https://watchstadium.com/not-so-secret-l...0-07-2022/

Secret Scrimmages


Public Exhibition:

Memphis:
OCT 23 VS CHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY
OCT 30 LANE COLLEGE

smu
OCT 29 PAUL QUINN COLLEGE

usf
NOV 1 UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA (EXHIBITION)

Tulane
NOV 2 SPRING HILL COLLEGE (ALA.)

wichita
NOV 1 MISSOURI SOUTHERN STATE

CBS- aac preview

Top 11 most underrated teams in men's college basketball -NCAA/Katz
(tulane)

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men...-andy-katz

If they are secret scrimmages, shouldn't you not be disclosing secret information?

AAC

Cincinnati – Oct. 16 at Ohio; Oct. 29 vs. Purdue in Indianapolis

East Carolina – N/A

Houston – Oct. 22 vs. Texas in San Antonio; Oct. 29 vs. Duke

Memphis – None

SMU – Oct. 15 at Oklahoma State

South Florida – Oct 22 vs. FIU

Temple – Oct. 22 vs. Georgetown; Oct. 29 at Iona

Tulane – Oct. 29 at Georgia Tech

Tulsa – Oct. 15 vs. Texas Tech in Fort Worth; Oct. 22 vs. South Dakota in Kansas City

UCF – Oct. 15 vs. FAU; Oct. 22 vs. Georgia in Savannah

Wichita State – Oct. 29 vs. Missouri State

I am sure ECU has one, I can likely find out. Big key for ECU is can Tabbs play at a high level this year. If he can we will be a dangerous team potentially. If he cannot, this year could be long. I do like a few of our newcomers, but we shall see.

CBS AAC expert picks 2022-23: Bold predictions, most overrated and underrated teams, top players
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...p-players/

some shots at temple, extremely low on SMU

also AAC media day is tomorrow morning on espn+

(10-07-2022 12:53 PM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  If they are secret scrimmages, shouldn't you not be disclosing secret information?

If he knows about secret scrimmages, then they're not really secret, are they?

(10-11-2022 11:15 AM)pesik Wrote:  CBS AAC expert picks 2022-23: Bold predictions, most overrated and underrated teams, top players
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...p-players/

some shots at temple, extremely low on SMU

This article seems to have been written by more than one of the CBS commentators, who have varying views about where Cincy, Tulane, and Temple are likely to finish.

For example, these two paragraphs about Temple are quite different:

This paragraph is fairly upbeat:

"Temple had the second-least experienced team in the country last season according to KenPom.com's metrics yet still finished the season 17-12, this despite also losing star scorer Khalif Battle after playing in only seven games and the likes of Jeremiah Williams, Arashma Parks and others missing extended periods with injuries as well. Coach Aaron McKie needed some wind at his sails and entering his fourth season, he finally has some with Battle and most of the nucleus of the team still intact. It's been an uphill climb the last few years transitioning out of the Fran Dunphy era for McKie, but the pieces are in place for his rebuild to really take off this season."

This paragraph excerpt is a bit less enthusiastic:

"Temple...settled on average at No. 5 in our preseason poll...after finishing fourth in the league last season, Cincinnati and Tulane appear destined to make a leap and Houston, Memphis and SMU aren't going anywhere. The return of Khalif Battle makes the Owls a bit of a wild card with lots of upside, but it feels a bit like they could take a step back in the arms race of the league with so many other teams set to make a leap."

Overall, there's not much to see here, other than the the predictions by the five commentators.

The most interesting things we seem to be seeing at this point, with regard to the competition for NCAA bids in the AAC, are that:

1) There's likely to be a battle for third place, and potentially for a third NCAA bid, between Cincinnati and Tulane.

2) The ESPN and CBS Sports bracketologies have both listed Tulane as a likely "first four out" (i.e., NCAA bubble) team, indicating that they believe that the AAC could be a three-bid conference this year.

3) barttorvik.com's pre-season rankings suggest that this may be an "off year" for the MWC (Torvik only has two MWC teams listed in his pre-season top 50).

(10-11-2022 11:15 AM)pesik Wrote:  CBS AAC expert picks 2022-23: Bold predictions, most overrated and underrated teams, top players
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...p-players/

some shots at temple, extremely low on SMU

As far as Temple is concerned, the CBS commentators may well be right that Temple will finish ~ 5th in the conference, behind Cincy and Tulane.

Here are the biggest question marks for the Owls this season:

1. Can (6'1" soph) Hysier Miller develop into a 4 assist/2 turnover PG this season, and can he do it in November?

2. With only one true PG on the team, can Coach McKie convert one of his SG/wings into a capable floor general (far more assists than turnovers) on an "as needed" basis (e.g., when Miller is out of the game for whatever reason)?

3. Can Damian Dunn and Khalif Battle function effectively when they're both on the court this season? The past two seasons, the team lost >50% of their games when those two played, because (a) both looked primarily to score, (b) neither of them made many assists, and © both made more turnovers than assists.

4. Can Nick Jourdain stay out of foul trouble more often than he did the second half of last season?

5. Can (e.g., by emphasizing conditioning and playing starters fewer mpg) the team avoid losing key players to injuries, as they have the past three years?

If the answer to none of these questions is "yes," it could be a frustrating year for the Owls. If the answer to all five questions is "yes," Temple could make its way into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019.

.

ill put it in this thread too because the news thread is lagging

AAC Preseason Coaches Poll (first-place vote in parenthesis)

1. Houston (10) - 100

2. Memphis (1) - 87

3. Cincinnati - 82

4. Tulane - 74

5. Temple - 66

6. UCF - 51

7. SMU - 43

8. Wichita State - 35

9. South Florida - 33

10. Tulsa - 21

11. East Carolina - 13

Preseason Player of the Year

Marcus Sasser, Houston

Preseason Rookie of the Year

Jarace Walker, Houston (unanimous selection)

Preseason All-AAC First Team

G Marcus Sasser (senior), Houston (unanimous selection)

G Kendric Davis (fifth-year), Memphis (unanimous selection)

F DeAndre Williams (fifth-year), Memphis

G Damian Dunn (redshirt sophomore), Temple

G Jalen Cook (sophomore), Tulane

Preseason All-AAC Second Team

G David DeJulius (fifth-year), Cincinnati

G Jamal Shead (junior), Houston

G Khalif Battle (redshirt sophomore), Temple

F Kevin Cross (junior), Tulane

G Jaylen Forbes (junior), Tulane

Seems pretty reasonable. After Houston at 1, the only thing I'm pretty certain of is that Tulane will be really good. I think UC should be a tournament-caliber team, but I'm going to have to see the development before I feel good about that.

I hope the CBS experts are right about UC. It's refreshing to see the positive comments.

(10-12-2022 11:11 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  After Houston at 1, the only thing I'm pretty certain of is that Tulane will be really good. I think UC should be a tournament-caliber team...

It seems that there's a consensus developing that Houston, Memphis, Tulane, and Cincy could all be NCAA or NCAA "bubble" teams. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that, if these teams remain healthy enough, the AAC could be a 4-bid conference this season (which it was in 2014, 2016, and 2019).

One of the reasons why the AAC could be a 4-bid conference is that the Big East, WCC, and MWC only have 7 teams ranked in the top 50 of the barttorvik.com rankings (there were 13 Big East, WCC, and MWC teams in the 2022 NCAA tournament). Another is that 4 AAC teams are ranked in the top 52 of the barttorvik.com pre-season rankings.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Will there be sweeps or splits in head-to-head matchups between top 5 AAC teams?

If the teams remain relatively injury-free, it seems likely that, with the possible exception of Houston, most of the head-to-head matchups between UC, UH, Tulane, Memphis, and Temple will end up in split home/away series, rather than sweeps. If that's the case, then each of these teams is likely to go something like 4-4 (or 4-3, or 3-4) in their matchups with each other.

Notably, Temple has had a history of playing well on their home court vs. the top AAC. They went 3-1 vs. the top AAC teams on their home court last season, and only lost to UH by 5 pts. Similarly, despite going 14-17 in 2019-20, the Owls went 3-2 vs. the top AAC teams on their home floor and only lost to (#22) Houston by 4 pts.

Predicted conference records:
...................2022-23:...............2021-22:
Houston........15 wins....................15-3
Memphis:....13-14 wins.................13-5
Tulane:.......12-13 wins.................10-8
Cincy:.........12-13 wins.................7-11
Temple:.......11-12 wins................10-7

Predicted overall records:

...................2022-23:...............2021-22:....Post-season prediction:
Houston........28+ wins..................32-6........NCAA tournament (lock)
Memphis:......21+ wins*...............22-11........NCAA tournament
Tulane:.........24+ wins^...............14-15........NCAA (#11 seed, or NIT #1/#2 seed)
Cincy:...........22+ wins.................18-15........NCAA or NIT (#1-#3 seed)
Temple:.........20+ wins~...............17-12........NIT team

*Memphis has the most difficult OOC schedule in the conference, and with their high SOS, they could probably make the NCAA tournament with 20+ wins.

^Tulane appears to have one of the less difficult OOC schedules in the conference, and given their SOS, they might have to win at least 24 games to earn a NCAA bid.

schwartz thinks tabbs will play this year and sooner rather than later

(10-12-2022 02:04 PM)pesik Wrote:  

Temple is going to need a lot more from Battle than scoring. They're going to need him to improve defensively and to make more assists and fewer turnovers than he made last season (1.0 assists, 2.1 turnovers/game). He ranked last on the team in 2021-22 in the defensive rating statistic.

As much as the team needs his scoring prowess, the advantage they gain from his shooting ability is partially offset by his defensive liabilities and 0.48 assist:turnover ratio.

Battle does contribute in other ways (e.g., he's a good rebounder), but it's really going to be important for the team and for him as a player with NBA aspirations to take his defensive and play-making game up a couple of notches - - to the high D1 level.

.

(10-12-2022 02:06 PM)pesik Wrote:  schwartz thinks tabbs will play this year and sooner rather than later

Hope that ends up happening but I'll believe it when I see it.

(10-12-2022 11:06 AM)pesik Wrote:  ill put it in this thread too because the news thread is lagging

AAC Preseason Coaches Poll (first-place vote in parenthesis)

1. Houston (10) - 100

2. Memphis (1) - 87

3. Cincinnati - 82

4. Tulane - 74

5. Temple - 66

6. UCF - 51

7. SMU - 43

8. Wichita State - 35

9. South Florida - 33

10. Tulsa - 21

11. East Carolina - 13

Preseason Player of the Year

Marcus Sasser, Houston

Preseason Rookie of the Year

Jarace Walker, Houston (unanimous selection)

Preseason All-AAC First Team

G Marcus Sasser (senior), Houston (unanimous selection)

G Kendric Davis (fifth-year), Memphis (unanimous selection)

F DeAndre Williams (fifth-year), Memphis

G Damian Dunn (redshirt sophomore), Temple

G Jalen Cook (sophomore), Tulane

Preseason All-AAC Second Team

G David DeJulius (fifth-year), Cincinnati

G Jamal Shead (junior), Houston

G Khalif Battle (redshirt sophomore), Temple

F Kevin Cross (junior), Tulane

G Jaylen Forbes (junior), Tulane

Wichita has really fallen in the estimation of the 'experts.'