Memphis Basketball Conference Schedule Preview

This season marks the inaugural season of a restructured American Athletic Conference. With the departure of Houston, Cincinnati, and UCF, Memphis will face a significantly altered schedule.

Today, the conference schedule for the upcoming season was officially released for the Tigers. Memphis will only play two of the newcomers, UAB and FAU, twice, while the rest will be one-time matchups. Amid these changes, fans’ expectations for Memphis to emerge as league champions have surged. Let’s dive into it.

The AAC slate is set 🔥

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— Memphis Basketball (@Memphis_MBB) September 22, 2023

Key Matchups

While the overall level of competition may not be exceptionally high, there are still some captivating matchups to look forward to on this schedule. Memphis will renew its rivalry with UAB, promising exciting games reminiscent of the Conference USA era. Equally intriguing are the matchups against Florida Atlantic. Following Memphis’ heart-wrenching loss to the Owls, which served as a catalyst for their remarkable run to the Final Four, we can anticipate highly competitive games in both encounters.

Interestingly, the season will conclude with a trip to Boca Raton to face the Owls in a late March marquee matchup. This contrasts with the initially anticipated scenario of the Owls traveling to Memphis to close out the season at the FedEx Forum.

Overall Thoughts

Even though this conference slate of games doesn’t jump off the screen, I don’t think it has to. Memphis has purposefully set up one of the nation’s toughest non-conference schedules, acknowledging the reduced competitiveness of the American.

The fundamental mindset for conference games remains consistent this season: win the games you’re expected to win. The only difference is that, this season, the Tigers should be the favorite in almost all of their games. Regardless, there are some fun matchups that remain of the conference schedule, and who in all honestly doesn’t enjoy winning? Depending on how the Tigers do in the non-conference, they may be thankful for some easy wins on the schedule.