2018 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament


The 2018 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament ended the 2017–18 season of the American Athletic Conference. It was held March 8–11, 2018, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.[1] Regular-season champion Cincinnati won the tournament and with it the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

2018 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament
Tournament Logo
ClassificationDivision I
Season2017–18
Teams12
SiteAmway Center
Orlando, Florida
ChampionsCincinnati (1st title)
Winning coachMick Cronin (1st title)
MVPGary Clark (Cincinnati)
Attendance50,259
TelevisionCBS, ESPNU, ESPN2
← 2017
2019 →
2017–18 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 6 Cincinnati 16 2   .889 31 5   .861
No. 21 Houston 14 4   .778 27 8   .771
No. 16 Wichita State 14 4   .778 25 8   .758
Tulsa 12 6   .667 19 12   .613
Memphis 10 8   .556 21 13   .618
UCF 9 9   .500 19 13   .594
Temple 8 10   .444 17 16   .515
UConn 7 11   .389 14 18   .438
SMU 6 12   .333 17 16   .515
Tulane 5 13   .278 14 17   .452
East Carolina 4 14   .222 10 20   .333
South Florida 3 15   .167 10 22   .313
2018 AAC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Seeds

edit

All 12 conference teams participated in the conference tournament. The top four teams received a bye into the quarterfinals. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. Tiebreakers: win–loss record, head-to-head record, record against the highest ranked team outside of the tied teams, record against the second highest ranked team outside of the tied teams, etc.

Seed School Conference Tiebreaker
1 Cincinnati 16–2
2 Wichita State 14–4 1–0 vs. Memphis
3 Houston 14–4 0–1 vs. Memphis
4 Tulsa 12–6
5 Memphis 10–8
6 UCF 9–9
7 Temple 8–10
8 UConn 7–11
9 SMU 6–12
10 Tulane 5–13 1–1 vs. Houston
11 East Carolina 5–13 0–2 vs. Houston
12 South Florida 3–15

Schedule

edit
Game Time Matchup Score Television Attendance
First round – Thursday, March 8
1 Noon No. 8 UConn vs No. 9 SMU 73–80 ESPNU 7,856
2 2:30 pm No. 5 Memphis vs No. 12 South Florida 79–77
3 7:00 pm No. 7 Temple vs No. 10 Tulane 82–77 7,918
4 9:30 pm No. 6 UCF vs No. 11 East Carolina 66–52
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 9
5 Noon No. 1 Cincinnati vs No. 9 SMU 61–51 ESPN2 8,491
6 2:30 pm No. 4 Tulsa vs No. 5 Memphis 64–67
7 7:00 pm No. 2 Wichita State vs No. 7 Temple 89–81 ESPNU 8,680
8 9:30 pm No. 3 Houston vs No. 6 UCF 84–56
Semifinals – Saturday, March 10
9 1:00 pm No. 1 Cincinnati vs. No. 5 Memphis 70–60 CBS 8,644
10 3:30 pm No. 2 Wichita State vs. No. 3 Houston 74-77
Championship – Sunday, March 11
11 3:00 pm No. 1 Cincinnati vs. No. 3 Houston 56–55 CBS 8,670
Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

edit

[2]

First round
Thursday, March 8
Quarterfinals
Friday, March 9
Semifinals
Saturday, March 10
Championship
Sunday, March 11
            
1 Cincinnati 61
9 SMU 51
8 UConn 73
9 SMU 80
1 Cincinnati 70
5 Memphis 60
4 Tulsa 64
5 Memphis 67
5 Memphis 79
12 South Florida 77
1 Cincinnati 56
3 Houston 55
2 Wichita State 89
7 Temple 81
7 Temple 82
10 Tulane 77
2 Wichita State 74
3 Houston 77
3 Houston 84
6 UCF 56
6 UCF 66
11 East Carolina 52

References

edit
  1. ^ "American Men's Basketball Semifinals, Championship to be Broadcast on CBS in 2018". American Athletic Conference. May 23, 2017. Archived from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  2. ^ "2018 Aaron's American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship" (PDF). American Athletic Conference. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2022.