Nine American Athletic Conference teams will open the regular season on Friday night, the first day of the men's basketball regular season.
THIS WEEKEND'S SCHEDULE
Friday, Nov. 11
La Salle at Temple (ESPNews) 7 p.m.
Wagner at #18/16 UConn (SNY/ESPN3) 7 p.m.
Brown at #rv/25 Cincinnati
2 (ESPN3) 7 p.m.
Florida A&M at USF (ESPN3) 7 p.m.
Gardner-Webb at #--/rv SMU
1 (ESPN3) 8 p.m.
Grambling at East Carolina (ESPN3) 8 p.m.
Morgan State at Houston (ESPN3) 8 p.m.
Jacksonville State at Tulsa (ESPN3) 8 p.m.
#6/6 North Carolina at Tulane (ESPNU) 9 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 13
Eastern Michigan at #--/rv SMU
1 (ESPN3) 2 p.m.
1 – 2k Sports Classic (Campus sites & New York, N.Y.)
2 – Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tip-Off (Campus sites & Uncasville, Conn.)
UCF and Memphis will tip their seasons on Monday, Nov. 14.
UConn opens the season ranked No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and 18th in the Associated Press poll. Cincinnati checks in at No. 25 in the coaches and is receiving the 26th-most points in the AP poll. SMU also earned a vote in the coaches’ poll. Both teams will be in action on Friday, with the Huskies hosting Wagner, while Cincinnati welcomes Brown as part of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic.
Weekly Release
The American Athletic Conference is coming off a season in which five teams reached the 2016 postseason. UConn, Cincinnati, Temple and Tulsa were all NCAA Tournament participants, while Houston was selected for the NIT. The four bids to the NCAA Tournament were the sixth-most among the 32 Division I conferences.
This season, the American Athletic Conference welcomes four new head coaches to its ranks this season, as Johnny Dawkins (UCF), Mike Dunleavy, Sr. (Tulane), Tim Jankovich (SMU) and Tubby Smith (Memphis) were hired or elevated. Dunleavy, Sr., and Jankovich will both lead their teams on Friday evening, while the debuts of Dawkins and Smith will happen on Monday.
Entering the 2016-17 season, the 11 men’s basketball coaches of The American have a combined 61 NCAA Tournament appearances as head coaches. The newest coach in the conference, Memphis’ Smith, leads the way with 18. American head coaches boast a combined five national championships (whether as head coach, assistant or player), 15 Final Fours, 23 Elite Eight appearances and 40 Sweet Sixteen appearances.
Following his record-setting freshman year, Memphis sophomore Dedric Lawson returns to the Tigers lineup. Lawson, who went through the NBA Draft combine in the spring, set American Athletic Conference freshman records for scoring (521 points, 15.9 points per game) and rebounding (307 rebounds, 9.3 rebounds per game), while his 17 double-doubles set a new American mark.
Lawson, along with Cincinnati's Troy Caupain, were named to the Naismith Memorial Trophy Watch List on Thursday.
In 2015-16, SMU’s Sterling Brown shot 60.2 percent from the field, 53.6 percent from 3-point range and 85.7 percent on free throws, making him the first player to reach the 60-50-85 club in at least the last 20 seasons.
PRESEASON HONORS
Co-Players of the Year
Troy Caupain, G, Cincinnati
Dedric Lawson, G/F, Memphis
Rookie of the Year
Alterique Gilbert, G, UConn
All-Conference First Team
Troy Caupain, G, Cincinnati*
Gary Clark, F, Cincinnati*
Dedric Lawson, G/F, Memphis
Ben Moore, F, SMU
Damyean Dotson, F, Houston
All-Conference Second Team
Shake Milton, G, SMU
Jalen Adams, G, UConn
Jahmal McMurray, G, USF
Rob Gray, Jr., G, Houston
B.J. Tyson, G, East Carolina
* unanimous selection
American Preseason Coaches’ Poll
|
School (1st) |
Points |
| 1. |
Cincinnati (6) |
95 |
| 2. |
UConn (5) |
94 |
| 3. |
SMU |
76 |
| 4. |
Houston |
75 |
| 5. |
Memphis |
63 |
| 6. |
Temple |
56 |
| 7. |
East Carolina |
39 |
| 8. |
UCF |
37 |
| 9. |
Tulsa |
34 |
| 10. |
USF |
25 |
| 11. |
Tulane |
11 |