Report Card: Grading The AAC Coaching Hires

All the coaching posotions in the American Conference are now filled.  Here's what the report card looks like.




Houston: Major Applewhite
After news started to spread that Lane Kiffin was the next head coach, the University came and said that was 100% false.  Just days later, Houston promoted Applewhite from OC to head coach.  It was clear that he was not their first choice, but he was on their big board.  I think most fans are hoping he keeps some of Tom Herman's traditions alive.  Under Applewhite the offense was good, but it wasn't dominate. Let's hope this is Tom Herman 2.0.
Grade: C+




Cincinnati: Luke Fickell:
I thought this was the best hire in the conference. The fan base was not on board from the start, but once Fickell started to move in, I think they realized how good of a coach they actually got. Fickell relieves Tommy Tuberville, who really had no success with his own players, because he refused to recruit the Cincinnati area.  Fickell will do the opposite of that.  He was one of the best recruiters in the nation.  Plus, I think the only thing Fickell cares about is winning and nothing else. Lastly, with Fickell you even get some expirence from when he was the interim at Ohio State for a year.
Grade B+


South Florida: Charlie Strong
A lot of people were saying this is a homerun hire, and I just don't see that.  I do think it was a solid hire, but Charlie Strong has only two seasons where he has won more than 7 games.  Thrown in the fact that he has been a head coach for 7 seasons. That is not the definition of a homerun hire.  With that being said, I still do give it a thumbs up.  Strong will be a great recruiter in the Florida area and South Florida will continue to go to bowl games with him.  I'm just not sure if they can break through to new heights.  I see more of 8-4 and 7-5 seasons for the Bulls.
Grade: B




Temple: Geoff Collins
This hire is the hardest for me to judge. Collins was the DC at Florida and the Gators had one of the best defense's in the nation the last two years, but other than that I really don't know much about Collins. This is his first ever head coaching job and he will have big shoes to fill for Owls who are coming off a 10 win season. To judge this hire, I'll have to wait until I see what Temple does on the football field. For now, it's an average hire.
Grade C




UConn: Randy Edsall
Uh...okay.  Nobody really knows where this hire came from. Edsall was with the program way back in the day before he eventually left to become the Maryland coach, where he had no success whatsoever.  For the last year and a half he had something to do with the Lions in the front office. I'll be honest, I hate this hire.  First off, where was this move three weeks ago? Why did Bob Diaco not got fired until all the good coaching candidates were gone. As much as it pains me to say, why not keep Diaco another year? He certainly does not deserve it, but how much of an upgrade was this? The only reason the Huskies do not get an F is because they actually pulled the trigger and did fire Diaco. I hope I am wrong, Huskie fans, I really do, but I think they may be in for a couple more rough years at the Rent.
Grade: D

LIVE BLOG: American Conference Play: Week 1

Follow us for our live blog throughout the first day of American Athletic Conference basketball. We have four games on slate for this afternoon/tonight.  Relax and enjoy some #AACtion.
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First TV Timeout and Cincinnati is playing their usual defense.  Temple has yet to score right now and trails 7-0.
Final: East Carolina 60 South Florida 49
South Florida played much better in the second half, but when you play as bad as they did in the first 15 minutes you can't expect to win. First half they had 15 turnovers...that can't happen.
It wasn't pretty, but East Carolina is going to beat South Florida. Big night for the Freshman Elijah Hughes who had a career high 19 points.  Jeff Lebo really did need this win. 
As long as ECU plays within itself they should win this.  Up 50-40 with 3:30 left, South Florida just doesn't have the offensive fire power to get back in it.
ECU is giving South Florida every chance to win this game.  Pirates are 4-15 from the FT line.  After a horrible first half, the Bulls trail by just 9 points with 10 minutes left.
East Carolina is just 3-11 from the free throw line. And that's why they are letting USF to hang around. Pirates still up 37-24.
Central Florida up on Tulane 8-4 early. Tanksley Efianayi has 6 for the Knights.
I feel bad for Tulane players.  It literally looks like there are 12 people at this game.
In other news, the Cincinnati/Temple media pass has 10 NBA scouts on it.....
Big foul on White, he has three. South Florida came out firing and cut it to 13.  Pirates need an answer. I'm looking at you, BJ Tyson. 37-24 Pirates lead.
Central Florida/Tulane is getting ready to tip right now on ESPN3.
Halftime has East Carolina leading South Florida 34-17. Bulls made just 7 shots in the game on just 28 percent shooting.  South Florida is +5 in rebounding today, but they have 15 turnovers already as well. 
At this point, I looks like South Florida is just handing the ball to ECU. You have to give credit to ECU though, defense is the strong suit of their team and they are showing it tonight. 34-17 East Carolina. 
And-1 for Shperard and ECU is starting another run. Bulls now once again have more turnovers than points. Pirates lead 33-13 with 1:23 left in the half.
Breaking: South Florida has the same number of points as turnovers (13.)  East Carolina leads 27-13 with just 2 minutes to play in the first half.
Caleb White is having a good game so far and he needs it confidence wise.  This game is all Pirates so far at 27-11 with 3:30 left in the first half.
With just 4 minutes left to play South Florida is lucky to be down 14 points right now. USF still has more turnovers (12) than points. (11).
South Florida is on pace to score 8 points this game.
Yet another timeout South Florida.  ECU is on a 15-0 run and leads 17-2. Bulls have 8 turnovers in 8 minutes of play and they are shooting 12 percent.  That won't win you a lot of ball games. 
East Carolina is playing great defense.  That's 7 USF turnovers know.  Bulls are shooting just 14 percent right now. ECU leads 15-2. 11-0 run for the Pirates.
Great pass from Barkley to find the back door cutter and BJ Tyson finishes it. Timeout South Florida.  East Carolina leads 10-2.
Another turnover for the Bulls that 5 within the first minutes.  East Carolina is at least getting up some shots.  ECU leads 8-2.


First media timeout in Greenville.  Not much to say besides very sloppy basketball.  Both with a couple turnovers early.  ECU leads 6-2.


Fun Fact: A win today from USF and the only team to have a worse record than UConn will be Tulane. Let that sink in.


Both teams struggling to keep possession early. South Florida has three turnovers in the first two minutes of play. ECU leading 4-0.


East Carolina/South Florida is tipping right now on ESPNU.  Pirates come in as an 8 point favorite.


Houston 62 UConn 46. Bottom line is 33 percent shooting is not going to win very many games. Big win though for Kelvin Sampson. Cougars get their first road win.

Huskies finally starting to make some shots, but it will be too little to late. Also Houston looking a little sloppy with a couple of turnovers. 48-26 Houston.

Kelvin Sampson's team comes out hot to start the 2nd half. Basically crushing any hope UCONN had. 44-18 Houston leads.

36-12 Houston at halftime. Booing coming from the fans in Gampel. UConn is shooting 14 percent and is -7 in turnover margin. UCONN is just not a good team right now.

UCONN has 12 points with 38 seconds left in the first half. Let that sink in.

Houston is on a 24-5 run. Kevin Ollie calls timeout. His team can't score and Rob Gray is starting to heat up for Houston. Not good for the Huskies. 31-11 Cougars.

20-5 run for Houston. Kevin Ollie is speechless and his team can't buy a bucket. Houston leads 27-11.

Christian Vital finally ends the drought for UCONN with a three. But UConn is stool shooting only 18 percent is -6 in turnover margin.

Run continues with a Wes VanBeck layup. 11-0 run for Coogs. Brimah and UCONN holding their own on the boards but they are just stone cold on offense right now. 16-5 Houston.

Now it's a 9-0 run for Houston at the under 12 media timeout. Cougars have yet to turn the ball over. There shooting 50 percent compared to the Huskies 16 percent.

Huskies have three turnovers already. DD has 7 of 9 points for Houston. He put up 22 last year in their upset win over UCONN.

Damyean Dotson leading the scoring early. He's been solid all year for Houston on the offensive end. 7-5 Cougars lead.

Rodney Purvish gets UCONN'S first field goal. He has to play big with Adam's and Gilbert out. 5-3 Houston early.

Big blow for the Huskies. Jalen Adam's is officially out for UCONN with a concussion. He was their leading scorer. Three of UCONN'S 5 Best players are out today...

Houston forward Devin Davis is questionable with foot injury via Joseph Duarte.


Houston vs. UConn: UConn enters the game as a 1 point favorite is Vegas according to scoresandodds.com


Last night, SMU went to the FedEx Forum and beat Memphis 58-54.  Mustangs are now 11-3 are on the year and got their first road win of the season. 

Preview & Prediction: SMU Travels To The FedEx Forum To Take On Memphis.

American Athletic Conference play will tip off on Tuesday night when the SMU Mustangs travel to the FedEx Forum to take on Memphis. The game is set to tip at 9:00 for us guys over on the east coast and it will air on ESPNU.

SMU comes in at 10-3, but with zero bad losses so far.  They lost to USC and Boise on the road, two teams you would like to beat, but on the road those losses are forgivable.  They other lost came against Michigan.  Since losing to the Trojans and Broncos, SMU has won 6 in a row and that includes two beat downs against TCU and Stanford. 

SMU and first year head coach Tim Jankovich are winning with defense right now. The Mustangs are 13th in the country right now in scoring defense giving up just 59.8 points a game. During this six game win streak they have yet to give up more than 60 points in a game.  On Tuesday they will be going up against the American Preseason player of the year in Dedric Lawson for Memphis who is putting up 21 points and 11 rebounds a night for Memphis.

The Tigers also come in with a knew coach in Tubby Smith.  Memphis is 9-3 on the year with a bad loss to Monmouth, but came back with a win against Oklahoma in Norman.  SMU has a great defense, but Memphis is a top 25 team in offense putting up 84 points a game, so this will be a game of two different styles.

Last year SMU beat Memphis both times they played them. Last year SMU's Shake Milton played very well in both of these meetings.  Milton was a high recruit and can drive so Memphis and Tubby Smith need to keep the ball out of his hands. 

Memphis has been vulnerable on the defense end this season.  Of their twelve games this season, seven teams have put up at least 75 points on the Tigers.  This should create opportunities for Duke transfer and SMU leading scorer Semi Ojeleye who is averaging 21 points a game.  He is also shooting 45% from three where the Memphis defense has been suspect this year.

The SMU big man Ben Moore will have his hands full inside with both KJ and Dedric Lawson.  Memphis is one of the best team in the nation in rebounding this year at 22nd in the country.  So this will create plenty of times for 2nd chance points and we will see if they can convert. 

The Key to this game will be Markel Crawford.  Memphis will dominate the inside, but they do not have the defense to contain the shooting of Milton, Ojeleye, and others.  KJ and Dedric Lawson can't do everything so they need another scorer Crawford. Luckily, for Tubby Smith, Crawford has been that third scorer they needed after Austin Nichols transferred.  This is a game where Memphis can get into the NCAA conversation with a win. 

SMU starts conference play right on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.  This is a game that tournament teams should win.  As for my prediction, I do think this will be a very tight game as both teams are coming in with momentum.  If this game stays in the sixties I think SMU wins, but if it's high scoring game then Lawson could take over. I'll 67-62 Mustangs.  SMU is just to talented on defense and Memphis needs more scorers then the Lawson boys.  As long as the SMU offense stays consistent the Memphis defense has proven that can't defend over time.