Coming off its best league finish in 26 years, the Tulane men’s basketball team hopes to fare even better in the new-look American Athletic Conference.
It will not be easy to improve on third place from last season with 15th-ranked and reigning AAC tournament champion Memphis, and 17th-ranked and 2023 Final Four participant Florida Atlantic in the way, but coach Ron Hunter believes this is the most talented group in his 30-year career.
Tulane (9-3) will begin its quest at home against Rice (6-7) on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. The Owls, who finished above. 500 in Conference USA once in the past 18 years (2016-17), are 225th out of 362 Division I teams in the NET rankings— 99 spots below the Green Wave. They were picked 12th in the preseason AAC coaches poll.
“We’ve got a lot of new teams and actually a lot of new coaches (five) that we haven’t seen,” Hunter said. “When you’re playing in conference, you’ve got to win your home games and go and try to steal as many as you can on the road.”
The Wave will be without top substitute Tre’ Williams, who sprained an ankle against Dillard last Friday.
Here is a rundown of the rest of the AAC:
Florida Atlantic (10-3)
NET: 18
Preseason projection: 1st
Skinny: FAU, which returned almost everyone from its breakthrough Final Four appearance, has beaten Arizona and Texas A&M but lost to Bryant and Florida Gulf Coast, playing to the level of its competition.
Memphis (11-2)
NET: 40
Preseason projection: 2nd
Skinny: With five new starters, the Tigers have beaten four consecutive ranked teams behind St. John’s transfer David Jones, who averages 21.2 points and 6.4 rebounds.
UAB (6-5)
NET: 215
Preseason projection: 4th
Skinny: The Blazers reached the NIT championship game a year ago but have been disappointing early without former Tulane guard Jordan Walker, who averaged 22.3 points last season.
East Carolina (7-6)
NET: 239
Preseason projection: 5th
Skinny: The Pirates have struggled despite a solid start from guard R.J. Felton, who is averaging 16.8 points and 6.8 rebounds. George Mason clobbered them. They lost by 16 to East Tennessee State.
North Texas (7-5)
NET: 94
Preseason projection: 6th
Skinny: The Mean Green lost coach Grant McCasland to Texas Tech and had to replace four starters after beating UAB for the NIT championship. Assistant Ross Hodge took over and has presided over one-point losses to St. John’s and Fordham, plus a four-point loss to LSU.
SMU (9-4)
NET: 47
Preseason projection: 7th
Skinny: Ron Hunter’s successor at Georgia State, Rob Lanier, is off to a promising start in his second year with the Mustangs, who have not been blown out by anyone on a difficult nonconference schedule.
Wichita State (8-5)
NET: 107
Preseason projection: 8th
Skinny: The Shockers have lost four of their past five under new coach Paul Mills (Oral Roberts), but three of those defeats were to Missouri, Kansas State and Kansas. They have been respectable.
South Florida (7-4)
NET: 160
Preseason projection: 9th
Skinny: The Bulls have finished below.500 in AAC play every year since the league began in 2013-14. Amir Abdur-Rahim, who guided Kennesaw State to the NCAA tournament last season, is the latest coach trying to build a winner here.
Tulsa (9-3)
NET: 189
Preseason projection: 10th
Skinny: Tulsa’s schedule strength is the fourth-worst in Division I. Second-year coach Eric Konkol was at Louisiana Tech for the previous seven years before going 1-17 in the AAC in his debut.
Temple (7-6)
NET: 201
Preseason projection: 11th
Skinny: A program that reached the NCAA tournament six consecutive times from 2008-13 has fallen a long way. New coach Adam Fisher, who was formerly a Penn State assistant, will try to build it back up.
UNC-Charlotte (6-6)
NET: 112
Preseason projection: 13th
Skinny: The 49ers are yet another team with a new coach. Assistant Aaron Fearne was named interim coach when Rob Sanchez resigned in June, three months after leading the team to the CBI championship.
Texas-San Antonio (6-7)
NET: 289
Preseason projection: 14th
Skinny: The Roadrunners, who were 7-31 the past two years in Conference USA, have beaten no one with a NET above 244. Eighth-year coach Steve Henson faces a monumental challenge.