The AAC and Realignment

The AAC is a direct result of conference realignment. Created from the remnants of the Big East or what was going to be the Big East, the American Athletic Conference are schools caught in a league no one wants to be in.

Cincinnati, UConn & Houston spent the last 6 months whoring themselves out to the Big XII in expansion talks only to be rebuffed. UCF & South Florida did so as well. Memphis has been flaunting FedEx money trying to get out. League is on solid ground.

Football built the league and that's why the Catholic 7 went on its own and hasn't looked back. In a desire to chase the football dragon, the league hurt itself when it comes to basketball.

It hasn't helped that Memphis has been mired in mediocrity but the league has been hurt more by the bottom dragging it down. SMU was the highest ranked team to finish the year in KenPom and they were ineligible of course. 

They also had USF at 237, Tulane at 219 and East Carolina at 209. UCF was at 194. Those numbers are why the Catholic 7 wanted basketball schools only. The RPI numbers aren't much better.

Despite this, there are programs in this league that can be very good. UConn is a true blue blood. Cincinnati, Memphis and Temple have been consistently good. Houston has history, none of it very good recently but there's a new commitment to the athletic department. Of course, that's because they want to get the hell out of the AAC.

The AAC could be a good basketball league. UConn should be a regular national title contender. Truth is, they'd all rather be somewhere else and something else, Power 5 teams. That's the AAC, the league of misfit toys.