Why ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi predicts Memphis basketball will win AAC tournament
The Memphis basketball team is beginning to make believers out of people.
The Tigers (22-8, 11-6 AAC) have won four straight, including Sunday's invigorating, come-from-behind 106-87 victory over UAB in the home finale at FedExForum.
CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein labeled Memphis "the most mercurial team in college basketball," because you never know what you're going to get out of Penny Hardaway's team. Rothstein, in a post on X (the social media app formerly known as Twitter), said the Tigers could either lose in the first round of next week's AAC tournament or get to the Sweet 16.
Count ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi among those who do not believe Memphis will lose in the first round of the AAC tournament. In fact, the Tigers are Lunardi's pick to win the tournament, which begins March 13 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
ESPN put together a four-person panel to predict the winners of each conference tournament. Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf both picked FAU, while John Gasaway went with regular-season champ South Florida. But Lunardi has faith in Memphis.
"It looks like the Tigers, finally, have figured it out," Lunardi wrote Monday. "It doesn't hurt that presumptive league favorite FAU isn't running away with the league, and regular-season champion South Florida still has its doubters. I'm going with the best roster in the American at the most important time of the year."
Lunardi also updated his most recent March Madness bracket projection. He moved the Tigers into the "next four out" category.
If Lunardi's prediction comes to pass and Memphis repeats as AAC tournament champs, it will automatically advance to its third straight NCAA tournament.
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Memphis has one game left in the regular season − at FAU Saturday (11 a.m., CBS). The Tigers are in fourth place in the league standings for the moment, but they could still wind up seeded anywhere from second to eighth for the AAC tournament.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: ESPN's Joe Lunardi picks Memphis basketball to win AAC tournament
