Temple Athletics

Men's Basketball

Pairings Announced for 2016 American Men’s Basketball Championship



CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
BRACKET
BUY TICKETS

PROVIDENCE, R.I.
- Temple earned the American regular-season title and clinched the No. 1 seed in the 2016 American Men’s Basketball Championship, to be held March 10-13 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. Ten teams will compete for the championship title and the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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The tournament field is based on regular-season league records. The highest six seeds earned byes into the quarterfinals on March 11.
 
No. 1 Temple (20-10, 14-4 American) clinched the conference regular-season title with a win over Tulane on Sunday. The Owls will open tournament play at Noon ET on Friday versus the winner of No. 9 USF and No. 8 East Carolina.
 
No. 2 Houston (22-8, 12-6 American) opens tournament play at 7 p.m. ET on Friday versus the winner of No. 10 Tulane and No. 7 UCF. The Cougars defeated Cincinnati in their regular-season finale on Thursday at Hofheinz Pavilion. 
 
No. 3 Tulsa (20-10, 12-6 American) defeated USF on Saturday to clinch the tournament’s third seed. The Hurricane is 12-4 over their last 16 games and will open tournament play on Friday at 9 p.m. vs. No. 6 Memphis.
 
No. 4 Cincinnati (22-9, 12-6 American) won its regular-season finale over 24th ranked SMU, 61-54, and will face No. 5 UConn in the tournament quarterfinals at 2 p.m. eastern on Friday.
 
No. 5 UConn (21-10, 11-7 American) defeated UCF on Sunday in its final regular season game and will face No. 4 Cincinnati on Friday at 2 p.m. ET.
 
No. 6 Memphis (20-9, 11-7 American) earned the sixth spot at the conference championship with a victory over Tulsa on Feb. 28. The Tigers open tournament play on Friday at 9 p.m. eastern vs. the third-seeded Hurricane.
 
No. 7 UCF (12-17, 6-12 American) will face No. 10 Tulane in the first round of the conference championship on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET. The Knights will face the Green Wave for the second time in a week after previously defeating Tulane on March 2.
 
No. 8 East Carolina (12-19, 4-14 American) will take on No. 9 USF in the first round of the conference championship Thursday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Pirates dropped its final regular season game to Memphis on Sunday.
 
No. 9 USF (7-24, 4-14 American) takes on No. 8 East Carolina in the first round of the conference championship. Game time is slated for 3:30 p.m. eastern. The Bulls fell to Tulsa, 84-74, in their final game of the season on Saturday.
 
No. 10 Tulane (10-21, 3-15 American) is the 10th seed after dropping a 64-56 decision to Temple on Sunday. The Green Wave will take on seventh-seeded UCF on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
 
Package and single-session tickets are still available for the conference championship. To order tickets by phone, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. In addition, tickets can be purchased online by logging on to the Central Florida Sports Commission website at www.centralfloridasports.org/american or the Ticketmaster website at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets can be purchased through all Ticketmaster outlets.
 
Tickets can also be purchased at the Amway Center Box Office. Box office hours are 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
 
Fans can watch the entire tournament on the ESPN family of networks.
 
For more information on the American Men’s Basketball Championship, please visit championship central at www.theamerican.org/mbb.
 
Championship Schedule (all times Eastern)
 
Thursday, March 10 • First Round
No. 9 USF vs. No. 8 East Carolina 3:30 p.m. ESPNU          
No. 10 Tulane vs. No. 7 UCF 6 p.m. ESPNEWS     
 
Friday, March 11 • Quarterfinals
9/8 winner vs. No. 1 Temple Noon ESPN2
No. 5 UConn vs. No. 4 Cincinnati 2 p.m. ESPN2
10/7 winner vs. No. 2 Houston  7 p.m. ESPNU
No. 6 Memphis vs. No. 3 Tulsa 9 p.m. ESPNU
 
Saturday, March 12 • Semifinals
Quarterfinal winners 3 p.m. ESPN2
Quarterfinal winners 5 p.m. ESPN2
 
Sunday, March 13 • Final
Semifinal winners 3:15 p.m. ESPN