AAC Predictions

 2. UConn: Defending champs lose Daniels and Shabazz, but return enough to be a threat come March.  Boatright can’t carry them like Napier or Kemba in years past but I think he’ll be a strong leader and good scorer.  Purvis should be a nice edition after sitting out last year (hopefully he spent most of his time shooting FTs).  I’m excited to see how Sam Cassell Jr will transition from JUCO ball, and then they still have Omar Calhoun who has potential.   They also bring in 5-star Daniel Hamiton who should have an immediate impact.  Frontcourt is not particularly good, but Brimah is moving in the right direction and has a big upside.

 3.  Memphis: Lose Jackson, Dixon, Crawford and Johnson from the backcourt, so it'll be all newcomers there.  Getting ex-Vandy player Kedren Johnson immediate eligibility is huge, he's a do-it-all guard.  Pookie Powell is another intriguing but raw guard. Frontcourt is strong with the returns of Goodwin and Nichols, those two will be hard for teams to handle.  As always, Pastner has a lot of raw talent and it’ll be fun to see how much damage guys like Iverson and King will do.

 4.  Tulsa: Frank Haith in at head coach, not really sure what to think about that hire.  Anyway, they return all but one starter and I think they’ll transition well into the American.  Woodard and Smith are confident guards and when this team got hot last year they were very hard to keep up with.  I think this league drops off after the top three, but I look for Tulsa to have a strong first year in the league.

 5.  Temple: Dunphy coming off one of his worst years coaching, having won only 4 conference games.  Everyone knows he can coach and I think the Owls will have a bounce-back year.  Cummings will fill it up again this year, and Decosey is solid as well.  Frontcourt has question marks, but I think Dunphy will figure out the best rotation and they’ll be able to hold their own in the conference.  Losing Anthony Lee to OSU will hurt a lot.

 6.  Cincinnatti: I know they are always great on the defensive end and hustle/rebound well but I think their lack of scoring will really catch up with them this year.  I look for this to be a huge down year in terms of bearcats standards.  Losing the scoring from Kilpatrick and Jackson will be tough, especially because they weren't a particularly strong offense with those guys.  I expect them to miss out on the big dance this year.  Look for Jermaine Sanders to take on a lot more responsibility. 

 7. Houston:  Sampson back to coaching college ball!  After a 5-year ban, Houston is giving Kelvin Sampson a chance to prove he can still win.  Losing House and Thomas is big, as they were most of the production last year.  This team does intrigue me a little bit though.  They have LJ Rose who is a solid ex-baylor point guard (however he’s out until Dec with a recent injury).  Chicken Knowles came to Houston a highly touted recruit and still has a huge upside.  They also return Stiggers, who averaged double figures last year.  Devonte Pollard is also here this year; the ex-bama forward showed he’s got a lot of talent in the time he spent there.  If things go well, this team could be very competitive.