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SMOOfan98 · 08-19-2017, 01:15 AM

I know it was a couple pages back, but I saw y'all mentioning pre-season rankings and I am up late tonight. I think UC is preseason number one in the league. I like WSU, but alot of hype around a team who didn't beat anyone last year. SMU or Cincy could have easily played UK that close on a good day as well.

An SMU perspective on pre-season AAC Rankings:

1) UC- Return your best two players Clark and Evans. Add Broome who is like McMurray for SMU a kid who is real quick and a real quality scorer. Cumberland is an improvement over Johnson and could have a breakout year. Y'all have tons of depth/experience, size, and play tough D. Really like the frosh Williams.

2) WSU- Could obviously win the league, but they didn't beat anyone last year. They got WAY TOO much hype from almost winning a game against UK. They are really good and return alot, but they aren't battle tested for going through a tougher league than the MVC. Shamet and McDuffie are legit players, but I could see them losing a surprise game or two on the road.

3) SMU- You can call me a homer, but we are still really talented and well coached. Once McMurray is eligible we will be real tough. Whitt, Foster and Agau are all top notch defenders. We will be loaded 1-3 and using Foster at the 4 quite a bit. Key will be if Agau (Grad-transfer) and Ray (averaged 10.3RPG on our foreign tour) can man the 5. I expect we finish 3rd no worse than 4th. 18-19 we should be competing for conference crown again.

4) UCF- I give them the nod over Temple because of defense. BJ Taylor is one of the best players in the conference and as long as the have Tacko they will be tough to score on. The added several real good transfers.

5) Temple- I really like Temple, but not sold on them defensively or that Obi will give them a true post presence. Shizz, Rose, Moore and Brown all in the backcourt could be deadly. They were not good last year despite having talent which is another reason I give the nod to UCF. The are older and return Brown, I think they are more talented than UCF, but not sure they finish ahead of them.

6) UH- Rob Gray can score, but they will miss Dotson. Devin Davis will be the key for UH. If he is real good in the post with Zanna the grad-transfer then UH could be real competitive, but I don't see them being able to replace Dotson's impact. Not a fan of Galen Robinson or Wes Van Beck, both liabilities on D.

7) UConn- If they make it through the season without an injury they might finish 5th or 6th, but their frontcourt is terrible and struggled last year the first few games when Larrier and Gilbert were both healthy. They will be better, but so will the AAC.

8) Tulsa- In a past year they might have been 5th, but the AAC is real deep 1-8 this year. I just don't think they have the talent outside of Etou to compete with the top 5 most nights. Taplin is a solid player too.

9) Memphis- Giving them the benefit of the doubt, but they could be 11th. They added some decent JuCo's, but JuCo's are hit or miss. Nickleberry and Johnson should be quality freshman for them. I also like Martin.

10) ECU- Barkley is the only reason I put them here. Lebo is the worst coach in the conference.

11) Tulane- They seem like they might win a few more games, but not many.

12) Terrible.

08-19-2017, 01:15 AM	#71
SMOOfan98 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 6	I know it was a couple pages back, but I saw y'all mentioning pre-season rankings and I am up late tonight. I think UC is preseason number one in the league. I like WSU, but alot of hype around a team who didn't beat anyone last year. SMU or Cincy could have easily played UK that close on a good day as well. An SMU perspective on pre-season AAC Rankings: 1) UC- Return your best two players Clark and Evans. Add Broome who is like McMurray for SMU a kid who is real quick and a real quality scorer. Cumberland is an improvement over Johnson and could have a breakout year. Y'all have tons of depth/experience, size, and play tough D. Really like the frosh Williams. 2) WSU- Could obviously win the league, but they didn't beat anyone last year. They got WAY TOO much hype from almost winning a game against UK. They are really good and return alot, but they aren't battle tested for going through a tougher league than the MVC. Shamet and McDuffie are legit players, but I could see them losing a surprise game or two on the road. 3) SMU- You can call me a homer, but we are still really talented and well coached. Once McMurray is eligible we will be real tough. Whitt, Foster and Agau are all top notch defenders. We will be loaded 1-3 and using Foster at the 4 quite a bit. Key will be if Agau (Grad-transfer) and Ray (averaged 10.3RPG on our foreign tour) can man the 5. I expect we finish 3rd no worse than 4th. 18-19 we should be competing for conference crown again. 4) UCF- I give them the nod over Temple because of defense. BJ Taylor is one of the best players in the conference and as long as the have Tacko they will be tough to score on. The added several real good transfers. 5) Temple- I really like Temple, but not sold on them defensively or that Obi will give them a true post presence. Shizz, Rose, Moore and Brown all in the backcourt could be deadly. They were not good last year despite having talent which is another reason I give the nod to UCF. The are older and return Brown, I think they are more talented than UCF, but not sure they finish ahead of them. 6) UH- Rob Gray can score, but they will miss Dotson. Devin Davis will be the key for UH. If he is real good in the post with Zanna the grad-transfer then UH could be real competitive, but I don't see them being able to replace Dotson's impact. Not a fan of Galen Robinson or Wes Van Beck, both liabilities on D. 7) UConn- If they make it through the season without an injury they might finish 5th or 6th, but their frontcourt is terrible and struggled last year the first few games when Larrier and Gilbert were both healthy. They will be better, but so will the AAC. 8) Tulsa- In a past year they might have been 5th, but the AAC is real deep 1-8 this year. I just don't think they have the talent outside of Etou to compete with the top 5 most nights. Taplin is a solid player too. 9) Memphis- Giving them the benefit of the doubt, but they could be 11th. They added some decent JuCo's, but JuCo's are hit or miss. Nickleberry and Johnson should be quality freshman for them. I also like Martin. 10) ECU- Barkley is the only reason I put them here. Lebo is the worst coach in the conference. 11) Tulane- They seem like they might win a few more games, but not many. 12) Terrible. Last edited by SMOOfan98; 08-19-2017 at 01:18 AM.