The AAC Tournament Is Set And Here IS What Cincinnati''s Draw Looks Like

The American Athlete Tournament is officially set as all 11 teams have lockup their spot.  First off the tournament will tip off on Thursday with the last 6 teams playing in the 1st round.  For some reason the AAC has settled into having their championship game on Sunday.  They will be on ESPN and the Big 10 will be on CBS.  After those two tittle games the Selection Show will start.  Here is what the AAC Bracket looks like.

We Avoided Some Dangerous Teams: 
First off, I love it.  Although not being the one seed hurts, the Bearcats got a pretty solid draw.
They will avoid playing Central Florida again this season.  The Knights were the only team in the conference besides SMU to beat Cincinnati.  Unless they can knock off SMU, we probably won't see UCF again.

Next, UConn will have to beat Houston to play UC.  The AAC has been in existence for three years and every year UConn has sent Cincinnati home in the conference tournament. Throw that in with the fact that it is right next too UConn's home court makes me a little scared to play the Huskies.  Also they have to win the conference tournament to go dancing.

Lastly, a team nobody is thinking about is Temple.  Besides SMU, Temple was the only team that hung around with UC at 5/3rd arena and UC only beat them by 6 on the road.  Fran Dunphy is great coach and they could potentially make a run.  I'd have full confidence if UC were to play them, I'd just rather play Tulane/Tulsa.

We Get Houston Again: This would be a chance for the Bearcats too add another decent win to their profile.  The 3 seeded Cougars would be a top 100 RPI win (their RPI is 51 so it could be a TOP 50 RPI win.)  Basically they could help our profile the most with the exception of SMU and I feel like UC will take care of them with no problem.  The Bearcats beat them by 9 on the road, and won in blowout fashion on Senior day last Thursday.

Solid Times: Another positive for UC is that they get some quality times.  The first round against Tulane/Tulsa will be a 7:00.  The next round between UConn/Houston will be at 5:00 and the Championship at 3:00 on Selection Sunday.  All games will be on the ESPN family of networks.

Of course, the match up everyone wants is a top 15 showdown between SMU and Cincy. The rubber match unfortunately will be played in an empty arena in Hartford Connecticut, but that's the way it goes. A win for either team could go a long way for their seeding. 

For more on the AAC Tournament click here.