# 2015–16 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season

The 2015–16 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season took place between November 2015 and March 2016. Practices began in October 2015, with conference play beginning in December, and the season ended with the 2016 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament at the Amway Center in Orlando, FL. The season was the third since the split of the original Big East Conference into two separate leagues. The tournament had only 10 teams, as SMU is serving a postseason ban due to academic fraud and unethical conduct

## Preseason

At the 2015 American Athletic Conference media day on October 27, the conference released announced coaches predictions for standings and All-Conference teams
See Also: Men's Basketball Media Day October 27 In Orlando

### 2015-16 Preseason Coaches' Poll

* SMU (8) 98
* Connecticut (2) 87
* Cincinnati (1) 84
* Tulsa 76
* Memphis 59
* Temple 54
* Houston 48
* East Carolina 31
* UCF 30
* USF 20
* Tulane 11
(First-Place Votes) Points

#### Preseason All-AAC Teams

| First Team | Second Team |
| Octavius Ellis, F, CIN Daniel Hamilton, G/F, CONN Markus Kennedy$^†$, F, SMU Nic Moore$^†$, G, SMU James Woodard, G, TULSA | Troy Caupain, G, CIN Amida Brimah, C, CONN Sterling Gibbs, G, CONN Shaq Goodwin, F, MEM Shaquille Harrison, G, TULSA |
$^†$ denotes unanimous selection
* American Athletic Preseason Player of the Year: Nic Moore, G, SMU
* American Athletic Preseason Rookie of the Year: Jalen Adams, G, CONN

## Rankings

Legend :
* Increase in ranking
* Decrease in ranking
| | | 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 | RV | 24 | 17 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | RV | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |
| Cincinnati | C | RV | RV | 24 | 17 | 22 | 20 | 21 | 23 | RV | RV | | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV |
| Connecticut | AP | 20 | 19 | 18 | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | 23 | | | RV | | RV | | RV | | | RV | |
| Connecticut | C | т 24 | 24 | 21 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | RV | RV | RV | | | | | | | RV | RV |
| East Carolina | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| East Carolina | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Houston | AP | | | | | | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Houston | C | | | | | | | | | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | |
| Memphis | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Memphis | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| SMU | AP | RV | RV | т25 | 22 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 21 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 24 | |
| SMU | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| USF | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| USF | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Temple | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | RV | | |
| Temple | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Tulane | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Tulane | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Tulsa | AP | | | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Tulsa | C | RV | | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| UCF | AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| UCF | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## AAC regular season
### Conference matrix

| | Cincinnati | Connecticut | East Carolina | Houston | Memphis | SMU | USF | Temple | Tulane | Tulsa | UCF |
| vs. Cincinnati | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1-1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0-1 |
| vs. Connecticut | 2–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1-1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0-2 |
| vs. East Carolina | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2-0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2-0 |
| vs. Houston | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | 1-1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0-2 |
| vs. Memphis | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 2-0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0-2 |
| vs. SMU | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0-1 |
| vs. South Florida | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2-0 |
| vs. Temple | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0-2 |
| vs. Tulane | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 2-0 |
| vs. Tulsa | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 0-2 |
| vs. UCF | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | — |
| Total | 12–6 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 4–14 | 14–4 | 3–15 | 12–6 | 6–12 |

## Postseason
### American Men's Basketball Championship

* March 10–13, 2016 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida
2016 American Men's Basketball Championship seeds and results :
| Seed | School | Conf. | Over. | Tiebreaker | First round March 10 | Quarterfinals March 11 | Semifinals March 12 | Championship March 13 |
| 1. | Temple ‡ # | 14-4 | 20-10 | | Bye | vs. #9 South Florida - W, 79-62 | vs. #5 Connecticut - L, 62-77 | |
| 2. | Houston # | 12-6 | 22-8 | 1-0 vs. MEM | Bye | vs. #10 Tulane - L, 69-72 | | |
| 3. | Tulsa # | 12-6 | 20-10 | 0-1 vs. MEM | Bye | vs. #6 Memphis - L, 67-89 | | |
| 4. | Cincinnati # | 12-6 | 22-9 | 0-2 vs. TEMP | Bye | vs. #5 Connecticut - L, 97-104 4OT | | |
| 5. | Connecticut # | 11-7 | 21-10 | | Bye | vs. #4 Cincinnati - W, 104-97 4OT | vs. #1 Temple - W, 77-62 | vs. #6 Memphis - W, 72-58 |
| 6. | Memphis # | 8-10 | 17-14 | | Bye | vs. #3 Tulsa - W, 89-67 | vs. #10 Tulane - W, 74-54 | vs. #5 Connecticut - L, 58-72 |
| 7. | UCF | 6-12 | 12-17 | | vs. #10 Tulane - L, 63-65 | | | |
| 8. | East Carolina | 4-14 | 12-19 | 1-1 vs. TEMP | vs. #9 South Florida - L, 66-71 | | | |
| 9. | South Florida | 4–14 | 7–24 | 0–2 vs. TEMP | vs. #8 East Carolina - W, 71-66 | vs. #1 Temple - L, 62-79 | | |
| 10. | Tulane | 3–15 | 10–21 | | vs. #7 UCF - W, 65-63 | vs. #2 Houston - W, 72-69 | vs. #6 Memphis - L, 54-74 | |
| ‡ – American regular season champions, and tournament No. 1 seed. # – Received a bye in the conference tournament. Overall records include all games prior to the AAC tournament. ||||||||||
* SMU is banned from postseason play due to academic fraud and unethical conduct

### NCAA tournament

| Seed | Region | School | First Four | Round of 64 | Round of 32 | Sweet 16 | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
| 9 | South | Connecticut | Bye | vs. #8 Colorado - W, 74-67 | vs. #1 Kansas - L, 61-73 | | | | |
| 9 | West | Cincinnati | Bye | vs. #8 St. Joseph's - L, 76-78 | | | | | |
| 10 | South | Temple | Bye | vs. #7 Iowa - L, 70-72 OT | | | | | |
| 11 | East | Tulsa | vs. #11 Michigan - L, 62-67 | | | | | | |
| | | W–L (%): | 0–1 (.000) | 1–2 (.333) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) Total: 1–4 (.200) |

### National Invitation tournament

| Seed | Bracket | School | First round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| 5 | South Carolina | Houston | vs. #4 Georgia Tech - L, 62-81 | | | | |
| | | W–L (%): | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) Total: 0–1 (.000) |

## Honors and awards
### All-AAC awards and teams

2016 American Men's Basketball Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Player of the Year | Nic Moore, G,SMU |
| Coach of the Year | Fran Dunphy,TEMP |
| Scholar-Athlete of the Year | Shaquille Harrison, G,TULSA |
| Rookie of the Year | Dedric Lawson, F,MEM |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Gary Clark, F, CIN |
| Most Improved Player | Prince Williams, G, ECU |
| Sixth Man Award | Markus Kennedy, F, SMU |
| Sportsmanship Award | Ruben Guerrero, C, USF |
2016 American Athletic Conference All-Conference Teams| :
| First Team | Second Team | Honorable Mention | All-Rookie Team |
| Troy Caupain, G, CIN Shaq Goodwin, F, MEM Nic Moore$^†$, G, SMU Quenton DeCosey$^†$, G, TEM James Woodard, G, TULSA | Daniel Hamilton, G/F, CONN Gary Clark, F, CIN Devonta Pollard, F, HOU Dedric Lawson, F, MEM Shaquille Harrison, G, TULSA | Shonn Miller, F, CONN Damyean Dotson, G, HOU | Kentrell Barkley, G/F, ECU Dedric Lawson$^†$, F, MEM Galen Robinson, G, HOU Jahmal McMurray$^†$, G, USF Shake Milton$^†$, G, SMU |
| $^†$ denotes unanimous selection ||||

## NBA draft

The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2016 NBA draft.
| Player | Position | School | Round | Pick | Team |
| Daniel Hamilton | SG/SF | Connecticut | 2 | 56 | Denver Nuggets |