AAC Basketball Conference Play Preview and Predictions: South Florida Bulls

The South Florida Bulls have gotten off to a 9-5 start by picking up a few narrow wins against decent opponents like George Mason and Alabama. However, in their first big test of the season to this point, playing the then No. 5 Oklahoma State Cowboys, they came up way short, losing 97-63. Their other losses against Detroit, Mississippi State, and Santa Clara were all by five points or less which proves that they have been in all of their games, except against the Cowboys. On Tuesday, they lost to the No. 18 Memphis Tigers by the score of 88-73 in their first American Athletic Conference game.

As I mentioned in my season preview of the Bulls, I believed this team was ready to take the next step, get into the NCAA Tournament, and perhaps win a few games. To me, this team will go as far as junior point guard Anthony Collins will take them. So far this season he hasn’t been the same player after coming back from an injury. He is only averaging 6.9 points in 31.4 minutes per game in the eight games he’s played in. He does have a team-leading 47 assists during those eight games, but he will need to step up his game in order for this team to reach its potential. Victor Rudd has been hands down the best player on the Bulls this season averaging 16.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest.

Here’s how I have the Bulls doing in American Athletic Conference play this season.

They will celebrate wins against Houston, at Temple, Louisville, Rutgers, Central Florida, at Rutgers, at Houston, and against Temple.

After their loss to Memphis last night, they will lose at SMU, against Cincinnati, at Memphis, against SMU, at Cincinnati, at Central Florida, at Connecticut, at Louisville, and home to Connecticut.

After going 8-8 in the conference and 17-13 overall, they will surprise the AAC and make a run in the tournament which will result in an NCAA Tournament berth.

Dan Karpuc is an American Athletic Conference basketball writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @dan_karpuc, “Like” him on Facebook, and add him to your network on Google.