{"id":134020,"date":"2017-03-07T02:07:23","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T07:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/?p=134020"},"modified":"2017-03-07T16:56:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-07T21:56:47","slug":"2017-aac-conference-championship-expert-picks-and-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/2017-aac-conference-championship-expert-picks-and-predictions.html","title":{"rendered":"2017 AAC Conference Championship Expert Picks and Predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/record.tbaffiliate.com\/_y8k7RB3Ll4zulQmTAVK722Nd7ZgqdRLk\/56\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-134651\" src=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/March_Madness_News_Banners_620x110.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"110\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Over at the American Athletic Conference, only two teams are virtually in true contention for the conference title this week: the No. 12 SMU Mustangs and the No. 15 Cincinnati Bearcats. As such, even most of the pundits from\u00a0the web are only siding either with the Bearcats or the Mustangs.<\/p>\n<p>But who\u00a0has, if any, an edge over the other? Let&#8217;s find out below with our rundown\u00a0of expert predictions for the AAC tournament ahead.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>College Basketball<\/strong><strong> News and Previews<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/2017-ncaa-march-madness-final-four-predictions-picks-and-betting-preview.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2017 NCAA March Madness Final Four Preview<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/2017-march-madness-final-four-gonzaga-bulldogs-vs-south-carolina-gamecocks-predictions-picks-and-ncaa-basketball-betting-preview.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. South Carolina Gamecocks Preview<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/2017-march-madness-final-four-north-carolina-tar-heels-vs-oregon-ducks-predictions-picks-and-ncaa-basketball-betting-preview.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Oregon Ducks Preview<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>2017 AAC\u00a0Conference Championship\u00a0Expert Picks and Predictions<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/sportsbook\/basketball\/ncaa-conference-tournaments\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>*view all NCAA Basketball Conference Championship\u00a0lines here<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>CBS Sports<\/h3>\n<table class=\"table-bordered\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Expert<\/th>\n<th>Prediction<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Gary Parrish<\/th>\n<th>Cincinnati<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Matt Norlander<\/th>\n<th>Cincinnati<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Chip Patterson<\/th>\n<th>SMU<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Jerry Palm<\/th>\n<th>Cincinnati<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Howard Megdal<\/th>\n<th>Cincinnati<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Kyle Boone<\/th>\n<th>SMU<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Despite having an identical 27-4 overall record with SMU this regular season, Cincinnati still got the majority vote from CBS Sports&#8217; six-man panel. Even the oddsmakers were as torn at\u00a0pricing the two schools, with Cincy having the slight upper hand at <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/sportsbook\/basketball\/ncaa-conference-tournaments\" target=\"_blank\">+115<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and with Southern Methodist not far behind (<a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/sportsbook\/basketball\/ncaa-conference-tournaments\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>+135<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>The goods folks from CBS\u00a0appear to favor experience over momentum, as the Bearcats&#8217; six-consecutive appearances in the Big Dance under Mick Cronin trumps that of the Mustangs&#8217; current revival under new head coach Tim Jankovich. Another takeaway is that\u00a0Cincinnati currently holds the second-longest home winning streak in Division I basketball. The team&#8217;s 8-4 road record this season isn&#8217;t too shabby either.<\/p>\n<h3>SportsBlog<\/h3>\n<table class=\"table-bordered\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Expert<\/th>\n<th>Prediction<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Jon Lowe<\/th>\n<th>Cincinnati<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Jon Lowe over at SportsBlog.com went into greater detail as for why he also went with Cincinnati to come out on top of the AAC tournament. He emphasized how strength of schedule (SOS) affected his prediction, and it&#8217;s the Bearcats&#8217; wins over relatively-competitive non-conference teams in Xavier and Iowa State which tipped the scales in their favor. On the other hand, Lowe also went on to say that the Mustangs have not defeated a team that&#8217;s a sure lock into the NCAA Tournament this regular season.<\/p>\n<h3>TopBet<\/h3>\n<p>We here at TopBet beg to differ, as <strong>SMU<\/strong>&#8216;s sizzling 13-game winning streak to close out the season\u00a0\u2013 six of those victories by 20 points or more \u2013 is too hard to ignore. And in spite of the strength of schedule debate, it was still the Mustangs who ended up with one more win in conference play than Cincinnati.<\/p>\n<p>And if you&#8217;re still not entirely convinced with the arguments made here for and against the Bearcats and the Mustangs, feel free to check out our complete preview for the AAC tournament <em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/2017-aac-basketball-championship-predictions-picks-odds-and-ncaa-betting-preview.html\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>to read up on the conference&#8217;s other notable teams that could give these two programs a run for their money.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/record.tbaffiliate.com\/_y8k7RB3Ll4xutv7iXV6HvmNd7ZgqdRLk\/6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Create a betting account now<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0win big from all the heart-stopping\u00a0March Madness action!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/record.tbaffiliate.com\/_y8k7RB3Ll4zulQmTAVK722Nd7ZgqdRLk\/56\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-134651\" src=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/March_Madness_News_Banners_620x110.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"110\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"pvc_stats all \" data-element-id=\"134020\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> &nbsp;2,195&nbsp;total views, &nbsp;2&nbsp;views today<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over at the American Athletic Conference, only two teams are virtually in true contention for the conference title this week: the No. 12 SMU Mustangs and the No. 15 Cincinnati<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"pvc_stats all \" data-element-id=\"134020\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> &nbsp;2,195&nbsp;total views, &nbsp;2&nbsp;views today<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":134398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[393,70,9417],"tags":[22768,22769,22784,22785,22782,1279,22783,4667,7208,22787,22786,1104,6911,835,969,1228,2776,7965],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>AAC 2017 Conference Expert Picks March Madness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Expert picks and predictions for the 2017 AAC Men&#039;s Basketball Tournament, courtesy of TopBet online sportsbook.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/2017-aac-conference-championship-expert-picks-and-predictions.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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