When Memphis opened the week with a 68-64 home win over North Texas, it was a look at the best that the American Athletic Conference has to offer. At least by the BetMGM college basketball odds, these are the teams with the best chance to win the AAC regular-season title, with Memphis leading the way.
Both looked like serious contenders in their matchup. Memphis, now in the seventh season under Penny Hardaway, missed the tournament last year after two consecutive seasons of earning a trip to the Big Dance. The Tigers, as the odds state, appear to be the team to beat, but there should be challenges.
Odds as of Jan. 7
AAC Basketball Odds (Regular-Season Champion)
| Team | BetMGM Odds |
| Memphis | -400 |
| North Texas | +1000 |
| Florida Atlantic | +1300 |
| Wichita State | +1800 |
| Temple | +2000 |
| UAB | +4500 |
| USF | +6000 |
| East Carolina | +8000 |
| Tulane | +10000 |
| Rice | +10000 |
| UTSA | +20000 |
| Charlotte | +25000 |
| Tulsa | +25000 |
AAC Basketball Predictions
At this stage, getting two teams in the NCAA tournament may be challenging. Memphis began the week as the highest-rated AAC team in the Kenpom.com ratings at No. 31, but the next highest was North Texas at No. 70.
The Tigers already have some key prestige wins over Michigan State, UConn, and Mississippi, three teams that began the week ranked higher than Memphis at Kenpom.com. In the win over North Texas, Memphis was led by 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore guard PJ Haggerty, who scored 27 points, including the 1,000th of his career. Haggerty, who starred last year at Tulsa, has been a major addition to the Tigers and a big reason they are the favorites.
The key for North Texas is scoring. The Mean Green began the week 13th and last in scoring offense in the AAC (68.69 ppg.) and first in scoring defense (57.92).
North Texas didn’t play a challenging non-league schedule but opened AAC play with a 78-75 home win over a UAB team that was the preseason AAC pick in the conference’s media poll. The Mean Green overcame an 18-point deficit and won the game on Atin Wright’s buzzer-beating three-pointer. That was against a UAB team that, as the No. 4 seed last year, won the AAC Tournament and automatic NCAA berth.
The Blazers can’t be discounted this year, but won just eight of their first 15 games, while not playing the most challenging non-league schedule.
Others who could give Memphis a run include FAU, Wichita State, and dark horse Temple.
FAU, which advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 2023 as a member of Conference USA, earned an at-large bid last year in its first AAC season. This year’s team won just eight of its first 15 games and opened its AAC schedule with a 90-62 home loss to Memphis before escaping with a 78-76 win at East Carolina. There is still plenty of work to do for first-year coach John Jakus and the Owls.
Wichita State has some bad losses, including a 19-point defeat to a DePaul team that opened up 0-4 in Big East play. The Shockers also lost their opening AAC game, 91-85 at Temple, so while they are competitive, they must step up their game.
And that brings us to Temple, which last year was one win away from earning an NCAA bid, despite finishing with a 16-20 record. Seeded No. 11, the Owls were the lowest seed ever to reach an AAC final, but they ran out of gas in an 88-66 AAC title game loss to UAB.
Temple has been up and down in winning nine of its first 14 games but was very impressive in the aforementioned win over Wichita.
The Owls have a game-changer in 6-foot-2 graduate student Jamal Mashburn Jr., son of the former NBA player of the same name. Mashburn began his career in Minnesota, where he stayed for one season and then played the next three at New Mexico State.
He scored 24 points in the win over Wichita State and was averaging 20.4 in his first 14 games.
Another team hoping to be in the mix is USF. The Bulls were struck by tragedy when coach Amir Abdur-Rahim passed away on Oct. 24. Abdur-Rahim was the AAC Coach of the Year last season when he led the Bulls to the regular season championship.
Considering the tragic circumstances, interim coach Ben Fletcher has kept the Bulls competitive, winning eight of their first 14 games, including an opening AAC 75-69 home win over East Carolina.
Two AAC teams that began 2-0 in league play are Rice and Tulane, but neither has played a strong non-league schedule and will have to show more before being considered in the mix.
