The 2017–18 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2017 followed by the start of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The conference held its media day in October 2017. Conference play begin in December 2017 and concluded on March 3, 2018.

Cincinnati won the regular season championship by two games over Houston and Wichita State. The American Athletic tournament was held at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida from March 8–11, 2018. Cincinnati also won the AAC tournament championship, defeating Houston in the championship game.

Cincinnati's Gary Clark was named the AAC player of the year while Houston's Kelvin Sampson was named coach of the year.

Cincinnati, Houston, and Wichita State all received bids to the NCAA tournament, but none made it past the Second Round as the conference went 2–3 in the Tournament.

Temple received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament, but lost in the first round.

The season marked the first season with Wichita State as a member of the AAC, having joined on July 1, 2017. As a result, the conference included 12 teams for the first time.

Head coaches

Coaching changes South Florida head coach Orlando Antigua was fired after the first 13 games of the 2016–17 season amid academic fraud allegations. Interim head coach Murry Bartow coach was not retained by the school following the season. On March 14, 2017, the school hired Brian Gregory as the next head coach.

Coaches

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record AAC record AAC titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsCincinnati Mick CroninMurray State12 268–140 72–1828 0 0ConnecticutKevin OllieConnecticut(asst.)6 127–79 49–41 2 2 1 1East CarolinaJeff LeboAuburn 8 124–138 20–52 0 0 00HoustonKelvin SampsonHouston Rockets(asst.)4 81–48 42–32 0 1 0 0MemphisTubby Smith Texas Tech2 38–26 19–17 0 0 0 0SMUTim Jankovich SMU(asst.)3 58–21 23–131 1 0 0South FloridaBrian GregoryMichigan State(advisor) 1 10–22 3–15 0 0 0 0TempleFran DunphyPenn12 247–152 46–44 1 7 0 0TulaneMike DunleavyLos Angeles Clippers2 20–42 8–28 0 0 0 0TulsaFrank HaithMissouri4 77–52 46–26 0 1 0 0UCFJohnny Dawkins Stanford2 43–25 20–16 0 0 0 0Wichita StateGregg Marshall Winthrop 11 286–98 14–4 0 7 1 0 Notes: Overall and AAC records are from time at current school and are through the end of 2017–18 season. NCAA records include time at current school only. AAC records are only from 2013–14 season to present, prior conference records not included.

Preseason

Preseason Coaches Poll AAC Media Day took place October 15, 2017, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cincinnati was picked to win the conference's regular season (seven votes) with Wichita State a close second (five votes).

RankTeam 1. Cincinnati (7) 2. Wichita State (5) 3. UCF 4. SMU 5. Connecticut 6. Houston 7. Temple 8. Tulsa 9. Memphis 10. Tulane 11. East Carolina 12. USF first place votes in parentheses

Preseason All-AAC teams Honor Recipient Preseason Player of the YearShake Milton, SMU Preseason All-AAC First Team Shake Milton, SMU Jalen Adams, Connecticut Rob Gray, Houston Landry Shamet, Wichita State B. J. Taylor, UCF Preseason All-AAC Second Team Gary Clark, Cincinnati Junior Etou, Tulsa Jacob Evans, Cincinnati Tacko Fall, UCF Kyle Washington, Cincinnati Preseason Rookie of the Year Alterique Gilbert, Connecticut

Regular season

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 12 12 12 11 17 25 20 21 19 1412 9 8651110 8 6 C 13 13 13 9 17 RV 22 22 20 13 11 8 8651110 8 10 12Connecticut AP C East Carolina AP C Houston AP RV RVRVRVRV2325 21 21 C RV RVRVRV23RV 21 19 22Memphis AP C SMU AP RV RV RV RV RV RV CRVRVRVRV South Florida AP C Temple AP RV C RV Tulane AP C Tulsa AP C UCF AP RV C Wichita State AP 7 6 6 8 6 3 11 8 9 5 7 17 1622191311 11 16 C 8 8 6 8 3 11 10 10 9 5 4 16 1616181211 14 16 25

Conference matrix   CincinnatiConnecticutEast CarolinaHoustonMemphisSMUSouth FloridaTempleTulaneTulsaUCFWichita Statevs. Cincinnati — 0–2 0–11–10–20–20–10–2 0–0 0–1 0–21–0vs. Connecticut2–0 — 0–2 0–0 2–00–10–11–00–12–01–12–0vs. East Carolina 1–02–0 — 2–0 0–1 2–00–21–0 1–1 1–01–01–0vs. Houston 0–1 0–0 0–2 — 1–0 0–1 0–20–21–1 0–1 0–1 1–1vs. Memphis2–00–21–00–1 — 0–1 0–10–10–21–12–01–0vs. SMU 2–01–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 — 0–11–01–1 1–0 1–11–1vs. South Florida 1–01–02–02–0 1–0 1–0 — 1–01–12–02–01–0vs. Temple2–00–10–12–01–00–10–1 — 1–10–11–11–1vs. Tulane 0–01–01–11–12–01–11–11–1 — 2–0 0–0 1–0vs. Tulsa 1–0 0–20–11–01–1 0– 0–21–00–2 — 0–1 2–0vs. UCF 2–01–10–11–00–21–10–21–1 0–01–0 — 1–0vs. Wichita State 1–10–20–11–1 0–11–10–11–1 0–10–20–1 —Total14–26–104–1212–49–76–101–158–85–1110–68–813–3

Player of the week Throughout the regular season, the American Athletic Conference named a player and rookie of the week.

Week Player(s) of the week Rookie of the weekNovember 13, 2017Shake Milton, SMUEthan Chargois, SMUNovember 20, 2017Melvin Frazier, TulaneCeasar DeJesus, UCFNovember 27, 2017Gary Clark, CincinnatiFabian White Jr., HoustonDecember 4, 2017Shake Milton (2), SMUShawn Williams, ECUDecember 11, 2017Landry Shamet, Wichita StateJamal Johnson, MemphisDecember 18, 2017Jacob Evans, CincinnatiEthan Chargois (2), SMUDecember 26, 2017Tacko Fall, UCFDavid Nickelberry, MemphisJanuary 2, 2018Junior Etou, TulsaCeasar DeJesus (2), UCFJanuary 8, 2018Jacob Evans (2), CincinnatiCeasar DeJesus (3), UCFJanuary 15, 2018Jeremiah Martin, MemphisNate Pierre-Louis, TempleJanuary 22, 2018Shake Milton (3), SMU Gary Clark (2), CincinnatiShawn Williams (2), ECUJanuary 29, 2018Gary Clark (3), CincinnatiFabian White Jr. (2), HoustonFebruary 5, 2018Junior Etou (2), TulsaShawn Williams (3), ECUFebruary 12, 2018Armoni Brooks, HoustonJ. P. Moorman II, TempleFebruary 19, 2018Shaquille Morris, Wichita StateShawn Williams (4), ECUFebruary 26, 2018Raynere Thornton, MemphisCaleb Daniels, TulaneMarch 5, 2018Rob Gray, HoustonDavid Collins, USF

Honors and awards

All-AAC Awards and teams Honor Recipient Player of the Year Gary Clark, Cincinnati Coach of the Year Kelvin Sampson, Houston Scholar-Athlete of the Year Obi Enechionyia, Temple Rookie of the Year Shawn Williams, East Carolina Defensive Player of the Year Gary Clark, Cincinnati Most Improved Player Melvin Frazier, Tulane Sixth Man of the Year Armoni Brooks, Houston Sportsmanship Award Gary Clark, Cincinnati All-AAC First Team Gary Clark, Cincinnati* Jacob Evans, Cincinnati Rob Gray, Houston Landry Shamet, Wichita State Shaquille Morris, Wichita State All-AAC Second Team Jalen Adams, Connecticut Junior Etou, Tulsa Melvin Frazier, Tulane Jeremiah Martin, Memphis Shake Milton, SMU All-AAC Honorable Mention A. J. Davis, UCF Quinton Rose, Temple Kyle Washington, Cincinnati All-Rookie Team Ethan Chargois, F, SMU David Collins, G, USF Nate Pierre-Louis, G, Temple Fabian White Jr., F, Houston Shawn Williams, G, ECU** Unanimous Selection

Postseason

American Athletic Conference tournament

NCAA tournament

The winner of the AAC tournament, Cincinnati, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Seed Region School First Four First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship2SouthCincinnatiN/Adefeated (15) Georgia State 68–53eliminated by (7) Nevada 73–75 4 East Wichita StateN/Aeliminated by (13) Marshall 75–81 6 West HoustonN/Adefeated (11) San Diego State 67–65eliminated by (3) Michigan 63–64W–L (%): Total:

NIT Temple received an at-large bid to the NIT. Seed Bracket School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals5 Notre Dame Temple eliminated by (4) Penn State 57–63 W–L (%):0–1 ()0–0 ()0–0 ()0–0 ()0–0 () Total: 0–1 ()

NBA draft The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2018 NBA draft.

Player Position School Round Pick Team Landry Shamet PG Wichita State 1 26 Philadelphia 76ers Jacob Evans SG Cincinnati 1 28 Golden State Warriors Melvin Frazier SF Tulane 2 35 Orlando Magic Shake Milton PG SMU 2 54 Dallas Mavericks

References