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AAC Basketball 2024: Early-February Roundup

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AAC Basketball is in the middle of the conference slate. Here’s where each team stands in early February.

Team NET  KenPom Record
FAU 25 24 18-4 (8-1)
USF 106 114 15-5 (8-1)
Charlotte 95 103 14-7 (8-1)
SMU 46 47 15-7 (6-3)
UAB 131 136 14-8 (6-3)
UNT 82 82 12-9 (5-4)
Memphis 80 77 16-6 (5-4)
ECU 197 190 11-12 (4-6)
Tulane 115 112 13-9 (4-6)
Tulsa 180 171 12-9 (3-6)
Rice 211 196 9-13 (3-6)
UTSA 279 283 8-14 (2-7)
Temple 252 246 8-14 (1-8)
Wichita St 153 156 9-13 (1-8)
Kenpom, NET, and standings reflect games as of 2/4/2024

Key Storylines

Tight at the Top

Roughly at the halfway mark, three teams sit tied atop the AAC standings. FAU, the preseason favorite was expected to be there. South Florida (No. 9 preseason) and Charlotte (No. 11) were not. The surprises have made for an interesting race down the stretch with preseason No. 2 Memphis struggling this month with four consecutive conference losses. If you’re marking calendars, circle Feb. 6 (Charlotte at USF), Feb. 18 (FAU at USF) and Mar. 2 (USF at Charlotte).

Memphis Free Fall

Speaking of Memphis, the Tigers are firmly in the danger zone when it comes to their postseason hopes. If they want to make the NCAA Tournament without an automatic berth, they more or less have to be flawless for the remainder of the regular season. Even then, that might not be enough.

Flip flopped

A lot has changed since early October. South Florida was picked to finish ninth in the league in the preseason. They entered this past weekend tied for first place. Sitting at 8-1 in conference play, they have absolutely proved some doubters wrong. On the other side of the ledger, Tulane is not living up to lofty preseason expectations. The Green Wave are 4-6 in league play despite being picked to finish third in the preseason.

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AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco announces retirement

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On an otherwise quiet Thursday morning, AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco announced his forthcoming retirement. He will be missed.

In today’s media landscape, few major announcements stay entirely under wraps. Half an hour until the American Athletic Conference office released perhaps it’s most significant statement of the past several seasons, there had been not even a hint of what was to come in the national media. Then, in a swift notice, AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco announced his retirement.

Effective May 31, 2024, Aresco will retire from his position atop the AAC, a place he has resided for the past 11 years. To this day, Aresco is the only commissioner in league history, guiding the then Big East and helping it grow into the AAC we know today.

Aresco issued this statement along with the release:

“It has been the supreme privilege of my long career in sports to have had the opportunity to lead this great conference from its reinvention in 2013, and to represent its outstanding student-athletes, coaches and administrators. I am grateful to the Board of Directors for giving me this opportunity to serve. It would take many pages to list this conference’s numerous athletic and academic accomplishments. There have also been some disappointments and difficulties along the way, most notably, the P5-G5 divide, realignment, College Football Playoff access for our deserving teams, and some competitive heartbreak in big games. But these have not affected in any way my enthusiasm in leading this terrific and resilient conference or my optimism for its long-term future. I would like to thank everyone associated with this conference for their significant contributions, and also my friends and colleagues in the college community, for their goodwill and concern for the greater good of the collegiate enterprise.”

You can find the full release here and a roundup of what others in the world of college athletics and media broadcasting had to say about the news here.

On a personal note, although my interactions with Aresco were brief, I was always impressed by his unrelenting confidence and unwavering determination. In a world of haves and have-nots, he never let anyone else define his league. Instead, he brought the fight to their doorsteps, fearless reminding all onlookers his conference was capable and, most importantly, kept receipts.

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AAC Football: Early Transfer Portal Results

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The Transfer Portal opened this week and several AAC Football programs have already been significantly impacted. Here’s where things stand after a week of action.

The first wave of transfers has hit the portal, with some AAC Football programs largely unaffected and others facing massive headwinds to find replacements by the time the Early Signing Period opens on December 20. The following numbers have been taken from 247 Sports Transfer Portal tracker, updated as of Wednesday, December 6.

School Portal Entrants
ECU 21
North Texas 19
Tulsa 13
Charlotte 13
FAU 11
UAB 10
Temple 6
USF 5
SMU 4
UTSA 3
Memphis 3
Tulane 3
Rice 0
Navy 0

State of the AAC

It’s no surprise the programs with the most turnover are the ones that aren’t making any postseason appearances. Of the seven teams with the fewest transfers listed, six are playing in a bowl while the seventh (Navy) still has one regular season game remaining and comes with its own extenuating circumstances.

It’s worth noting Rice does have one player who has announced he’s entering the portal, but not one that likely played into their future: CB Jordan Dunbar who did not play this season.

More: AAC Football Bowl Roundup

North Texas and ECU lead the pack and have been absolutely gutted by outgoing transfers so far. ECU’s demise makes some sense, following a dreadful 2-10 season filled with disappointment and frustration. The exodus in Denton, TX is more puzzling. Eric Morris’ built an impressive offense in year one and had the team on the fringe of bowl eligibility. He won’t be starting from scratch in 2024, but losing so many key pieces certainly won’t help.

Names to Watch

More names could enter before the portal closes, but as of now there are a handful of AAC players that are likely to be coveted assets over the next few weeks:

UTSA DE Trey Moore – The reigning AAC Defensive Player of the Year and arguably one of the premier pass rushers in all of college football, Moore is going to be at the top of the list for Power 5 programs across the country and should have his pick of final destinations.

North Texas QB Chandler Rodgers – Rodgers didn’t get any AAC postseason accolades, but that was probably more to blame on the copious amounts of quality QB play in the conference than Rodgers’ abilities. The quarterback transfer market is already brimming, but Rodgers proved this season he can be a starter somewhere.

Temple QB EJ Warner – Injuries and terrible offensive play around Warner kept onlookers from seeing his true ceiling this season. That might allow him to fly a bit under the radar, but any programs that dig a little deeper and assess his skillset should jump at the chance to add him to their QB rooms. He has multiple years of eligibility remaining.

Charlotte LB Nikhai Hill-Green – The No. 2 tackler on a 49ers defense that had plenty of opportunities, the 6–foot-2, 232-pound Hill-Green put plenty on tape this season to earn another shot as a starter elsewhere and should receiver plenty of interest.

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AAC Football 2023: Bowl Notes, Championship Game

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SMU has won the 2023 AAC football championship. Now six teams venture on to bowl season, with the first game fast approaching.

Matchups have been announced for the bowl season following plenty of drama and chaos along the way. Here are the reported pairings as of early Sunday evening:

Team Opponent Bowl Time Date
UTSA Marshall Frisco 9:00 pm ET Dec. 19
USF Syracuse Boca Raton 8:00 pm ET Dec. 21
Rice Texas State SERVPRO First Responder’s Bowl 5:30 pm ET Dec. 26
Tulane Virginia Tech Military 2:00 pm ET Dec. 27
SMU* Boston College Fenway 11:00 am ET Dec. 28
Memphis Iowa State Liberty 3:30 pm ET Dec. 29
*Won Conference USA Football Championship Game

AAC Football Championship results – Standings

SMU handled Tulane rather comfortably on Friday night, securing the AAC Conference Championship in their final season in the league before departing for the ACC next year. What was even more impressive than the final score was how comfortable they looked with their backup quarterback leading the offense with Preston Stone sidelined.

New Year’s Six Drama

SMU was snubbed for the G5 spot in the New Year’s Six in favor of an undefeated Liberty team, a fate few would have anticipated for the American Champion, regardless of who took home the title. Commission Mike Aresco did not mince words in his rebuttal, calling the decision “disappointing”.

Here are his full comments:

Coaching Changes

So far, there has only been one coaching change in the AAC this offseason. Tulane’s Willie Fritz will reportedly be the next head coach at the University of Houston. Other than that, the remainder of the league’s coaches are set to return for another season. The league did have a large portion of first-year coaches this season, but even still, to only have one coaching change in a conference this big seems uncommon.

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AAC Football 2023: Week 13 Roundup

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AAC Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron in Week 12.

Team Record  This Week Result Up Next
Charlotte 3-9 (2-6) at USF L, 48-14  —
ECU 2-10 (1-7) vs Tulsa L, 29-27  —
FAU 4-8 (2-6) at Rice L, 24-21  —
Memphis 9-3 (6-2) at Temple (Fri) W, 45-21 Bowl
Navy 5-6 (4-4) at SMU L, 59-14 vs Army
North Texas 5-7 (3-5) vs UAB W, 45-42  —
Rice 6-6 (4-4) vs FAU W, 24-21 Bowl
SMU 10-2 (8-0) vs Navy W, 59-14 at Tulane (AAC Championship)
Temple 3-9 (1-7) vs Memphis (Fri) L, 45-21  —
Tulane 11-1 (8-0) vs UTSA (Fri) W, 29-16 vs SMU (AAC Championship)
Tulsa 4-8 (2-6) at ECU W, 29-27  —
UAB 4-8 (3-5) at North Texas L, 45-42  —
USF 6-6 (4-4) vs Charlotte W, 48-14 Bowl
UTSA 8-4 (7-1) at Tulane (Fri) L, 29-16 Bowl

Notable Results and Storylines // (Standings)

Conference Championship Game Set

SMU and Tulane will meet in the AAC Championship Game next weekend at Yulman Stadium after both teams posted resounding victories in the final weekend of regular season play. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, their win came with a great cost. Starting quarterback Preston Stone had to be carted off the field with an injury and presumably will not be available for the championship game,

Bowl Trip Secured

Rice football hadn’t been to bowl games in consecutive seasons since 2013-2014 until Mike Bloomgren accomplished the feat this season, clinching back-to-back bowl trips for his team with a win over FAU at home. USF also punched it’s postseason ticket on the final week of the regular season, taking down Charlotte.

Where the Media Went Wrong

The Media correctly tabbed the top four finishers in the preseason, albeit in a slightly different order with SMU (preseason No. 3) edging UTSA (preseason No. 2) out for the championship game berth. Having Temple, Tulsa and Charlotte in the bottom five proved to be correct as well.

The biggest surprises? Rice and USF. Picked to finish 12th, the Owls will finish sixth in the league, seven spots higher than projected. USF was the preseason No. 13 team. They’ll finish fifth in Alex Golesh’s first season at the helm. Their rise coincides with the falls of FAU and ECU, who were tabbed fifth and sixth only to finish 10th and 14th, respectively.

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