The 2014–15 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season took place between November 2014 and March 2015. Practices began in October 2014, with conference play beginning in December, and the season ended with the 2015 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament. The season was the second since the split of the original Big East Conference into two separate leagues.
This was the first season for East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa in American Athletic competition.
Preseason
Coaching changes Tulsa Hired Frank Haith, after Former Coach Danny Manning took the Wake Forest job Kelvin Sampson was hired at Houston after former coach James Dickey resigned for Personal reasons Orlando Antigua was hired at USF, after USF rescinded their offer to Steve Masiello after it was reported that he had not graduated from the University of Kentucky, as his resume had stated. Masiello was originally hired to replace Stan Heath, who was fired
Predicted American Athletic results At American Athletic Conference media day on October 29, the conference released their predictions for standings and All-Conference teams.
Coaches 1. Connecticut (6) 2. SMU (5) 3. Memphis 4. Cincinnati 5. Tulsa 6. Temple 7. Houston 8. USF 9. UCF 10. East Carolina 11. Tulane
() first place votes
Preseason All-AAC Teams First Team Second TeamRyan Boatright, G, UCONN Shaq Goodwin, F, MEMAustin Nichols, F, MEMNic Moore, G, SMUMarkus Kennedy, F, SMU James Woodard, G, TULSAAmida Brimah, C, UCONNAnthony Collins, G, USFChris Perry, F, USFWill Cummings, G, TEMQuenton DeCosey, G, TEM
American Athletic Preseason Player of the Year: Ryan Boatright, Connecticut American Athletic Preseason Rookie of the Year: Daniel Hamilton, Connecticut
Preseason Watchlists Naismith John Wooden AwardRyan Boatright, G, UConnNic Moore, G, SMUNic Moore, G, SMU
Rankings + Legend Increase in ranking Decrease in ranking Not ranked previous week
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AAC regular season This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. CincinnatiConnecticutEast CarolinaHoustonMemphisSMUSouth FloridaTempleTulaneTulsaUCFvs. Cincinnati – 1-1 1-1 0-2 1-1 0-2 0–1 1-1 1–1 0–1 0–2vs. Connecticut 1-1 – 0–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 0-2 2-0 0–2 1-1 0–1 vs. East Carolina 1-1 2–0 – 1-1 1–1 1-0 1-1 2–0 1-0 2–0 0–2vs. Houston 2-0 0–1 1-1 – 2-0 2–0 1-1 1–0 1-1 2-0 2–0vs. Memphis 1-1 0–2 1–1 0-2 – 2-0 0–1 1–0 1-1 2-0 0–2vs. SMU 2-0 1–1 0-1 0–2 0-2 – 0-2 0-2 0-1 0–2 0–2vs. South Florida 1–0 2-0 1-1 1-1 1–0 2-0 – 2-0 2-0 2-0 1–1vs. Temple 1-1 0-2 0–2 0–1 0–1 2-0 0-2 – 0-2 2–0 0–2vs. Tulane 1–1 2–0 0-1 1–1 1-1 1-0 0-2 2-0 – 2–0 2–0vs. Tulsa 1–0 1-1 0–2 0-2 0-2 2–0 0-2 0–2 0-2 – 0–1vs. UCF 2–0 1-0 2-0 0-2 2-0 2–0 1–1 2-0 0-2 1-0 – Total 13–5 10–8 6–12 4-14 10–8 15–3 3–15 13–5 6–12 14–4 5–13
Postseason
March 12–15, 2015 at the XL Center in Hartford, CT 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. SMU ‡† 15–3 24–6 Bye vs. #8 East Carolina - W, 74-68 vs. #4 Temple - W, 69-56 vs. #6 Connecticut - W, 62-542. Tulsa † 14–4 21–9 Bye vs. #10 Houston - W, 59-51 vs. #6 Connecticut - L, 42–47 3.Cincinnati † 13–5 22–9 2-0 vs. SMU Bye vs. #6 Connecticut - L, 54–57 4. Temple† 13–5 22–9 0-2 vs. SMU Bye vs. #5 Memphis - W, 80-75 vs. #1 SMU - L, 56–69 5. Memphis† 10–8 18–13 2-0 vs. CONN Bye vs. #4 Temple - L, 75–80 6. Connecticut 10–8 17–13 0-2 vs. MEM vs. #11 South Florida - W, 69-43 vs. #3 Cincinnati - W, 47-44 vs. #2 Tulsa - W, 47-42 vs. #1 SMU - L, 54–627. Tulane 6–12 15-15 1-0 vs. ECU vs. #10 Houston - L, 60–66 8. East Carolina 6–12 13–18 0-1 vs. TULN vs. #9 UCF - W, 81-80 OT vs. #1 SMU - L, 68–74 9. UCF 5–13 12–17 vs. #8 East Carolina - L, 80–81 OT 10. Houston 4–14 12–18 vs. #7 Tulane - W, 66-60 vs. #2 Tulsa - L, 51-59 11. South Florida 3–15 9-22 vs. #6 Connecticut - L, 43-69 ‡ – American regular season champions, and tournament No. 1 seed.† – 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 Championship6 South SMU Bye vs. #11 UCLA - L, 59-60 8 Midwest Cincinnati Bye vs. #9 Purdue - W, 66-55 OT vs. #1 Kentucky - L, 64-51 W–L (%):0–0 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 Total: 1–2
National Invitation tournament
Seed Bracket School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals1 Temple Temple vs. #8 Bucknell - W, 73-67 vs. #5 George Washington - W, 90-77 vs. #3 Louisiana Tech - W, 77-59 vs. #2 Miami (FL) - L, 57-60 2 Old Dominion Tulsa vs. #7 William & Mary - W, 70-67 vs. #3 Murray State - L, 62-83 4 Richmond Connecticut vs. #5 Arizona State - L, 61-68 W–L (%):2–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–0 Total: 4–3
Awards and honors
Conference awards and teams All Conference and All Rookie teams were announced on March 10, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man Award, Most Improved Player, and Sportsmanship Award were announced on March 11. Player of the Year and Coach of the year were announced on March 12
2015 American Athletic Conference Basketball Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Nic Moore G., SMUCoach of the Year Fran Dunphy , TEMP Rookie of the Year Daniel Hamilton G/F., CONNScholar-Athlete of the Year Pat Lenehan G., CONNMost Improved Player Yanick Moreira C., SMUSixth Man Award Markus Kennedy F., SMUSportsmanship Award Shaq Goodwin F., MEMPHIS
2015 American Athletic Conference All-Conference Teams| First Team Second Team Honorable Mention All-Rookie TeamRyan Boatright †, G., CONNAustin Nichols, F., MEMPHNic Moore †, G., SMUWill Cummings, G., TEMPJames Woodard, G., TULSAOctavius Ellis, F., CINMarkus Kennedy, F., SMUYanick Moreira, C., SMULouis Dabney, G., TULNShaquille Harrison, G., TULSATroy Caupain, G., CINAmida Brimah, C., CONNDaniel Hamilton, G/F., CONNJaylen Bond, F., TEMPAdonys Henriquez, G., UCFB. J. Taylor, G., UCFGary Clark, F., CINDaniel Hamilton †, G/F., CONNB. J. Tyson †, G., ECU † - denotes unanimous selection
References