American Preview: Best Bets 2026-27 Recap
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 Leaves The Throne Open
South Florida swept the American last season, winning the regular season and the conference tournament. Then Bryan Hodgson left for Providence after one year, so a new era starts in Tampa. Ryan McIntyre and Troy Chewning open with who can dethrone the Bulls. Tulsa had the breakthrough, reaching the NIT Final Four and nearly beating Auburn in the title game. Wichita State also bounced back with 24 wins and a 13-5 league mark under Paul Mills. Meanwhile UAB won 20 again and finished top four, because that is what Andy Kennedy teams do. And Memphis was the biggest disappointment in the league at 13-19.
Memphis was still a good ticket for bettors, though. Troy Chewning points out the Tigers were profitable for the show last year. You could take them as a dog and fade them as a big favorite, and it worked. The basement was rough too. Rice went 7-11 and ECU went 6-12, but UTSA bottomed out at 1-17 in league play and 5-25 overall. Then Temple comes up as his early watch team. After last year’s gambling rumors around the Owls, he thinks they could be mispriced early. His logic is that a team trying to win basketball games can look completely different from one trying to lose them.
Chris Mack, Wes Miller And A Hot Seat For Penny
Two well-traveled coaches arrive this year. Chris Mack comes over from Charleston to take over USF. The Bulls have won the regular season two of the last three years, so the bar is set high. Wes Miller also heads back to the Carolinas at Charlotte after an average run at Cincinnati. He was good at Greensboro and played at UNC for Roy Williams, so this fit looks better. Then there’s Penny Hardaway in year nine at Memphis, the longest-tenured coach in the league. His seat is hot, even though he’s one of their own and donates to their NIL. As Troy Chewning put it, he’s working for free and the seat is still hot.
Ron Hunter is in year eight at Tulane, and the record is plain average. He’s 55-69 in league play over seven years and 107-104 overall. The money also looks like it’s drying up, because Tulane is investing heavily in football. Meanwhile Andy Kennedy is in year seven at his alma mater, and you can pencil UAB in for 20 wins. Adam Fisher needs a step in year four at Temple. Rice is a tough job, so Lanier’s seat starts warmer than most in year three. FAU also needs a step from the coach who replaced Dusty May. And Austin Claunch has struggled at UTSA so far.
Stock Up On Memphis And UTSA, Sell Tulsa And Rice
Troy Chewning called this a stock-steady league, so he went digging for his picks. His stock up is Austin Claunch’s UTSA, which has nowhere to go but up from 1-17. The incoming transfers at least played real minutes, including Isaiah Watts from Maryland and Isaiah Coleman from OU. UTSA also adds Tenner from Murray State and JJ Kelly from Ohio. That previous playing time is the appeal here. And as he points out, getting this stock up isn’t going to be that difficult. His co-host didn’t fight it at all, calling it a fair pick for a team starting from the floor.
Ryan McIntyre is buying Memphis as low as it gets. Last year was Penny’s first losing season in conference play, and the Tigers finished eighth. He doesn’t see that happening again, because Memphis still has the most talent in the league. The transfers came from all over, including Pitt, Northwestern, NC State and Texas A&M. So he has Penny bouncing back into the top four with his back against the wall. His co-host played devil’s advocate here. A strong non-conference schedule could make league games feel less urgent. Then the whole focus shifts to the American tournament, and the middle of the year gets a little breezy.
On the stock-down side, Troy Chewning thinks Rice can get worse than 7-11. Rice returns a bunch of people, but not much in the way of minutes or production. That pairs with his UTSA call, and he doesn’t hate ECU’s roster either. Then Ryan McIntyre sells Tulsa after the dream season. That veteran guard group is gone. Tulsa also won as many games last year as in the coach’s first three years combined. Before that, they sat in the bottom half every year. So he doesn’t see another 30-win season or a 13-5 league mark, and he expects Tulsa in the middle of the pack.
American Conference Preview Rankings: Wichita State On Top
Both guys put Wichita State first. Paul Mills struggled his first two years before the breakthrough, and now the Shockers bring back the most in the league. They might be the oldest team in the conference, too. Berg, Battle, Gray Jr. and TJ Williams all return, and Jahan Long comes in from George Mason. Then there’s Kenyon Giles. If Wichita lands him, Troy Chewning sees a head-and-shoulders favorite to finish first. Also, that home court is one of the most underrated environments in the sport when it’s rolling. So the Shockers are the pick, and it isn’t a hard call.
North Texas is the consensus pick at two. The Mean Green have the second-most returning production in the league. Their defensive identity under Robinson is also too consistent to back away from. They muck it up and slow it down, so they don’t need hot shooting to win on the road. Robinson’s first year was just okay, but Ross Hodge took a big step from year one to year two there. That’s the bet here too, with continuity driving it. Ryan McIntyre even plans to see them in person against McNeese. And Wichita and North Texas are the two most veteran groups in the league.
The split comes at three and four. Troy Chewning has Memphis third, because a coach paying his own NIL is more invested than ever. Ryan McIntyre goes against the projections that have UAB sliding and puts Andy Kennedy third. His argument is short. Kennedy finishes top four and wins 20 every year, so Memphis drops to fourth on his card. Then both land on USF at five in year one under Chris Mack. Sonny Wilson from Toledo is a good get. But the Bulls are high variance, because a key transfer’s eligibility could make them a top-four challenger or drop them lower.
Temple, FAU And A Crowded Middle Of The Pack
Troy Chewning gets interesting at six with Temple. His read is that the Fed Alert team will try to win now, and he likes Gavin Griffiths. Then he slots Charlotte seventh, because Chase Harris was good at South Alabama and Wes Miller can do enough. ECU climbs out of the basement to eighth on his card behind a group of mid-major transfers. FAU lands ninth. He doesn’t love their high-major flyers, but Canaan Carlisle makes a big difference. Also, a better UTSA means no punching bag at the bottom. So he expects more teams tied up in the middle of this conference.
Ryan McIntyre takes a stab at Charlotte sixth instead. High-major transfers moving down was Wes Miller’s formula at Greensboro, and this is an older team with a couple of his Cincinnati guys. Then he has Tulsa seventh as his regression team, with a mostly new roster after the dream season. FAU sits eighth because their teams score and play fast, but consistency is the big question there. Next comes Temple at nine. It’s a really old team that brings back pieces from last year. And he’s hoping the Owls got rid of anyone who was rigging games.
The bottom of both cards looks close. Troy Chewning has Tulsa tenth, UTSA up to 11th and Tulane 12th, because he thinks Ron Hunter might be coaching his last year there. Ryan McIntyre goes Tulane tenth instead. They don’t bring back a ton, and there isn’t a senior on the roster. He then has ECU 11th, citing questions on the roster and a program that struggles to find consistency. UTSA is 12th on his board. Both of them put Rice 13th, so the cellar is the one spot with full agreement. In his view, UTSA and Rice are the two weakest rosters in the league.
Shockers Up: Player Of The Year, Coach And Tournament
If Kenyon Giles is ruled eligible, Troy Chewning has him as player of the year. Putting the best player possible on a Wichita State team that’s already really good is a perfect storm for the voters. Ryan McIntyre takes a stab on Jay Sean Stevenson from North Texas instead. His co-host actually calls Stevenson the favorite right now, but only because the Giles decision hasn’t come down. Coach of the year is easier. Both go with Paul Mills, because a Wichita title would make it his breakthrough year. And if the Shockers win it outright, Mills wins it too.
The tournament pick lands in the same spot. One seeds have won the American tournament a bunch, so Ryan McIntyre has Wichita sweeping it and getting back to the dance. His co-host considered Memphis, since the Tigers might play to keep Penny around and the money flowing. He landed on Wichita anyway. Also, don’t sleep on UAB, which won this tournament in 2024 and 2022 under Kennedy. They’re always right there in March. But this is a pro-Wichita pod this year, and both guys are all over the Shockers. As Troy Chewning signed off, Shockers up, baby.
2026-27 College Basketball Conference Previews
Podcast Chapters
00:00 Download the SGPN App Today!
01:16 Welcome to the College Basketball Experience
03:22 Last Year’s American: South Florida, Tulsa and Memphis
06:35 Coaches: Chris Mack, Wes Miller and Penny
12:04 Stock Up, Stock Down: Memphis, Rice and Tulsa
17:15 Rank Them One to 13: Wichita and North Texas
23:49 Temple, FAU, Tulsa and the Middle of the Pack
30:55 Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and Tournament
34:02 Sign-Off
