American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament
| AAC men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Conference basketball championship | |
| 225px | |
| Sport | College basketball |
| Conference | American Athletic Conference |
| Number of teams | 11 |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Current stadium | Dickies Arena |
| Current location | Fort Worth, TX |
| Played | 2014–present |
| Last contest | 2023 AAC tournament |
| Current champion | Memphis |
| Most championships | Cincinnati, Houston, SMU (2) |
| TV partner(s) | CBS/ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPNews |
| Official website | TheAmerican.org Men's Basketball |
The American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament (sometimes known simply as The American Championship) is the conference tournament in basketball for the American Athletic Conference. It is a single-elimination tournament that involves all league schools (12 with the addition of Wichita State for the 2017–18 season). Its seeding is based on regular season records. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament; however, the official conference championship is awarded to the team or teams with the best regular season record.
The creation of the conference tournament was a product of the split of the original Big East Conference. While The American is the legal successor to the old Big East, it gave up the rights to the long-standing conference tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City to the new Big East. As a result, the 2014 tournament was numbered as the first tournament for the conference.
Champions
| Year | Champion | Score | Runner-up | MVP | Venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Louisville |
71–61 | Connecticut | Russ Smith, Louisville | FedEx Forum (Memphis, TN) | |
| 2015 | SMU | 62–54 | Connecticut | Markus Kennedy, SMU | XL Center (Hartford, CT) | |
| 2016 | Connecticut | 72–58 | Memphis | Daniel Hamilton, Connecticut | Amway Center (Orlando, FL) | |
| 2017 | SMU | 71–56 | Cincinnati | Semi Ojeleye, SMU | XL Center (Hartford, CT) | |
| 2018 | Cincinnati | 56–55 | Houston | Gary Clark, Cincinnati | Amway Center (Orlando, FL) | |
| 2019 | Cincinnati | 69–57 | Houston | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati | FedEx Forum (Memphis, TN)[1] | |
| 2020 | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 2021 | Houston | 91–54 | Cincinnati | Quentin Grimes, Houston | Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, TX)[2] | |
| 2022 | Houston | 71–53 | Memphis | Fabian White Jr., Houston | ||
| 2023 | Memphis | 75–65 | Houston | Kendric Davis, Memphis | ||
Louisville was forced to vacate their 2014 win due to 2015 sex scandal
Tournament championships by school
| School | Championships | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | 2 | 2018, 2019 |
| Houston | 2 | 2021, 2022 |
| SMU | 2 | 2015, 2017 |
| Connecticut | 1 | 2016 |
| Louisville | 1 | 2014* |
| Memphis | 1 | 2023 |
| Temple | 0 | |
| Wichita State | 0 | |
| Tulsa | 0 | |
| East Carolina | 0 | |
| UCF | 0 | |
| South Florida | 0 | |
| Tulane | 0 |
Italics indicate school no longer sponsors men's basketball in The American.
See also
References
Template:American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament navbox
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American Athletic Conference men's basketball
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