How much of a problem is the new AAC for Memphis? We’re starting to find out | Giannotto

They sat next to one another on camera, together again at the American Athletic Conference’s basketball media day in Dallas earlier this week.

Both Memphis coach Penny Hardaway and FAU coach Dusty May praised the other’s program as the league tried to play up a budding rivalry that revolves around one game for now – the dramatic, but demoralizing NCAA tournament loss Memphis suffered to FAU last March before FAU went to the Final Four.

FAU had been picked to finish first in the AAC preseason poll by the coaches. Memphis had once again been picked second, just like the past few years with Houston in the conference. It’s the kind of motivation Hardaway can use to his advantage with a new-look roster. But in this moment, in front of May, he suggested the dynamic is in the league's best interests.

“I learned who they were in that game. I heard about them all year. I didn’t get to watch them all year,” Hardaway explained. “But you get to find out that they’re well-coached, they’re disciplined and they’re together, and that speaks well for our conference because you want to be able to play teams that have that every night.”

What is this conference, though?

This week is providing some clarity for what Memphis is up against in its two revenue-producing sports (football and basketball) after getting left out again in conference realignment. After watching almost every other like-minded school from the original AAC depart for a power conference over the past decade, the effects are starting to show.

It’s there any time you look at the home football schedule and realize, after this week’s showdown with Tulane, the next six conference home games Memphis football will play over the next two seasons are against USF, SMU, Tulsa, UAB, Charlotte and Temple – combined record of 14-20 at the moment. It’s there any time you look at the Memphis basketball schedule, front-loaded with non-conference tests because the Tigers know all but a few league games can't help their NCAA tournament resume.

It's there in recruiting battles, where the perception of Memphis' NIL limitations may not match reality but limitations nonetheless exist. Just ask Ryan Silverfield or Hardaway. It's there in the AAC's expansion discussions, where looking west would have best served the interests of Memphis in light of SMU's impending departure for the ACC.

It’s there any time you look up in the stands or hear the weariness and apathy of fans and boosters who are tired of being told they aren’t good enough. It’s there because conference realignment continues to hack away at everything they once loved about following Memphis sports.

It’s a stroke of luck that the greatest season in FAU basketball history took place right before FAU joined the AAC, and then nearly everyone from that team returned. Otherwise, the league appears to have been weakened – in football and basketball – as badly as everyone feared it would be upon adding six Conference USA schools to offset the departures of Houston, Cincinnati and UCF to the Big 12 a couple years ago.

Last year, the AAC finished with seven teams in the top half of ESPN’s Football Power Index rankings for all 133 FBS teams. The AAC has just three teams in the top-half of the FPI this year (SMU, Memphis and Tulane) and none of the six newcomers have a record above .500 heading into this week’s schedule.

So when Memphis plays its biggest football game in years Friday night, it’ll be a national showcase for the program and a chance to take over as the favorite in the AAC this season. But after the AAC champion earned a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl game the past six years, that’s not so certain anymore.

Not because the Mountain West or Sun Belt Conferences got better. The AAC is just worse.

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Now, first years and transitions can be rough. Houston, Cincinnati and UCF don’t have a Big 12 win yet. This isn’t how it always has to be. But the way the AAC is judged by the College Football Playoff committee, whose rankings ultimately determine the best Group of Five team, is crucial with the playoff expanding next season. A precedent could be set for how the new-look AAC is perceived.

The same goes for this year’s NCAA tournament selection committee. How will they look at the AAC? It has always been a multi-bid league. But if not for FAU, this feels a lot like the version of Conference USA that Memphis basketball once dominated. Hardaway, when prompted this week during his interview alongside May, was already trying to push back on that perception.

“That’s something we both want for our conference," he said, "to show we can play with … anybody in this country."

In this AAC, that's going to be harder than ever.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on X: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How big a problem is new AAC for Memphis? We’re starting to find out