2016–17 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season

The 2016–17 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2016, followed by the start of the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The conference held its media day on October 24, 2016. Conference play began on December 27, 2016 and concluded on March 4, 2017.

SMU won the regular season championship by one game over Cincinnati. The American Athletic Conference tournament was held from March 9 through March 12 at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. SMU defeated Cincinnati in the tournament championship to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Simi Ojeleye was named the Tournament MVP.

SMU's Semi Ojeleye was also named the conference's Player of the Year. SMU's head coach, Tim Jankovich, was named Coach of the Year.

Two AAC teams were invited to the NCAA Tournament, Cincinnati and SMU. Houston and UCF received bids to the NIT.

Head coaches

Coaching changes Josh Pastner left Memphis for the Georgia Tech job and was replaced by Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith. Larry Brown resigned as SMU coach on July 8, 2016. Tim Jankovich, who had been hired along with Brown in 2012 as his top assistant and designated successor, was elevated to the top spot. Tulane fired Ed Conroy. Former NBA coach Mike Dunleavy was hired for his first college coaching job, after a six-year hiatus from coaching. UCF fired Donnie Jones was fired on March 10 after six seasons. Johnny Dawkins was hired after being fired by Stanford.

Coaches

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record AAC record AAC titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsCincinnati Mick CroninMurray State 11 237–135 56–1617 0 0ConnecticutKevin OllieConnecticut (asst.) 5 113–61 42–30 0 2 1 1East CarolinaJeff LeboAuburn 7 114–118 16–38 0 0 00HoustonKelvin SampsonHouston Rockets (asst.)3 56–40 28–26 0 0 0 0MemphisTubby Smith Texas Tech 1 19–13 9–9 0 0 0 0SMUTim Jankovich SMU (asst.)2 39–5 17–11 1 0 0South FloridaMurry Bartow South Florida (asst.) 1 1–16 1–15 0 0 0 0TempleFran DunphyPenn 11 230–136 38–34 1 7 0 0TulaneMike Dunleavyn/a 1 6–25 3–15 0 0 0 0TulsaFrank HaithMissouri3 58–40 34–20 0 1 0 0UCFJohnny Dawkins Stanford 1 24–12 11–7 0 0 0 0 Notes: Overall and AAC records are from time at current school and are through the end of 2016–17 season. NCAA records include time at current school only. AAC records are only from 2013–14 season to present, prior conference records not included. Orlando Antigua was fired after the first 13 games of the season amid academic fraud allegations. Murry Bartow was named interim coach for the remainder of the season. Jeff Lebo underwent hip surgery on January 16, 2017 and missed the rest of the 2016–17 season. Assistant coach Michael Perry took over as head coach in Lebo's absence.

Preseason

Preseason Coaches Poll

AAC Media Day took place October 24, 2016, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cincinnati was picked to win the conference's regular season (six votes) with Connecticut a close second (five votes).

RankTeam 1. Cincinnati (6) 2. Connecticut (5) 3. SMU 4. Houston 5. Memphis 6. Temple 7. East Carolina 8. UCF 9. Tulsa 10.South Florida 11. Tulane first place votes in parentheses

Preseason All-AAC Teams Honor Recipient Preseason Player of the YearTroy Caupain, CincinnatiDedric Lawson, Memphis Preseason All-AAC First Team Troy Caupain, Cincinnati Gary Clark, Cincinnati Dedric Lawson, Memphis Ben Moore, SMU Damyean Dotson, Houston Preseason All-AAC Second Team Shake Milton, SMU Jalen Adams, Connecticut Jahmal McMurray, USF Rob Gray, Houston B. J. Tyson, East Carolina Preseason Rookie of the Year Alterique Gilbert, Connecticut

Source

Rankings + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week

  Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 FinalCincinnati AP RV 24 RV RV 22 25 24 23 22 22 20 19 14 11 18 17 151518 C 25 25RV RV23 23 23 23 22 22 20 19 14 11171620181622Connecticut AP 18 RV C 16 RV East Carolina AP C Houston AP RV C Memphis AP C SMU AP RV RV RV RV RV 25 19 17 14 12 11 C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 23 21 19 151323South Florida AP C Temple AP RV RV C RV Tulane AP C Tulsa AP C UCF AP RV C RV RV

Conference matrix   CincinnatiConnecticutEast CarolinaHoustonMemphisSMUSouth FloridaTempleTulaneTulsaUCFvs. Cincinnati — 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1vs. Connecticut 2–0 — 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–0 0–2vs. East Carolina 1–0 1–1 — 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0vs. Houston 2–0 0–2 0–2 — 1–1 2–0 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–2 1–1vs. Memphis 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 — 2–0 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1vs. SMU 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 — 0–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–1vs. South Florida 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 — 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0vs. Temple 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 2–0 0–2 — 0–2 1–0 2–0vs. Tulane 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 0–2 2–0 — 1–1 1–0vs. Tulsa 2–0 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 0–1 1–1 — 1–1vs. UCF 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 — Total 16–2 9–9 6–12 12–6 9–9 17–1 1–17 7–11 3–15 8–10 11–7

Honors and awards Semi Ojeleye was an honorable mention AP All-American.

All-AAC awards and teams On March 7, the AAC announced its conference awards. Honor Recipient Player of the Year Semi Ojeleye, SMU Coach of the Year Tim Jankovich, SMU Scholar-Athlete of the Year Semi Ojeleye, SMU Rookie of the Year K. J. Lawson, Memphis Defensive Player of the Year Tacko Fall, UCF Most Improved Player Cameron Reynolds, Tulane Sixth Man Award Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati Ben Emelogu, SMU Sportsmanship Award Troy Caupain, Cincinnati All-AAC First Team Jalen Adams, Connecticut Damyean Dotson, Houston Rob Gray, Houston Dedric Lawson, Memphis Semi Ojeleye, SMU All-AAC Second Team Sterling Brown, SMU Troy Caupain, Cincinnati Shake Milton, SMU Ben Moore, SMU B. J. Taylor, UCF Kyle Washington, Cincinnati All-Rookie Team Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati Vance Jackson, Connecticut K. J. Lawson, Memphis Quinton Rose, Temple Jeremy Sheppard, East Carolina

Postseason

2017 American Athletic Conference tournament

SessionGameTime* MatchupScoreTelevisionAttendance First round – Thursday, March 911 3:30 PM No. 9 East Carolina vs. No. 8 Temple80–69ESPNU 4,8742 6:00 PM No. 10 Tulane vs. No. 7 Tulsa60–66 ESPNews3 8:00 PM No. 11 South Florida vs. No. 6 Connecticut66–77 Quarterfinals – Friday, March 1024NoonNo. 9 East Carolina vs No. 1 SMU77–81ESPN21,844 52:00 PMNo. 5 Memphis vs No. 4 UCF54–84367:00 PMNo. 7 Tulsa vs No. 2 Cincinnati61–80ESPNU7,36579:00 PMNo. 6 Connecticut vs No. 3 Houston74–65 Semifinals – Saturday, March 11483:00 PMNo. 1 SMU vs No. 4 UCF70–59ESPN28,11795:00 PMNo. 2 Cincinnati vs No. 6 Connecticut81–71 Championship – Sunday, March 12510 3:15 PM No. 1 SMU vs. No. 2 Cincinnati71–56 ESPN 6,856 *Game times in ET. No. -Rankings denote tournament seeding.

NCAA tournament

Seed Region School First Four First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship6 East SMU N/A eliminated by (11) USC 65–66 6 South Cincinnati N/A defeated (11) Kansas State 75–61 eliminated by (3) UCLA 67–79 W–L (%):0–0 1–1 ()0–1 ()0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 Total: 1–2 ()

NIT

Seed Bracket School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals2 California Houston eliminated by (7) Akron 75–78 4 Illinois State UCF defeated (5) Colorado 79–74 defeated (1) Illinois State 63–62 defeated (2) Illinois 68–58 eliminated by (4) TCU 53–68 W–L (%):1–1 ()1–0 ()1–0 ()0–1 ()0–0 () Total: 3–2 ()

NBA draft The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2017 NBA draft.

Player Position School Round Pick Team Semi Ojeleye F SMU 2 37 Boston Celtics Damyean Dotson SG Houston 2 44 New York Knicks Sterling Brown SG SMU 2 46 Philadelphia 76ers

References