# 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 Championships |
| Cincinnati | Mick Cronin | Murray State | 11 | 237–135 | 56–16 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Connecticut | Kevin Ollie | Connecticut (asst.) | 5 | 113–61 | 42–30 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| East Carolina | Jeff Lebo | Auburn | 7 | 114–118 | 16–38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Houston | Kelvin Sampson | Houston Rockets (asst.) | 3 | 56–40 | 28–26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Memphis | Tubby Smith | Texas Tech | 1 | 19–13 | 9–9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SMU | Tim Jankovich | SMU (asst.) | 2 | 39–5 | 17–1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| South Florida | Murry Bartow | South Florida (asst.) | 1 | 1–16 | 1–15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Temple | Fran Dunphy | Penn | 11 | 230–136 | 38–34 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Tulane | Mike Dunleavy | n/a | 1 | 6–25 | 3–15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tulsa | Frank Haith | Missouri | 3 | 58–40 | 34–20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| UCF | Johnny 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).
| Rank | Team |
| 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 Year | Troy Caupain, Cincinnati Dedric Lawson, Memphis |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team | Troy Caupain, Cincinnati |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team | Gary Clark, Cincinnati |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team | Dedric Lawson, Memphis |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team | Ben Moore, SMU |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team | Damyean Dotson, Houston |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | Shake Milton, SMU |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | Jalen Adams, Connecticut |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | Jahmal McMurray, USF |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | Rob Gray, Houston |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | 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 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| Cincinnati | AP | RV | 24 | RV | RV | 22 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 18 | |
| Cincinnati | C | 25 | 25 | RV | RV | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 22 |
| Connecticut | AP | 18 | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Connecticut | C | 16 | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| East Carolina | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| East Carolina | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Houston | AP | | | | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Houston | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Memphis | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Memphis | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| SMU | AP | | RV | | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 19 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 11 | |
| SMU | C | RV | RV | | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 13 | 23 |
| South Florida | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| South Florida | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Temple | AP | | | | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Temple | C | | | | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Tulane | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Tulane | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Tulsa | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Tulsa | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| UCF | AP | | | | | | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| UCF | C | | | RV | | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Conference matrix

| | Cincinnati | Connecticut | East Carolina | Houston | Memphis | SMU | South Florida | Temple | Tulane | Tulsa | UCF |
| vs. Cincinnati | — | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| vs. Connecticut | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. East Carolina | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| vs. Houston | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| vs. Memphis | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| vs. SMU | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | — | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| vs. South Florida | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Temple | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Tulane | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| vs. Tulsa | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 |
| vs. 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 |
| Sixth Man Award | Ben Emelogu, SMU |
| Sportsmanship Award | Troy Caupain, Cincinnati |
| All-AAC First Team | Jalen Adams, Connecticut |
| All-AAC First Team | Damyean Dotson, Houston |
| All-AAC First Team | Rob Gray, Houston |
| All-AAC First Team | Dedric Lawson, Memphis |
| All-AAC First Team | Semi Ojeleye, SMU |
| All-AAC Second Team | Sterling Brown, SMU |
| All-AAC Second Team | Troy Caupain, Cincinnati |
| All-AAC Second Team | Shake Milton, SMU |
| All-AAC Second Team | Ben Moore, SMU |
| All-AAC Second Team | B. J. Taylor, UCF |
| All-AAC Second Team | Kyle Washington, Cincinnati |
| All-Rookie Team | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati |
| All-Rookie Team | Vance Jackson, Connecticut |
| All-Rookie Team | K. J. Lawson, Memphis |
| All-Rookie Team | Quinton Rose, Temple |
| All-Rookie Team | Jeremy Sheppard, East Carolina |

## Postseason
### 2017 American Athletic Conference tournament

| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
| First round – Thursday, March 9 |||||||
| 1 | 1 | 3:30 PM | No. 9 East Carolina vs. No. 8 Temple | 80–69 | ESPNU | 4,874 |
| 1 | 2 | 6:00 PM | No. 10 Tulane vs. No. 7 Tulsa | 60–66 | ESPNews | 4,874 |
| 1 | 3 | 8:00 PM | No. 11 South Florida vs. No. 6 Connecticut | 66–77 | ESPNews | 4,874 |
| Quarterfinals – Friday, March 10 |||||||
| 2 | 4 | Noon | No. 9 East Carolina vs No. 1 SMU | 77–81 | ESPN2 | 1,844 |
| 2 | 5 | 2:00 PM | No. 5 Memphis vs No. 4 UCF | 54–84 | ESPN2 | 1,844 |
| 3 | 6 | 7:00 PM | No. 7 Tulsa vs No. 2 Cincinnati | 61–80 | ESPNU | 7,365 |
| 3 | 7 | 9:00 PM | No. 6 Connecticut vs No. 3 Houston | 74–65 | ESPNU | 7,365 |
| Semifinals – Saturday, March 11 |||||||
| 4 | 8 | 3:00 PM | No. 1 SMU vs No. 4 UCF | 70–59 | ESPN2 | 8,117 |
| 4 | 9 | 5:00 PM | No. 2 Cincinnati vs No. 6 Connecticut | 81–71 | ESPN2 | 8,117 |
| Championship – Sunday, March 12 |||||||
| 5 | 10 | 3:15 PM | No. 1 SMU vs. No. 2 Cincinnati | 71–56 | 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 | Championship |
| 6 | 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 (.500) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 Total: 1–2 (.333) |

### NIT

| Seed | Bracket | School | First round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| 2 | 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 (.500) | 1–0 (1.000) | 1–0 (1.000) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) Total: 3–2 (.600) |

## 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 |