It looks to be another exciting season in the American Athletic Conference, but a changing of the guard may be taking place. Just as their football brethren did, Houston, UCF and Cincinnati have moved over to the Big 12. Houston was the class of the AAC last season with a 17-1 conference record, an overall mark of 33-4 and a trip to the Sweet 16, where Final Four participant Miami proved to be too much to handle.
While the football additions seem to have watered down the conference as a whole on the gridiron, the additions may actually strengthen the conference on the hardwood. Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA are the newcomers making the move from Conference USA. It does appear that FAU, North Texas and UAB will be more than formidable challengers based on what they did last season, as the Owls captivated the nation with their run to the Final Four and North Texas beat UAB in the NIT championship game.
In fact, FAU may very well be the class of this conference, as last year’s Final Four team is more or less intact for head coach Dusty May this season. Memphis, while still talented, has to replace nearly 40 points per game from Kendric Davis and DeAndre Williams.
In terms of holdovers, Tulane returns Jaylen Forbes and Kevin Cross, who combined to average 33.3 of Tulane’s nearly 80 points per game. Otherwise, the triumvirate of FAU, UAB and North Texas may be able to push aside AAC squads like Wichita State and Temple in the standings. Like I said, while the football side of the ledger took a hit, the basketball profile of the conference has clearly risen with these new programs.