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After last year’s catastrophic stretch in AAC play, this year’s 6-1 start for Memphis is something to celebrate

In 2023-24, Memphis went 11-2 in its non-conference schedule, winning games over Texas A&M, Clemson, Virginia, and VCU, with the only losses coming away from home against Villanova and Ole Miss. Then, everything fell apart when conference play in the American started, as the Tigers struggled to get past Tulsa, SMU, and UTSA to start January, eventually losing the last four games of the month with all four opponents outside the KenPom top 80.

In 2024-25, Penny Hardaway stacked the non-conference schedule once again, but the Tigers handled it with relative success as well. Memphis picked up wins over Michigan State, Ole Miss, Clemson, Missouri, and San Francisco, losing to only Auburn, Mississippi State, and Arkansas State. A great start, but now Memphis has to avoid all of the landmines it faces in the AAC.

The Tigers have gone through their toughest seven-game stretch in conference play already, coming away 6-1 after throttling UAB on Sunday afternoon 100-77. Currently tied at the top of the standings with North Texas, Memphis got past the Mean Green early on in January, winning at home 68-64 in the teams’ only matchup this season. The lone loss came on the road to Temple, a team currently ranked 121st at KenPom, and being able to bounce back and win three straight after that loss shows this Memphis team is much different than last season’s volatile group.

If there was only one player I could mention in this article, it would be PJ Haggerty, an in-conference transfer this offseason from Tulsa who is on path to be an All-American and would be in any serious National Player of the Year talks if it weren’t for Johni Broome and Cooper Flagg’s historic seasons. Haggerty came to Memphis after a brilliant freshman year for Tulsa, and he has been on a tear. Haggerty averages 22.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.5 apg, and 2.2 spg while shooting over 50% from the field and over 42% from three. Haggerty has come up big for Memphis in some of its biggest wins, scoring 27 vs each of North Texas and Virginia, two traditionally elite defenses. He’s been the consistent scorer and contributor for Memphis this season, going under 20 points just six times so far this season, with the team undefeated in those contests.

Tyrese Hunter has had a revelation in his final season of college basketball, transferring in from Texas this offseason and now averaging 14.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, and 3.3 apg with a 41.7% mark from behind the arc. Hunter has been up and down for stretches of the season but made headlines in Maui when he scored 60 points across the three games and hit 14 of his 24 three-point attempts over the week. With these two and Colby Rogers (11.3 ppg) in the backcourt, Memphis has three guys who can score in bunches and talented, experienced guard play that can lead them to the second weekend and beyond in the NCAA Tournament.

The only thing to hold this team back in my eyes could be Penny Hardaway, but so far there hasn’t been anything done this season to not believe Memphis could be different this time around under its former star. Now 16-4, the Tigers have 11 games left in their regular season, playing just four more top 150 opponents and are projected to win each game by at least six points per KenPom.com.

Other Things to Note:

• #17 Illinois handles Northwestern at home 83-74
• John Tonje scores 27, #18 Wisconsin wins in blowout fashion 83-55 over Nebraska
• #21 Michigan looks to bounce back from Purdue loss with home game vs Penn State (6:30 ET, BTN)
• #2 Duke hosts in-state rival NC State inside Cameron Indoor Stadium (8:30 ET, ESPN)
• #3 Iowa State visits Arizona with both teams sitting at 7-1 in Big 12 play (10:30 ET, ESPN)