2026 American Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Basics
Format
The American Conference implemented a ladder bracket to protect the higher seeds and narrowed the field to 10.
Place
After spending the last five years in Fort Worth, the event is scheduled for Legacy Arena in Birmingham (UAB’s home before Bartow Arena opened).
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Participants
Only the top 10 finishers in the US regular season standings qualified, so Rice (13-18, 7-11, 11th), East Carolina (11-20, 6-12, 12th) and UTSA (5-25, 1-17, 13th) were left out.
Schedule
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First Round (Wednesday 3/11)
GM. 1: (9) Tulane 81(8) Memphis (13-19, 8-10) 69
GM. 2: (10) Temple (16-16, 8-10) 59, (7) Florida Atlantic 63
Second Round (Thursday 3/12)
GM. 3: (9) Tulane (18-15, 8-10) 60, (5) Charlotte 74
GM. 4: (7) Florida Atlantic (18-15, 9-9) 70, (6) North Texas 74
Quarterfinals (Friday 3/13)
GM. 5: (5) Charlotte 83(4) UAB (20-12, 11-7) 78
GM. 6: (6) North Texas (19-14, 9-9) 84, (3) Tulsa 90 (3OT)
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Semifinals (Saturday 3/14)
GM. 7: (5) Carlota (17-17, 9-9) 64, (1) South Florida 86
GM. 8: (3) Tulsa (26-7, 13-5) 68, (2) Wichita State 81
Championship (Sunday 3/15)
GM. 9: (2) Wichita State (22-10, 13-5) vs. (1) South Florida (24-8, 15-3), 3:15 (ESPN)
Road split: Shockers 86-85 (OT) on 1/18 and Bulls 66-58 on 2/11.
Chaos Potential
Data originally published by Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter in 2020 with my own additions for subsequent seasons.
The top two finishers have combined to win nine of the 11 American Athletic Tournaments held so far. The exceptions were the 2016 fifth-seeded UConn team and the 2024 UAB team.
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1 seed (5): 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2025
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2 seeds (4): 2014, 2019, 2021, 2023
NCAA offer totals since 2014
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4 offers (3): 2014 (9-3 record, 10 teams, UConn national champion), 2016 (1-4 record, 11 teams), 2019 (3-4 record, 12 teams)
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3 offers (1): 2018 (2-3 record, 12 teams)
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2 offers (6): 2015 (1-2 record, 11 teams), 2017 (1-2 record, 11 teams), 2021 (4-2 record, 11 teams), 2022 (4-2 record, 11 teams), 2023 (2-2, 11 teams), 2024 (0-2 record, 14 teams)
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1 offer (1): 2025 (0-1 record, 13 teams)
The only current conference member to win an NCAA game while in the league is Memphis, who defeated Boise State in the 2022 Tournament before losing to Gonzaga. In 2023, the Tigers lost in the first round to Final Four-bound Florida Atlantic, which at the time was a member of Conference USA. Memphis was also stunned by Colorado State in a 12-on-5 loss last season. At this point, the league has accepted that multiple offers are not guaranteed at this time; hence the change to a step ladder stand.
Last conference tournament titles
Memphis: 2025 (1 seed)
UAB: 2024 (4 seeds)
Florida Atlantic: 2023 (1 seed, CUSA)
North Texas: 2021 (classified W3, CUSA)
Wichita State: 2017 (2nd place, MVC)
Tulsa: 2014 (second place, CUSA)
Temple: 2010 (1 seed, Atlantic 10)
Charlotte: 2001 (3 seeds, CUSA)
South Florida: 1990 (2nd place, Sun Belt)
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Only six teams have won the American Athletic tournament title during its short life, and four of them (Cincinnati, UConn, Houston and SMU) have moved to other conferences. east carolina (1993, 7 seeds, CAA) and UTSA (2011, 7th place, Southland) will have to wait until next year (at least) for another chance at a tournament crown. Rice and tulane They are the only members of the league who have never won a tournament championship in any conference. The Owls will also have to wait until 2027 as they did not qualify alongside the Pirates and Roadrunners.