The Memphis basketball team's first 2025 AAC tournament game is Friday. Our experts predict how far Penny Hardaway's team can go in the bracket.

Memphis basketball seemingly broke the No. 16 curse last week with a pair of wins to secure the AAC championship. After all, seven of the last eight weeks, teams occupying the 16th position in the Associated Press Top 25 lost at least one game during that week.

Lunardi predicts Memphis will face 8-seed West Virginia in Lexington as part of the South Regional, which runs through Atlanta. If that plays out and the Tigers win, Lunardi projects they would face the winner of the Auburn-Southern/Bucknell game.

The ECU women’s basketball team took on Memphis in a second-round matchup of the American Athletic Conference Tournament Sunday in Texas. The Pirates held the Tigers to just 45 points for the game in a 64-45 victory.

Memphis beat South Florida on Friday night at FedExForum to earn its first ever AAC regular-season outright title.

The AAC Basketball Tournament begins Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas, with Sunday's game results setting the bracket. Memphis locked up the 1-seed last week and secured the outright regular season championship on Friday.