The American Conference men's basketball tournament (sometimes known simply as The American Championship) is the conference tournament in men's basketball for the American Conference. It is a single-elimination tournament that involves all league schools (14 as of the 2023–24 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.
The conference adopted the "American Athletic Conference" name upon the Big East split, dropping the word "Athletic" in July 2025.
Champions Year Champion Score Runner-up MVP Venue 2014Louisville71–61 Connecticut Russ Smith, Louisville FedEx Forum (Memphis, TN) 2015SMU 62–54Connecticut Markus Kennedy, SMU XL Center (Hartford, CT) 2016Connecticut 72–58Memphis Daniel Hamilton, Connecticut Amway Center (Orlando, FL) 2017SMU 71–56Cincinnati Semi Ojeleye, SMU XL Center (Hartford, CT) 2018Cincinnati 56–55 Houston Gary Clark, Cincinnati Amway Center (Orlando, FL) 2019Cincinnati 69–57 Houston Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati FedEx Forum (Memphis, TN) 2020Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021Houston 91–54 Cincinnati Quentin Grimes, HoustonDickies Arena (Fort Worth, TX) 2022Houston 71–53Memphis Fabian White Jr., Houston 2023Memphis 75–65Houston Kendric Davis, Memphis 2024UAB 85–69Temple Yaxel Lendeborg, UAB 2025Memphis 84–72UAB PJ Haggerty, Memphis 2026South Florida 70–55Wichita State Wes Enis, South Florida Legacy Arena (Birmingham, AL) 2027 – – – –Yuengling Center (Tampa, FL) 2028 – – – – Louisville was forced to vacate their 2014 win due to 2015 sex scandal
Tournament championships by school School Titles Winning years Cincinnati22018, 2019 Houston 2 2021, 2022 SMU 2 2015, 2017 Memphis22023, 2025UConn 1 2016Louisville 1 2014* UAB 12024 South Florida 12026 Charlotte 0 East Carolina 0 Florida Atlantic0 North Texas 0 Rice 0 Temple 0 Tulane 0 Tulsa 0 UCF 0 UTSA 0 Wichita State 0
Italics indicate school no longer sponsors men's basketball in The American.
See also Big East men's basketball tournament American Conference women's basketball tournament
References
External links