His predictions looking ahead to the season:
1 Cincinnati
2 UCF
3 Memphis
4 Houston
5 Temple
6 Tulsa
7 SMU
8 UConn
9 Wichita State
10 USF
11 Tulane
12 ECU
Don’t dismiss SMU: The Mustangs were battling injuries and a transition last season. That shouldn’t be an issue this season. Jahmal McMurray, Jarrey Foster will be studs for the Mustangs and Jimmy Whitt, Ethan Chargois and transfer Isiaha Mike will provide plenty of productivity on the offensive end. Tim Jankovich is one of the under appreciated coaches who maximizes talent.
His predictions looking ahead to the season:
1 Cincinnati
2 UCF
3 Memphis
4 Houston
5 Temple
6 Tulsa
7 SMU
8 UConn
9 Wichita State
10 USF
11 Tulane
12 ECU
Don’t dismiss SMU: The Mustangs were battling injuries and a transition last season. That shouldn’t be an issue this season. Jahmal McMurray, Jarrey Foster will be studs for the Mustangs and Jimmy Whitt, Ethan Chargois and transfer Isiaha Mike will provide plenty of productivity on the offensive end. Tim Jankovich is one of the under appreciated coaches who maximizes talent.
The comment is more telling than the ranking I hope. I can't imagine the furore if we aren't in the top half of the conference.
If you look at all the different AAC preseason projections its all over the board.
The conference is really more wide open than ever. The fact Katz has Cincy as number 1 is the best example (they lost three of their best 4 players) and are replacing those 3 (Gary Clark, Jacob Evans, and Kyle Washington) with guys who played minor rotation roles last season. The only reason they are 1 is reputation. UCF and Memphis have talent, but are unknown. UH lost Gray and Devin Davis.
I would be surprised if we didn't finish in the top half of the conference.
The top 7-8 teams are going to beat each other up all season. Let's hope the conference earns some respect in OOC play first. We've got to get to 4-5 NCAA bids every year.....depth and bench strength will be huge to get through to March.
Forgetting for a minute our lack of a true point guard it seems Jank is attempting to build a roster of long, athletic guys who can shoot. If they can rebound and switch at will on defense we should be top three or four.
If the ball stops like it has in the past....or we turn it over 15x per game we be 8-9 in the standings.
