2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationNovember 2018
through March 2019
Number of teams12
TV partner(s)ESPN, CBSSN, CBS
Regular Season
Season championsHouston
Season MVPJarron Cumberland, Cincinnati
Tournament
ChampionsCincinnati
  Runners-upHouston
2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 11 Houston16–2 .88933–4  .892
No. 22 Cincinnati †14–4 .77828–7  .800
Temple13–5 .72223–10  .697
UCF13–5 .72224–9  .727
Memphis11–7 .61122–14  .611
Wichita State10–8 .55622–15  .595
Tulsa8–10 .44418–14  .563
South Florida8–10 .44424–14  .632
UConn6–12 .33316–17  .485
SMU6–12 .33315–17  .469
East Carolina3–15 .16710–21  .323
Tulane0–18 .0004–27  .129
† 2019 AAC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018 followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The conference held its media day in October 2018. Conference play began in December 2018 and concluded in March 2019.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Coaches

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record AAC record AAC titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Cincinnati Mick Cronin Murray State 13 292–144 85–20 2 8 0 0
Connecticut Dan Hurley Rhode Island 1 14–16 5–12 0 0 0 0
East Carolina Joe Dooley Florida Gulf Coast 6 68–71 3–14 0 0 0 0
Houston Kelvin Sampson Houston Rockets
(asst.)		 5 111–50 57–34 1 1 0 0
Memphis Penny Hardaway East HS 1 18–12 11–7 0 0 0 0
SMU Tim Jankovich SMU
(asst.)		 4 69–37 28–25 1 1 0 0
South Florida Brian Gregory Michigan State
(advisor)		 2 29–33 11–24 0 0 0 0
Temple Fran Dunphy Penn 13 269–160 58–49 1 7 0 0
Tulane Mike Dunleavy Los Angeles Clippers 3 24–67 8–45 0 0 0 0
Tulsa Frank Haith Missouri 5 95–64 54–35 0 1 0 0
UCF Johnny Dawkins Stanford 3 66–31 33–20 0 0 0 0
Wichita State Gregg Marshall Winthrop 11 290–101 23–12 0 7 1 0

Notes:

  • Overall and AAC records are from time at current school and are through the end of 2018–19 season. NCAA records include time at current school only.
  • AAC records only, prior conference records not included.

Preseason

Preseason Coaches Poll

The American Coaches poll was released on October 15, 2018, with UCF predicted to finish first in the AAC.[1]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1UCF114 (6)
2Cincinnati107 (3)
3Houston103 (2)
4Memphis85 (1)
5Connecticut75
6Temple74
7SMU63
8Wichita State60
9Tulsa48
10Tulane23
11East Carolina22
12USF18

Preseason All-AAC Teams

Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year B. J. Taylor, UCF
Preseason All-AAC First Team[2]
Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati
Jalen Adams, Connecticut
Jeremiah Martin, Memphis
Quinton Rose, Temple
B. J. Taylor, UCF
Preseason All-AAC Second Team
Corey Davis, Houston
Jarrey Foster, SMU
Markis McDuffie, Wichita State
Tacko Fall, UCF
Jahmal McMurray, SMU
Sterling Taplin, Tulsa
Preseason Rookie of the Year Nate Hinton, Houston

Regular season

Rankings

Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 18 conference games: one game vs. four opponents and two games against seven opponents.

  Cincinnati Connecticut East Carolina Houston Memphis SMU South Florida Temple Tulane Tulsa UCF Wichita State
vs. Cincinnati –0–21–02–00–20–20–10–10–10–21–10–2
vs. Connecticut 2–0–0–21–01–01–11–12–00–11–02–01–1
vs. East Carolina 0–12–0–2–02–01–02–01–00–22–01–02–0
vs. Houston 0–20–10–2–0–10–20–21–10–10–21–10–1
vs. Memphis 2–00–10–21–0–0–11–01–10–21–11–10–2
vs. SMU 2–01–10–12–01–0–1–11–00–20–12–02–0
vs. South Florida 1–01–10–22–00–11–1–2–00–21–02–00–1
vs. Temple 1–00–20–11–11–10–10–2–0–21–11–10–1
vs. Tulane 1–01–02–01–02–01–02–02–0–2–01–02–0
vs. Tulsa 2–00–10–22–01–12–00–11–10–2–1–02–0
vs. UCF 1–10–20–11–11–10–20–21–10–10–1–1–0
vs. Wichita State 2–01–10–21–02–00–21–01–00–20–20–1–
Total 14–46–123–1516–211–76–128–1013–50–188–1013–510–8

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 week
November 12, 2018 Shizz Alston, Temple

Markis McDuffie, Wichita State

 Jayden Gardner, ECU
November 19, 2018 Aubrey Dawkins, UCF Tyler Harris, Memphis
November 26, 2018 Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati Cedrik Alley Jr.
December 3, 2018 Armoni Brooks, Houston Jayden Gardner (2), ECU
December 10, 2018 DaQuan Jeffries, Tulsa Tyler Harris (2), Memphis
December 17, 2018 Shizz Alston Jr. (2), Temple

Galen Robinson Jr., Houston

 Alexis Yetna, USF
December 24, 2018 Jarron Cumberland (2), Cincinnati Alexis Yetna (2), USF
January 7, 2019 Aubrey Dawkins (2), UCF Nate Hinton, Houston
January 14, 2019 Nate Pierre-Louis, Temple Jayden Gardner (3), ECU

Alexis Yetna (3), USF

January 21, 2019 Jarron Cumberland (3), Cincinnati Jayden Gardner (4), ECU
January 28, 2019 Jarron Cumberland (4), Cincinnati Alexis Yetna (4), USF
February 4, 2019 Markis McDuffie (2), Wichita State Jamarius Burton, Wichita State
February 11, 2018 Corey Davis Jr., Houston Cedrick Alley Jr., Houston
February 18, 2019 Shizz Alston Jr. (3), Temple Jayden Gardner (5), ECU
February 25, 2019 Jeremiah Martin, Memphis Dexter Dennis, Wichita State
March 4, 2019 Tacko Fall, UCF Jamarius Burton (2), Wichita State
March 11, 2019 Corey Davis Jr. (2), Houston Nate Hinton (2), Houston

Honors and awards

All-AAC Awards and Teams

Honor Recipient
Player of the Year Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati
Coach of the Year Kelvin Sampson, Houston
Rookie of the Year Alexis Yetna, USF
Defensive Player of the Year Laquincy Rideau, USF
Most Improved Player Josh Carlton, UConn

Nate Pierre-Louis, Temple

Sixth Man of the Year DeJon Jarreau, Houston
Sportsmanship Award Galen Robinson, Jr., Houston
All-AAC First Team
Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati*
Corey Davis Jr., Houston*
Jeremiah Martin, Memphis*
B. J. Taylor, UCF
Shizz Alston, Jr., Temple
All-AAC Second Team
Armoni Brooks, Houston
Aubrey Dawkins, UCF
Markis McDuffie, Wichita State
Quinton Rose, Temple
Jahmal McMurray, SMU
All-AAC Third Team
Jalen Adams, UConn
David Collins, UCF
Tacko Fall, UCF
DaQuan Jeffries, Tulsa
Laquincy Rideau, USF
All-Rookie Team
Jayden Gardner, ECU*
Nate Hinton, Houston*
Alexis Yetna, USF*
Tyler Harris, Memphis
Dexter Dennis, Wichita State

* Unanimous Selection

Postseason

American Athletic Conference tournament

First round
Thursday, March 14 		Quarterfinals
Friday, March 15 		Semifinals
Saturday, March 16 		Championship
Sunday, March 17
            
1 Houston 84
9 UConn 45
8 South Florida 73
9 UConn 80
1 Houston 61
5 Memphis 58
4 UCF 55
5 Memphis 79
5 Memphis 83
12 Tulane 68
1 Houston 57
2 Cincinnati 69
2 Cincinnati 82
10 SMU 74
7 Tulsa 65
10 SMU 74
2 Cincinnati 66
6 Wichita State 63
3 Temple 74
6 Wichita State 80
6 Wichita State 73
11 East Carolina 57

[3]

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 Championship
3 West Houston N/A defeated (14) Georgia State, 84–55 defeated (11) Ohio State, 74–59 eliminated by (2) Kentucky, 58–62
7 South Cincinnati N/A eliminated by (10) Iowa, 72–79
9 East UCF N/A defeated (8) VCU, 73–58 eliminated by (1) Duke, 76–77
11 East Temple eliminated by (11) Belmont 70–81
W–L (%): 0–1 (.000) 2–1 (.667) 1–1 (.500) 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) Total: 3–4 (.429)

NIT

Memphis and Wichita State received at-large bids to the NIT.

Seed Bracket School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
3 TCU Memphis defeated (6) San Diego, 74–60 eliminated by (2) Creighton, 67-79
6 Indiana Wichita State defeated (3) Furman, 76–70 defeated (2) Clemson, 63–55 defeated (1) Indiana, 73–63 eliminated by (5) Lipscomb, 64–71
W–L (%): 2–0 (1.000) 1–1 (.500) 1–0 (1.000) 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) Total: 4–2 (.667)

CBI

South Florida received an at-large bid to the CBI.

School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals (Best-of-three)
South Florida defeated Stony Brook, 82–79OT defeated Utah Valley, 66–57 defeated Loyola Marymount, 56–47 defeated DePaul, 63–61, 96-100OT, 77-65
W–L (%): 1–0 (1.000) 1–0 (1.000) 1–0 (1.000) 2–1 (.667) Total: 6–1 (.857)

NBA draft

No AAC players were drafted in the 2019 NBA draft.

References

  1. ↑ Groeschen, Tom. "Cincinnati Bearcats edged out for 1st place in AAC men's basketball Media Day poll". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Coaches Select UCF as Preseason Favorite". American Athletic Conference. October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  3. ↑ "American Athletic Conference - 2019 MBB Championship Bracket" (PDF). theamerican.org.
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