Andy Katz | NCAA.com Correspondent | September 24, 2019

5 predictions for the 2019-20 AAC men's basketball season

AAC basketball preview: Player of the year candidates and bold predictions

While four AAC teams made the NCAA tournament in 2019, they compiled a record of just 3-4 — Temple (lost in First Four), Cincinnati (Round of 64), UCF (Round of 32), Houston (Sweet 16). Andy Katz expects to see a vast improvement from the conference this season.

He believes seven AAC teams will make the Big Dance in 2020, and that one program will end an eight-year tournament drought. Check out the rest of Katz's AAC predictions right here.

2019 CONFERENCE PREDICTIONS: 5 Big East predictions | Big 12 | ACC | Big Ten | Pac-12 | SEC

Andy Katz's 2019-20 AAC predictions

Player of the Year: Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati
Freshman of the Year: James Wiseman, Memphis
Underrated: Alexis Yetna, South Florida

BIG DANCE: The 2020 NCAA tournament bracket predicted, less than 50 days from opening night

Five important non-conference games:

Florida at UConn, Nov. 17
Cincinnati at Ohio State, Nov. 6
Memphis at Tennessee, Dec. 14
Houston at Oregon, Nov. 22
South Florida vs. Utah State, Houston, Dec. 18

Bold prediction: The AAC will go into the final weekend of the season with seven teams out of 12 having a chance to get a bid to the NCAA tournament (a minimum of three will get a bid). The seven will be: Memphis, Cincinnati, Houston, South Florida (the school with the eight-year drought), Wichita State, UConn and Temple.