The 2013–14 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season took place between November 2013 and concluded in March 2014. Practices began in October 2013, with conference play beginning in December, and the season ended with the 2014 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament. The season was the first since the split of the original Big East Conference into two separate leagues.
This was the first season that Houston, Memphis, SMU, Temple, and UCF participated in American Athletic competition. It was also the final season for Louisville and Rutgers in Big East/AAC competition, as these schools left for the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten Conference respectively.
Preseason
Coaching changes Mike Rice was fired by Rutgers following a player abuse scandal.
Predicted American Athletic results At American Athletic Conference media day on October 16, the conference released their predictions for standings and All-Conference teams. American Athletic CoachesAmerican Athletic Writers 1. Louisville (9) 2. Connecticut (1) 3. Memphis 4. Cincinnati 5. Temple 6. SMU 7. Houston 8. South Florida 9. UCF 10. Rutgers first place votes
2013-14 Preseason All-American Athletic Teams First Team Second TeamSean Kilpatrick, G, CINShabazz Napier, G, CONNChane Behanan, F, LOURuss Smith, G, LOUJoe Jackson, G, MEMIsaiah Sykes, G, UCFRyan Boatright, G, CONNTaShawn Thomas, F, HOUMontrezl Harrell, F, LOUAnthony Collins, G, USFVictor Rudd, F, USF
American Athletic Preseason Player of the Year: Russ Smith, Louisville American Athletic Preseason Rookie of the Year: Keith Frazier, SMU
Preseason Watchlists Naismith John Wooden Award Montrezl Harrell, LOUJoe Jackson, MEMSean Kilpatrick, CINShabazz Napier, CONNRuss Smith, LOUMontrezl Harrell, LOUJoe Jackson, MEMSean Kilpatrick, CINShabazz Napier, CONNRuss Smith, LOU
Rankings + Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 FinalCincinnati AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 19 15 13 7 10 7 11 C RV 23 16 15 7 11 9 12 Connecticut AP 18 19 18 13 12 9 10 15 17 RV RV RV RV 22 24 21 RV C 19 20 18 14 14 12 10 15 15 RV RV RV RV RV RV 21 RV 19 Houston AP C Louisville AP 3 3 3 9 7 6 6 6 14 12 18 12 12 14 13 11 7 C 3 3 2 9 6 4 4 4 10 8 14 9 7 10 8 5 4 Memphis AP 13 13 11 21 16 16 15 17 18 24 17 23 22 24 20 22 21 C 13 13 11 19 15 15 14 17 18 22 17 22 22 RV 22 24 22 Rutgers AP C SMU AP RV RV RV RV RV 23 RV 23 C RV RV RV RV 24 18 South Florida AP C Temple AP CRV UCF AP C
Conference Schedules
Composite matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. (x) indicates games scheduled this season. CincinnatiConnecticutHoustonLouisvilleMemphisRutgersSMUSouth FloridaTempleUCFvs. Cincinnati – 1–10–21–10–20–21–10–20–20–2vs. Connecticut1–1 – 1–11–00–20–12–00–10–20–2vs. Houston2–01–1 – 2–01–01–12–00–10–10–1vs. Louisville1–10–10–2 – 1–00–20–10–20–10–2vs. Memphis2–02–00–10–1 – 0–21–00–20–20–2vs. Rutgers2–01–01–12–02–0 – 2–00–21–10–1vs. SMU1–10–20–21–00–10–2 – 1–11–10–1vs. South Florida2–01–01–02–02–01–01–1 – 0–11–1vs. Temple2–02–01–01–02–01–11–11–0 – 1–0vs. UCF2–02–01–02–02–01–01–01–10–1 – Total 15–3 9–5 5–9 12–2 10–4 4–10 11–4 3–11 2–12 2–12
Cincinnati
!colspan=9 style="background:#E00122; color:#000000;"| AAC Regular Season
!colspan=9 style="background:#E00122; color:#000000;"| 2014 American Athletic Conference tournament
!colspan=9 style="background:#E00122; color:#000000;"| NCAA tournament
Connecticut
!colspan=12 style="background:#002868; color:white;"| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style="background:#002868; color:white;"| Regular season
!colspan=12 style="background:#002868;"| AAC tournament
!colspan=12 style="background:#002868;"| NCAA tournament
Houston
!colspan=12 style="background:#CC0000; color:white;"| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style="background:#CC0000; color:white;"| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=12 style="background:#CC0000; color:white;"| American Athletic Conference regular season
!colspan=12 style="background:#CC0000; color:white;"| American Athletic Conference tournament
Louisville Louisville: 29 reg. season games, 3 postseason games vacated due to sanctions against the program.
! colspan="12" style="background:#ad0000; color:#fff;"| Exhibition
! colspan="12" style="background:#ad0000; color:#fff;"| Regular season
! colspan="12" style="background:#ad0000; color:#fff;"| American Athletic Conference tournament
! colspan="12" style="background:#ad0000; color:#fff;"| NCAA tournament
Memphis
!colspan=9 style="background:#0C1C8C; color:#8E9295;"| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style="background:#0C1C8C; color:#8E9295;"| Regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#0C1C8C; color:#8E9295;"| American Athletic Conference tournament
!colspan=9 style="background:#0C1C8C; color:#8E9295;"| NCAA tournament
Rutgers
!colspan=9 style="background:#CC0000; color:#000000;"| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style="background:#CC0000; color:#000000;"| Regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#CC0000; color:#000000;"| American Athletic Conference tournament
SMU
!colspan=9 style="background:#B10000; color:#032B66;"| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#B10000; color:#032B66;"| Conference regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#B10000; color:#032B66;"| American Athletic Conference tournament
!colspan=9 style="background:#B10000; color:#032B66;"| NIT
South Florida
!colspan=9 style="background:#006747; color:#CFC493;"| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style="background:#006747; color:#CFC493;"| Regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#006747; color:#CFC493;"| American Athletic Conference tournament
Temple
!colspan=9 style="background:#9E1B34; color:#FFFFFF;"| Regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#9E1B34; color:#FFFFFF;"| American Athletic Conference tournament
UCF
!colspan=9 style="background:#000000; color:#BC9B6A;"| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#000000; color:#BC9B6A;"| American Regular Season
!colspan=9 style="background:#000000; color:#BC9B6A;"| American Athletic Conference tournament
Weekly honors Throughout the conference regular season, the American Athletic names a player of the week and rookie of the week each Monday.
Postseason
March 12–15, 2014 at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee 2015 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament seeds and results Seed School Conf. Over. Tiebreaker First roundMarch 12 QuarterfinalsMarch 13 SemifinalsMarch 14 ChampionshipMarch 151. Cincinnati ‡† 15-3 26-5 Won coin toss Bye vs. #9 UCF – W, 61-58 vs. #4 Connecticut – L, 56-58 2. Louisville ‡† 15-3 26-5 Bye vs. #7 Rutgers – W, 92-31 vs. #6 Houston – W, 94–65 vs. #4 Connecticut – W, 71–613.SMU † 12-6 23-8 2–0 vs Connecticut Bye vs. #6 Houston – L, 64–68 4. Connecticut † 12-6 24-7 2–0 vs Memphis Bye vs. #5 Memphis – W, 72-53 vs. #1 Cincinnati – W, 58–56 vs. #2 Louisville – L, 61–715. Memphis † 12-6 23-8 0–2 vs Connecticut Bye vs. #4 Connecticut – L, 53–72 6. Houston † 8-10 16-15 Bye vs. #3 SMU – W, 68-64 vs. #2 Louisville – L, 65-94 7. Rutgers 5-13 11-20 vs. #10 South Florida – W, 72–68 vs. #2 Louisville – L, 31–92 8. Temple 4-14 9-21 1–1 vs. SMU vs. #9 UCF – L, 90-94 2OT 9. UCF 4-14 12-17 0–2 vs. SMU vs. #8 Temple – W, 94–90 2OT vs. #1 Cincinnati – L, 58–61 10. South Florida 3-15 12-19 vs. #7 Rutgers – L, 68-72 ‡ – American regular season champions.† – Received a single-bye in the conference tournament.
NCAA tournament
Seed Region School First Four Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship4 Midwest Louisville Bye vs. #13 Manhattan – W, 71-64 vs. #5 Saint Louis – W, 66-51 vs. #8 Kentucky – L, 69-74 5 East Cincinnati Bye vs. #12 Harvard – L, 57-61 7 East Connecticut Bye vs. #10 St. Joseph's – W, 89-81 OT vs. #2 Villanova – W, 77-65 vs. #3 Iowa State – W, 81-76 vs. #4 Michigan State – W, 60-54 vs. #1 Florida – W, 63-53 vs. #8 Kentucky – W, 60-548 East Memphis Bye vs. #9 George Washington – W, 71-66 vs. #1 Virginia – L, 60-78 W–L (%):0–0 3–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 Total: 9–3
National Invitation tournament
Seed Bracket School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals1 SMU SMU vs. #8 UC Irvine – W, 68-54 vs. #5 LSU – W, 80-67 vs. #2 California – W, 67-65 vs. #3 Clemson – W, 65-59 vs. #1 Minnesota – L, 63-65W–L (%):1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 Total: 4–1
NBA draft The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2014 NBA draft.
Player Position School Round Pick Team Shabazz Napier PG Connecticut 1 24 Charlotte Hornets DeAndre Daniels SF Connecticut 2 37 Toronto Raptors Russ Smith PG/SG Louisville 2 47 Philadelphia 76ers
References
Notes