Though the American Athletic Conference may be the strongest it has been in basketball for the 2015-16 season, it will likely also serve as East Carolina’s best chance to make a name for itself in the conference.

The American is twice represented in the top-25 polls with No. 18 SMU and No. 22 Cincinnati. Connecticut has been receiving votes in the polls while Houston and Memphis had very strong play in their non-conference schedule.

Though SMU is the conference’s top-team, the Mustangs are banned from postseason play this year after a decision made by the NCAA just before the start of the season. Despite the sanctions, Larry Brown’s team is undefeated and will look to play spoiler in the conference’s regular season. ECU faces off with SMU twice this year.

UConn boasts one of the conference’s top players in Daniel Hamilton, the conference’s Freshman-of-the-Year last season, and an 8-3 record with wins over Big 10 programs Michigan and Ohio State. ECU has just one matchup with the Huskies this season, coming on the road in February.

Houston posted a marquee win over LSU and freshman sensation Ben Simmons. Memphis ran an 8-3 record in non-conference play and fell to No. 3 Oklahoma by just six.

The conference’s top teams have a major advantage over ECU comes in the paint. SMU, Cincinnati, UConn and Memphis all have top-tier post players while Houston takes a more by-committee approach. However it is done, inside play will be challenge for the Pirates.

“We’re going to get a different kind of team,” head coach Jeff Lebo said of the Knights. “I know they have tremendous size — like NBA size. Maybe bigger than NBA size that’s coming in here. I’ll have to make some adjustments to figure out how we’re going to attack them.”

The Pirates lost redshirt junior forward Mashall Guilmette before the season, and with him lost identity in the post. Offensively, the Pirates were still slowed by injury at the forward position as Michel Nzege missed three games recently and Deng Riak was lost for the season two weeks ago.

ECU finished its non-conference schedule with an 8-5 record and a perfect 7-0 at home. As has become common over the past season, the road play of ECU, where it is 0-4, is nearly a polar opposite to the play in Minges Coliseum.

Luckily for the Pirates, the conference schedule will tip off at home against Central Florida Saturday. ECU beat the Knights three times last season, including a conference tournament victory in the first round and its lone road win of the season.

UCF is 6-4 this season and will finish its non-conference schedule Tuesday against George Washington. The Knights’ four losses have all come by less than 10 points, including two one-point losses to UC Irvine and Miami (Ohio) and a five-point loss to Davidson.

The Knights lost B.J. Taylor for the season, but have found ways to fill the void left by the sophomore. A.J. Davis is in his first season with UCF after transferring from Tennessee and leads the team in scoring with 13 points per game and is second on the team in rebounds.

Shaheed Davis is another strong forward for UCF, who is averaging over 10 points per game with 6.2 rebounds. The Knights also have the conference’s tallest player in 7-foot-6 freshman Tacko Fall, who has started every game this season. As with most conference games, the play in the paint will likely decide the game.

ECU will play each team in the American twice, excluding SMU and Houston, and will round out conference play with a home game against Memphis on March 6. The conference tournament will be played in Orlando, Florida this season.