Thursday tip-off: No. 23 SMU hosts Cincinnati

Setting up the day in college basketball:

Best bet: With defending NCAA champion Connecticut in what has become a rebuilding year and with Louisville off to contend in the ACC, the multi-bid prospects for the American Athletic Conference appeared somewhat iffy.

But the AAC actually finds itself in decent shape a little over a month out from Selection Sunday. Temple owns an increasingly valuable win against Kansas, and Tulsa enters the day unscathed in league play. A couple of the other contenders get together as No. 23 SMU hosts Cincinnati (9 p.m. ET, ESPN).

The Mustangs have a road date at Tulsa on deck, and the Golden Hurricane must get past their own trip to Houston on Thursday night. But if SMU can get through this week and keep a number in front of its name, it can be regarded as an unequivocal success. Despite some personnel changes, the Mustangs have held together thanks to superb leadership at the point from Nic Moore and solid contributions on the inside from Marcus Kennedy.

The Bearcats haven't been as consistent and are coming off a damaging loss at East Carolina. Cincinnati's leading scorer, G Troy Caupain, managed only four points in that outing and could use some early makes to regain his touch.

Number of the day: 52.8. Gonzaga not only moved up to the No. 2 spot in the polls, but also took over the national lead in field-goal percentage. The Zags are hitting 52.8% of their attempts heading into Thursday's West Coast Conference road date at Santa Clara (11 p.m. ET, ESPNU). Though they've won nine in a row in their series with the Broncos, the lack of top-tier opponents remaining on their WCC slate leaves them little margin for error in their quest for a No.1 seed.

Days until Selection Sunday: 38.

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