Bearcats picked to finish 6th in AAC

Wes Miller will have a lot to prove in his first season as University of Cincinnati men's basketball coach.

The other head coaches in the American Athletic Conference picked Miller's Bearcats to finish sixth in the conference this season, the AAC announced Wednesday.

Miller, who was named the 28th head coach in program history in April, takes over a team that finished 12-11 (8-6) last season and reached the AAC tournament championship game.

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Cincinnati lost the conference title game 91-54 to Houston, which was picked as the conference favorite for the third consecutive year.

The Cougars, which reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament last season, received eight first-place votes and a total of 98 points. Memphis earned the other three first-place votes and 92 total points to place second in the AAC preseason poll. SMU is third with 77 points, one ahead of defending regular-season champion Wichita State (76). UCF placed fifth with 66 points, followed by Cincinnati (52), Tulsa (43), Temple (37), South Florida (25), Tulane (25) and East Carolina (14).

Cincinnati junior guard Jeremiah Davenport earned preseason second-team All-AAC honors. The former Moeller High School standout is the Bearcats’ leading returning scorer, averaging 11.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists a season ago. 

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Davenport was the only Cincinnati player to earn a spot on the All-AAC Tournament team last season, averaging 12.7 points and 6.0 rebounds along with nine 3-pointers in the three-game stretch.