# 2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season

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

* UConn hired former Rhode Island and Wagner coach Dan Hurley after firing Kevin Ollie following his sixth season as head coach.
* Memphis fired Tubby Smith after 2 seasons and replaced him with alum Penny Hardaway.
* East Carolina head coach Jeff Lebo resigned 6 games into the 2017–18 season and was succeeded on an interim basis by assistant coach Michael Perry. After the season, the school hired former Florida Gulf Coast head coach Joe Dooley, who previously served as head coach of the team from 1995-99.

### 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.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | UCF | 114 (6) |
| 2 | Cincinnati | 107 (3) |
| 3 | Houston | 103 (2) |
| 4 | Memphis | 85 (1) |
| 5 | Connecticut | 75 |
| 6 | Temple | 74 |
| 7 | SMU | 63 |
| 8 | Wichita State | 60 |
| 9 | Tulsa | 48 |
| 10 | Tulane | 23 |
| 11 | East Carolina | 22 |
| 12 | USF | 18 |

### Preseason All-AAC Teams

| Honor | Recipient |
| Preseason Player of the Year | B. J. Taylor, UCF |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team | Jalen Adams, Connecticut |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team | Jeremiah Martin, Memphis |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team | Quinton Rose, Temple |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team | B. J. Taylor, UCF |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | Corey Davis, Houston |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | Jarrey Foster, SMU |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | Markis McDuffie, Wichita State |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | Tacko Fall, UCF |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | Jahmal McMurray, SMU |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | 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 | – | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Connecticut | 2–0 | – | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. East Carolina | 0–1 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Houston | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | – | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Memphis | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | – | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. SMU | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | – | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. South Florida | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | – | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Temple | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | – | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Tulane | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Tulsa | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | – | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. UCF | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | – | 1–0 |
| vs. Wichita State | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | – |
| Total | 14–4 | 6–12 | 3–15 | 16–2 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 0–18 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 10–8 |

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

## Postseason
### American Athletic Conference tournament

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

### 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, 82–79$^{OT}$ | defeated Utah Valley, 66–57 | defeated Loyola Marymount, 56–47 | defeated DePaul, 63–61, 96-100$^{OT}$, 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.