Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
No. 1 Seed in American Could Come Down to Coin Flip
In its first year of existence, the American Athletic Conference is certainly providing some excitement.
The Player of the Year race is an exciting three-man contest between UConn’s Shabazz Napier, Louisville’s Russ Smith and Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick, who went off for 34 points Thursday when the No. 15 Bearcats beat No. 20 Memphis, 97-84, on Senior Night at Cincinnati.
Cincinnati and Louisville are now tied atop the league at 14-3 with one game to play, and it could come down to a coin flip for the No. 1 seed in next week’s postseason tournament in Memphis.
Here are the postseason scenarios according to league spokesman Chuck Sullivan:
**If Louisville, Cincinnati and Memphis win Saturday, we flip a coin for the No. 1 seed (between Louisville and Cincinnati). Both teams would be declared regular-season co-champions.
Those results would create a three-way tie at 12-6 between SMU, UConn and Memphis. Both Louisville and Cincinnati would be 4-2 against that collective group and they both swept every other team in succession in the standings. SMU would be the No. 3 seed, UConn the 4 and Memphis the 5.
**If Louisville and Cincinnati both win Saturday, then Louisville would get the tiebreaker if SMU beats Memphis (since Louisville would be 4-0 against SMU/UConn; Cincinnati 2-2 against that group).
Here’s the link to the league tiebreaker rule.
Personally, I think it would be pretty entertaining if it came down to a coin flip for the No. 1 seed.
Photo: AP
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
In its first year of existence, the American Athletic Conference is certainly providing some excitement.
The Player of the Year race is an exciting three-man contest between UConn’s Shabazz Napier, Louisville’s Russ Smith and Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick, who went off for 34 points Thursday when the No. 15 Bearcats beat No. 20 Memphis, 97-84, on Senior Night at Cincinnati.
Cincinnati and Louisville are now tied atop the league at 14-3 with one game to play, and it could come down to a coin flip for the No. 1 seed in next week’s postseason tournament in Memphis.
Here are the postseason scenarios according to league spokesman Chuck Sullivan:
**If Louisville, Cincinnati and Memphis win Saturday, we flip a coin for the No. 1 seed (between Louisville and Cincinnati). Both teams would be declared regular-season co-champions.
Those results would create a three-way tie at 12-6 between SMU, UConn and Memphis. Both Louisville and Cincinnati would be 4-2 against that collective group and they both swept every other team in succession in the standings. SMU would be the No. 3 seed, UConn the 4 and Memphis the 5.
**If Louisville and Cincinnati both win Saturday, then Louisville would get the tiebreaker if SMU beats Memphis (since Louisville would be 4-0 against SMU/UConn; Cincinnati 2-2 against that group).
Here’s the link to the league tiebreaker rule.
Personally, I think it would be pretty entertaining if it came down to a coin flip for the No. 1 seed.
Photo: AP
