matter this year. Has been a while since the conference title felt this wide open.