Houston finally ascended to the top of the American Athletic Conference Tournament in 2021 after losing in the finals the previous two years it was held. The Cougars are once again favorites to win in 2022, having earned the top seed by finishing 15-3 in the conference, two games clear of second-place SMU. Houston, which reached the Final Four last season, is going to want to leave its imprint on the conference before it leaves for the Big 12 next season.
There are several strong contenders to give the Cougars a rude exit. Memphis, which had a highly-touted recruiting class before the season, have finally started to show some progress. SMU and Temple are also feisty teams that could present Houston with a challenge to the throne.
Let’s go over all of the available sport betting information and try to find the best NCAAB expert picks to bet on.
AAC Conference Tournament Betting Analysis
Cougars roar
Despite losing Marcus Sasser to a foot injury after 12 games, Houston rolled to a 25-4 record and won the regular-season conference title. Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said recently there is a zero percent chance Sasser returns this season. Sasser was the team’s leading scorer, contributing 17.7 points per game at the time of his injury.
Losing Sasser, however, didn’t sink Houston’s seasons. The Cougars have four other players who average in double figures scoring. Kyler Edwards is now Houston’s top scorer, averaging 13.6 points per game. The Cougars have the seventh-best scoring defense in the country, limiting their opponents to 58.9 points per game.
Houston is the top defense in terms of field goal percentage defense, limiting its opponents to 37.2 percent shooting from the field. The Cougars are favorites, being set as -167 NCAAB odds favorites.
SMU looking to make an impression
SMU finished second in the AAC and are hoping that will be enough to make the NCAAB Tournament; however, the Mustangs don’t want to leave things to chance. In the non-conference schedule, SMU took losses to Missouri and Loyola Marymount. However, in AAC play, the Mustangs were unbeatable at home and strong throughout.
Kendric Davis leads SMU by averaging 19.5 points per game. The Mustangs are a strong free-throw shooting team, making 76.2 percent of their attempts, which ranks 27th nationally. SMU, which is +600 to win the tournament, will likely need to win several games to punch an at-large ticket to the big dance if it doesn’t win the conference.
The Mustangs didn’t play well away from home. SMU was 6-7 in neutral site and road games.
Lil’ Penny’s bite is starting to match the bark
Memphis, which is 19-9 overall and 13-5 in the conference, suffered through a four-game losing streak early in the season and appeared to be headed nowhere. The Tigers, however, found something after a Jan. 20 loss to SMU. Memphis closed the season by winning 10 of its last 11 games and looked like a team that had brought in one of the nation’s top recruiting class.
Jalen Duren leads the Tigers by averaging 11.9 points per game. Memphis’ defense has been locking down its opponents during its sustained stretch of long play. The Tigers limit their opponents to 39.5 percent shooting, which ranks 22nd nationally.
On offense, Memphis, which is +260 betting odds to win the crown, is also strong on offense. The Tigers rank 34th nationally in field goal percentage, making 47.3 percent of their shots. Memphis also scores 76.1 points per game.
Rest of the Field
Cincinnati, which has appeared in the last four AAC title games, fell on hard times this season. The Bearcats struggled in the conference, compiling a 7-11 record in AAC play and finished 17-14 overall. Cincinnati is +2250 to come out on top. Only five of the 11 teams in the conference finished with winning records.
Wichita State struggled during the season but is tied for SMU with the second-longest winning streak entering the tournament, with each team having won two straight. Both Temple and Tulane had winning records in conference play but were inconsistent at best. UCF finished 9-9 in the conference and limited its opponents to 31 percent from the 3-point line, which ranks 53rd nationally.
AAC Conference Betting Prediction
Memphis coach Penny Hardaway has won 20 or more games in every season since he took over as the Tigers coach during the 2018-19 season. However, other than an NIT championship during the 2021-22 season, Memphis hasn’t seen much postseason success during his tenure. This could be the year the Tigers break through the glass ceiling.
Houston will be the biggest hurdle for Memphis, but the Tigers have turned their season around and are well equipped to unseat the Cougars as champions. Other than SMU, the rest of the tournament field is weak.
One of the better NCAAB betting picks to take is to grab Memphis at plus money and enjoy Penny’s coming of age as a college basketball coach.
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