IRVING, Texas – The American Conference has announced its men’s basketball tip times and television designations for the 2026-27 season.
 
The 2026-27 season will be the American’s seventh under its media rights extension with ESPN, which will allow for a minimum of 56 conference-controlled games to be televised on either ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. A minimum of 23 of those contests will be on either ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.
 
The conference slate begins Dec. 30 with four matchups, including Tulsa hosting South Florida at 8 p.m. on ESPN2 and Memphis hosting East Carolina at 9 p.m. on ESPN. Temple will travel to Houston to take on Rice at 2 p.m., while Tulane and UAB face off in Birmingham at 7:30 p.m., both on ESPN+. The following night, Charlotte will travel to Florida Atlantic for a 6 p.m. tip, while UNT will travel to Wichita State for an 8 p.m. matchup, both on ESPNU.
 
The remaining conference-controlled games will stream on ESPN+ on the recently enhanced ESPN App, the preeminent digital sports destination. ESPN+ is available via ESPN’s two direct-to-consumer plans or certain Pay TV providers. Sign up or authenticate at stream.espn.com.
 
All games that are televised on an ESPN network or service are available on the ESPN App, either through ESPN DTC or authentication via Pay TV credentials.
 
The American Men’s Basketball Championship is set for March 10-14 at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. It will feature the top 10 teams in a five-day bracket format. The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds will advance directly to the semifinals, while the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds will receive byes to the quarterfinals. The Nos. 5 and 6 seeds will receive byes to the second round.
 
South Florida represented the American in the NCAA tournament a season ago, while Wichita State and Tulsa competed in the NIT. The Golden Hurricane reached the championship game, falling to Auburn in overtime.