Sophomore guard Nate Hinton is second in the AAC in rebounds, averaging 9.9 per game behind Memphis freshman forward Precious Achiuwa’s 10.4. | Trevor Nolley/The Cougar

With a full week of American Athletic Conference play under the AAC’s belt, one thing is for sure — this league is going to be interesting in 2020.

One of the biggest surprises of the season so far has been No. 16 Wichita State, sitting at the top of the league standings with a 3-0 conference record.

The Shockers, gearing up for a road matchup against the 9-6 Temple Owls on Wednesday, have been on a roll in 2019-20, with their only loss coming at the hands of West Virginia.

Since the 75-63 loss on Nov. 27 to West Virginia, Wichita State has gone on a nine-game win streak, including a win over then-No. 21 Memphis last Thursday.

Wichita State comes rolling into town Saturday to take on Houston, who has seen better days after suffering a loss to sixth-place Tulsa.

The Cougars (12-4, 2-1 AAC), despite the 63-61 loss, are heading into an easy part of its schedule, outside of their game against the Shockers, with UConn (10-6, 1-3 AAC) and USF (8-9,1-3 AAC) coming up soon.

Up north, Cincinnati (10-6, 3-1 AAC), a perennial AAC contender, has quietly moved its way up to second in the standings after wins over Tulsa and UCF (9-7, 0-4 AAC) last week.

No. 22 Memphis, meanwhile, sits at third with their 2-1 AAC record, but that may change with Cincinnati up next on their schedule for Thursday night.

The middle of the pack may also see some change with fifth-place UH taking on fourth-place SMU on Wednesday night.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Around the AAC: Wichita State surging, UH takes a tumble” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar