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2022 American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Basics

Dates

Thursday, March 10 (first round); Friday, March 11 (quarterfinals); Saturday, March 12 (semifinals); Sunday, March 13 (championship)

Format

Traditional bracket

Site

Dickies Arena in Fort Worth will host for the second consecutive season. It was also scheduled to host the canceled 2020 edition.

TV/Streaming Info

ESPNU will carry all three first-round games and the evening quarterfinal doubleheader. The afternoon quarters and semifinals will appear on ESPN2. ESPN has the championship game on Selection Sunday afternoon.

Participants

All 11 American Athletic members will participate.

Downloadable Bracket

Schedule

First Round (Thurs., March 10)

Game 1: (9) East Carolina (15-15, 6-11) 63, (8) Cincinnati 74
Game 2: (10) Tulsa 73, (7) Wichita State (15-13, 6-9) 67
Game 3: (11) South Florida (8-23, 3-15) 58, (6) UCF 60

Quarterfinals (Fri., March 11)

Game 4: (8) Cincinnati (18-15, 7-11) 56, (1) Houston 59
Game 5: (5) Tulane 69, (4) Temple (17-12, 10-7) 60
Game 6: (10) Tulsa (11-20, 4-14) 58, (2) SMU 83
Game 7: (6) UCF (18-12, 9-9) 69, (3) Memphis 85

Semifinals (Sat., March 12)

Game 8: (5) Tulane (14-15, 10-8) 66, (1) Houston 86
Game 9: (3) Memphis 70, (2) SMU (23-8, 13-4) 63

Championship (Sun., March 13)

Game 10: (3) Memphis (21-10, 13-5) 53, (1) HOUSTON (29-5, 15-3) 71

Mayhem Potential

Data originally posted by Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter in 2020 with my own additions for 2021 and 2022.

The top two seeds have each won three of the seven American Athletic Tournaments held so far. The exception was 2016’s fifth-seeded UConn team.

• 1 seed (3): 2015, 2017, 2018
• 2 seed (3): 2014, 2019, 2021
• 5 seed (1): 2016

NCAA Bid Totals Since 2014

• 4 bids (3): 2014 (9-3 record, 10 teams, UConn national champion), 2016 (1-4 record, 11 teams), 2019 (3-4 record, 12 teams)
• 3 bids (1): 2018 (2-3 record, 12 teams)
• 2 bids (3): 2015 (1-2 record, 11 teams), 2017 (1-2 record, 11 teams), 2021 (4-2 record, 11 teams)

For a time, it looked like this would be the first year of a single-bid AAC. Even last season, the conference needed to combine Wichita State’s First Four appearance with Houston’s eventual Final Four trip to scrape two bids together. However, with Memphis and SMU both playing well late, three bids is suddenly possible, though the Mustangs might have to follow the Shockers’ path.

Last Conference Tournament Championships

Houston: 2021 (1 seed)
Cincinnati: 2019 (2 seed)
SMU: 2017 (1 seed)
Wichita State: 2017 (2 seed, MVC)
Tulsa: 2014 (2 seed, C-USA)
Memphis: 2013 (1 seed, C-USA)
Temple: 2010 (1 seed, Atlantic 10)
UCF: 2005 (2 seed, Atlantic Sun)
East Carolina: 1993 (7 seed, CAA)
South Florida: 1990 (2 seed, Sun Belt)

While just four teams have won the American Athletic tournament title over its short lifespan (and two of them have moved to other conferences), Tulane is the only league member that’s never won a tournament championship.

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