With Memphis struggling as it prepares to face USF, how hot is Penny Hardaway's seat?

In the seven seasons before this one, Memphis never failed to win 20 games under head coach Penny Hardaway. The Tigers won 29 games and the American Conference championship last year.

However, the 20-win streak is in severe jeopardy this season. Memphis enters Thursday's game at the Yuengling Center against USF with an unsightly 12-13 record and is coming off a 99-75 blowout loss to Utah State -- the same team the Bulls beat 74-61 in December.

You would think Hardaway -- a native son and local legend in Memphis as a player and coach -- would catch some slack because of his body of work, but think again.

After all, this is college basketball and patience by the fans generally is restricted to their favorite team's last possession. Memphis is a particularly passionate basketball town, so Hardaway is feeling the heat.

The pot has been simmering for a few years, especially in March Madness. The Tigers are 1-3 there under Hardaway, including a first-round upset exit last season to Colorado State despite a 29-5 regular season record.

The grumbling from that depressing turn of events has turned into a crescendo this season as the Tigers -- preseason favorites to win the American Conference -- have continued to struggle. The noise is getting louder -- and Hardaway is aware.

After his team lost an American Conference road game to Florida Atlantic, Hardaway felt compelled to apologize for the effort.

“It was really a bad game all around from a hustle standpoint. Definitely didn’t represent how we wanted to represent,” he told Jeff Brightwell, host of the "Penny Hardaway Radio Show." “We owe an entire apology to our Tiger fans. I appreciate you guys showing up tonight, but that was just totally unacceptable yesterday.

“We got out-hustled. We got out-scrapped. We didn’t fight (in the) second half. It was just very, very disappointing.”

Fans are responding with their absence -- attendance is down -- and message board rants. And when struggles like this happen, it reopens old wounds. Memphis is no stranger to NCAA investigations during Hardaway's tenure. There always seems to be negative headlines waiting to be written about the Tigers.

It seemed to come to a head last Saturday with the blowout loss at Utah State. The Aggies ended the game on a 13-2 run after Hardaway had pulled his startes. Visibly upset at what he considered running up the score on his beaten team. Hardaway's frustration showed in the post-game handshake line.

Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun tried to explain that it wasn't personal.

“Unfortunately—the way the rules are written with the analytics—the last two baskets, we would not have scored if this was a normal circumstance,” Calhoun said.

“The deck is stacked totally against mid-majors now. You’ve got teams that have $10 and $20 million rosters; we don’t have that. We don’t have the ability to play a bunch of Quad 1 and Quad 2 games; we can’t get them. So we’re measured … we almost have to be perfect, let’s call it like it is. The Power Fours can lose 12, 13 games, we can lose five, right? So every possession is measured, and we’ve got to score the ball there, unfortunately. We play by the rules. Those are the rules that KenPom and Bart Torvik, and the NCAA selection committee want us to play by. I would never have done that to coach Hardaway, but (that’s the system)."

All of this means' that USF head coach Bryan Hodgson understands that Memphis likely will come out with fire in its eyes on Thursday. Despite their struggles, the Tigers are 7-5 in the American, compared to 10-3 for the first-place Bulls. Thursday is the first of two games between USF and Memphis before the conference tournament.

"It's a really talented team, a team that is going to come in here hungry and desperate for a win. In the grand scheme of things, they are two games back with a chance to win the league, right? We are the team that they're two games behind. They play (us) twice, so they'll know that coming in, they'll be ready, they'll be fired up," USF head coach Bryan Hodgson said.

"They've got a ton of talent, and Penny does a great job. I mean, he's a good basketball coach. There's a lot of expectation over there -- they expect to win every game they play. You can feel that from their fan base. But at the end of the day, they're a really good basketball team with an unbelievable coaching staff."

For what it's worth, one of the Tigers' five regular-season losses last season was an 85-72 beatdown at home by Arkansas State.

Hodgson was the Red Wolves' coach at the time.