American Preview: Best Bets 2026-27

Ryan McIntyre (@Moneyline_Mac) and Troy Chewning (@Troychewning) break down the 2026-27 American Conference preview, going one through 13 from Wichita State down to Rice. Both have the Shockers winning the regular season, with Paul Mills as their coach of the year.

South Florida won both the regular season and the tournament last year, and then Bryan Hodgson left for Providence after one season. Chris Mack comes over from Charleston to take the Bulls, and Wes Miller heads back to the Carolinas at Charlotte after Cincinnati. Penny Hardaway is the longest-tenured coach in the league, going into year nine after a 13-19 mess at Memphis. Troy Chewning points out the Tigers were still a money team for the show as a dog. His line on Penny's seat: he's working for free and the seat is still hot.

Stock up, stock down gets weird on purpose. Troy Chewning buys Austin Claunch's UTSA team after a 1-17 league year, pointing to transfers like Isaiah Watts from Maryland and Isaiah Coleman from OU. He also sells Rice to get even worse than 7-11. Ryan McIntyre buys Memphis low and expects a top-four finish, and he sells Tulsa after the 30-win season and NIT title-game run. Kurt Kanady lost that veteran guard group.

The top five barely moves. Both guys go Wichita State first and North Texas second, and both have USF fifth. Troy Chewning puts Memphis third and UAB fourth. Ryan McIntyre flips it, because Andy Kennedy finishes top four and wins 20 every single year. After that it splits. Troy goes Temple sixth on his theory that the Fed Alert team actually tries to win this year, and he takes ECU eighth to make Colby Dant proud. Mac drops Tulsa to seventh and Temple to ninth. Both have Rice in last place.

On the awards, Troy Chewning says Kenyon Giles wins player of the year if he's ruled eligible at Wichita State. Ryan McIntyre takes a stab on Jayson Stevenson from North Texas, and Troy agrees Stevenson is the favorite until there's a call on Giles. Mac has Wichita sweeping the American Tournament too, but warns not to sleep on UAB.

0:00 Download the SGPN App Today!
2:24 Welcome to the College Basketball Experience
4:30 Last Year's American: South Florida, Tulsa and Memphis
7:43 Coaches: Chris Mack, Wes Miller and Penny
13:12 Stock Up, Stock Down: Memphis, Rice and Tulsa
18:23 Rank Them One to 13: Wichita and North Texas
24:57 Temple, FAU, Tulsa and the Middle of the Pack
32:03 Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and Tournament
35:10 Sign-Off

American Conference Preview: Best Bets 2026-27 | The College Experience: Basketball (Ep. 1186)

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