2016 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2016 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament was the conference tournament for the American Athletic Conference during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It was held March 10–13, 2016, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.^[1] The Tournament was won by the #5 Seed Connecticut Huskies, who beat the #6 Seed Memphis Tigers in the final by a score of 72–58.

2016 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament
Tournament logo
Classification	Division I
Season	2015–16
Teams	10
Site	Amway Center Orlando, Florida
Champions	Connecticut (1st title)
Winning coach	Kevin Ollie (1st title)
Attendance	38,871
Television	ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews
American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournaments ← 2015 2017 →

2015–16 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Temple	14	–	4		.778			21	–	12		.636
No. 24 SMU*	13	–	5		.722			25	–	5		.833
Houston	12	–	6		.667			22	–	10		.688
Cincinnati	12	–	6		.667			22	–	11		.667
Tulsa	12	–	6		.667			20	–	12		.625
UConn †	11	–	7		.611			25	–	11		.694
Memphis	8	–	10		.444			19	–	15		.559
UCF	6	–	12		.333			12	–	18		.400
East Carolina	4	–	14		.222			12	–	20		.375
South Florida	4	–	14		.222			8	–	25		.242
Tulane	3	–	15		.167			12	–	22		.353
* Ineligible for postseason due to postseason ban † American Athletic Conference tournament Champions Rankings from AP poll

Seeds

Teams are seeded by conference record, with a ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by record against the regular-season champion, if necessary. With SMU ineligible for postseason play,^[2] the top six seeds will receive first round byes.

Seed	School	Conference	Tiebreaker
1	Temple	14–4
2	Houston	12–6	1–0 vs Memphis
3	Tulsa	12–6	0–1 vs Memphis
4	Cincinnati	12–6	0–2 vs Temple
5	Connecticut	11–7
6	Memphis	8–10
7	UCF	6–12
8	East Carolina	4–14	1–1 vs. Temple
9	South Florida	4–14	0–2 vs. Temple
10	Tulane	3–15

Schedule

All tournament games are nationally televised on an ESPN network:

Session	Game	Time*	Matchup#	Television	Attendance
First round – Thursday, March 10
1	1	3:30 pm	#9 South Florida 71 vs. #8 East Carolina 66	ESPNU	8,723
	2	6:00 pm	#10 Tulane 65 vs. #7 UCF 63	ESPNews
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 11
2	3	12:00 pm	#9 South Florida 62 vs. #1 Temple 79	ESPN2	7,475
	4	2:00 pm	#5 Connecticut 104 vs. #4 Cincinnati 97 (4OT)
3	5	7:00 pm	#10 Tulane 72 vs. #2 Houston 69	ESPNU	7,218
	6	9:00 pm	#6 Memphis 89 vs. #3 Tulsa 67
Semifinals – Saturday, March 12
4	7	3:00 pm	#5 Connecticut 77 vs. #1 Temple 62	ESPN2	7,465
	8	5:00 pm	#10 Tulane 54 vs. #6 Memphis 74
Championship – Sunday, March 13
5	9	3:15 pm	#5 Connecticut 72 vs. #6 Memphis 58	ESPN	7,990
*Game times in ET. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

^[3]

	First round Thursday, March 10					Quarterfinals Friday, March 11					Semifinals Saturday, March 12					Championship Sunday, March 13
						1	Temple	79
						9	South Florida	62
	8	East Carolina	66
	9	South Florida	71
											1	Temple	62
											5	Connecticut	77
						4	Cincinnati	97
						5	Connecticut	104****
																5	Connecticut	72
																6	Memphis	58
						2	Houston	69
						10	Tulane	72
	7	UCF	63
	10	Tulane	65
											10	Tulane	54
											6	Memphis	74
						3	Tulsa	67
						6	Memphis	89

* denotes overtime period

References

1. "The Official Site of The American Athletic Conference – 2016 Men's Basketball Championship". theamerican.org. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
2. "NCAA bans SMU from 2016 postseason, Larry Brown for nine games". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
3. "2016 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship Bracket" (PDF). theamerican.org. sidearmsports. Retrieved October 29, 2015.