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2019–20 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season

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2019–20 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationNovember 2019
through March 2020
Number of teams12
TV partner(s)ESPN, CBSSN, CBS
Regular Season
Season championsCincinnati, Houston, Tulsa
Season MVPPrecious Achiuwa, Memphis
Tournament
American Athletic Conference men's basketball seasons
2019–20 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Cincinnati 13 – 5   .722 20 – 10   .667
No. 22 Houston 13 – 5   .722 23 – 8   .742
Tulsa 13 – 5   .722 21 – 10   .677
Wichita State 11 – 7   .611 23 – 8   .742
UConn 10 – 8   .556 19 – 12   .613
Memphis 10 – 8   .556 21 – 10   .677
SMU 9 – 9   .500 19 – 11   .633
UCF 7 – 11   .389 16 – 14   .533
South Florida 7 – 11   .389 14 – 17   .452
Temple 6 – 12   .333 14 – 17   .452
East Carolina 5 – 13   .278 11 – 20   .355
Tulane 4 – 14   .222 12 – 18   .400
Note: The 2020 AAC tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rankings from AP poll


The 2019–20 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2019 followed by the start of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The conference held its media day in October 2019. Conference play began in December 2019 and concluded in March 2020.

Head coaches

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Coaching changes

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Coaches

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Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record AAC record AAC titles NCAA Tournaments* NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Cincinnati John Brannen Northern Kentucky 1 20–10 13–5 1 0 0 0
Connecticut Dan Hurley Rhode Island 2 35–29 16–20 0 0 0 0
East Carolina Joe Dooley Florida Gulf Coast 7 78–93 8–27 0 0 0 0
Houston Kelvin Sampson Houston Rockets
(asst.) 		6 138–59 71–37 2 2 0 0
Memphis Penny Hardaway East HS 2 43–24 21–15 0 0 0 0
SMU Tim Jankovich SMU
(asst.) 		5 90–46 38–31 1 2 0 0
South Florida Brian Gregory Michigan State
(advisor) 		3 48–53 18–36 0 0 0 0
Temple Aaron McKie Temple
(asst.) 		1 14–17 6–12 0 0 0 0
Tulane Ron Hunter Georgia State 1 12–18 4–14 0 0 0 0
Tulsa Frank Haith Missouri 6 116–76 67–41 1 1 0 0
UCF Johnny Dawkins Stanford 4 83–48 40–32 0 1 0 0
Wichita State Gregg Marshall Winthrop 13 337–119 35–19 0 7 1 0

Notes:

  • Overall and AAC records are from time at current school and are through the end of 2019–20 season. NCAA records include time at current school only.
  • AAC records only, prior conference records not included.
  • *In current job

Preseason

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Preseason Coaches Poll

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The AAC Coaches poll was released on October 14, 2019, with the Cougars predicted to finish first in the AAC.[4]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
T–1 Houston 113 (7)
T–1 Memphis 113 (4)
3 Cincinnati 94 (1)
4 Wichita State 88
5 USF 79
6 UConn 75
7 Temple 72
8 SMU 47
9 UCF 40
10 Tulsa 36
11 East Carolina 20
12 Tulane 15

Preseason All-AAC Teams

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Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati
Preseason All-AAC First Team[4]
Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati
Quinton Rose, Temple
DeJon Jarreau, Houston
James Wiseman, Memphis
Laquincy Rideau, USF
Preseason All-AAC Second Team
Alexis Yetna, USF
Jayden Gardner, ECU
Nate Pierre-Louis, Temple
Alterique Gilbert, UConn
David Collins, USF
Christian Vital, UConn
Preseason Rookie of the Year James Wiseman, Memphis

Regular season

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Rankings

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Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
Main article: 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
  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
Memphis AP 14 13 16 16 15 13 11 9 9 21 22 20 RV
C 15 15 20 20 18 17T 13 10 11 22 22 20 RV
Wichita State AP RV RV 24 23 16 RV 23 RV
C RV RV RV RV 25 23 23 16 22 22 RV
Houston AP RV RV RV RV RV 25 21 25 20 22 25 21 22-T 22
C RV RV RV RV RV 24 20 25 19 22 RV 21 24 23
Cincinnati AP RV RV RV RV
C RV RV RV RV RV RV
SMU AP RV RV
C
Tulsa AP RV RV
C RV RV RV

Conference matrix

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This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 18 conference games: one game vs. four opponents and two games against seven opponents.

  Cincinnati Connecticut East Carolina Houston Memphis SMU South Florida Temple Tulane Tulsa UCF Wichita State
vs. Cincinnati – 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 0–2
vs. Connecticut 1–1 – 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 1–0
vs. East Carolina 2–0 1–0 – 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–0 2–0 1–0
vs. Houston 1–1 1–1 0–1 – 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–2
vs. Memphis 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 – 2–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–1
vs. SMU 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 – 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–0
vs. South Florida 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 – 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–0
vs. Temple 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 – 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–1
vs. Tulane 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 – 2–0 1–1 1–0
vs. Tulsa 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–2 – 1–1 1–1
vs. UCF 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 – 2–0
vs. Wichita State 2–0 0–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 –
Total 13–5 10–8 5–13 13–5 10–8 9–9 7–11 6–12 4–14 13–5 7–11 11–7

Note: table updated through end of 2019–20 season

Player of the week

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Throughout the regular season, the American Athletic Conference named a player and rookie of the week.

Week Player of the week Rookie of the week Reference
Week 1 – Nov 11 Nate Pierre-Louis – Temple James Wiseman – Memphis [5]
Week 2 - Nov 18 Brandon Rachal – Tulsa Lester Quiñones – Memphis [6]
Week 3 - Nov 25 Precious Achiuwa – Memphis James Bouknight – UConn [7]
Week 4 - Dec 2 Quinton Rose – Temple Boogie Ellis – Memphis [8]
Week 5 - Dec 9 Quentin Grimes – Houston Tyson Etienne – Wichita State [9]
Week 6 - Dec 16 Erik Stevenson – Wichita State Caleb Mills – Houston [10]
Week 7 - Dec 23 Jayden Gardner – East Carolina Precious Achiuwa – Memphis [11]
Week 8 - Dec 30 Fabian White Jr. – Houston Grant Sherfield – Wichita State [12]
Week 9 - Jan 6 Erik Stevenson (2) – Wichita State Precious Achiuwa (2) – Memphis [13]
Week 10 - Jan 13 Jayden Gardner (2) – East Carolina Precious Achiuwa (3) – Memphis [14]
Week 11 - Jan 20 Brandon Rachal (2) – Tulsa D. J. Jeffries – Memphis [15]
Week 12 - Jan 27 Martins Igbanu – Tulsa Caleb Mills (2) – Houston [16]
Week 13 - Feb 3 Elijah Joiner – Tulsa Precious Achiuwa (4) – Memphis [17]
Week 14 - Feb 10 James Bouknight – UConn Darin Green Jr. – UCF [18]
Week 15 - Feb 17 Trevon Scott – Cincinnati James Bouknight (2) – UConn [19]
Week 16 - Feb 24 Teshaun Hightower – Tulane Precious Achiuwa (5) – Memphis [20]
Week 17 - March 2 Christian Vital – UConn Marcus Sasser – Houston [21]
Week 18 - March 9 Christian Vital (2) – UConn Precious Achiuwa (6) – Memphis [22]

Honors and awards

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All-AAC Awards and Teams

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Honor Recipient
Player of the Year Precious Achiuwa, Memphis
Coach of the Year Frank Haith, Tulsa
Freshman of the Year Precious Achiuwa, Memphis
Defensive Player of the Year Trevon Scott, Cincinnati
Most Improved Player Trevon Scott, Cincinnati
Sixth Man of the Year Martins Igbanu, Tulsa
Sportsmanship Award Trevon Scott, Cincinnati
All-AAC First Team
Precious Achiuwa, Memphis*
Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati
Martins Igbanu, Tulsa
Trevon Scott, Cincinnati
Christian Vital, UConn
All-AAC Second Team
Jaime Echenique, Wichita State
Jayden Gardner, East Carolina
Nate Hinton, Houston
Caleb Mills, Houston
Quinton Rose, Temple
All-AAC Third Team
James Bouknight, UConn
Kendric Davis, SMU
Tyson Jolly, SMU
Isiaha Mike, SMU
Brandon Rachal, Tulsa
All-Freshman Team
Precious Achiuwa, Memphis*
James Bouknight, UConn*
Caleb Mills, Houston*
Lester Quiñones, Memphis
Marcus Sasser, Houston

* Unanimous Selection

[23][24]

Postseason

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American Athletic Conference tournament

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Main article: 2020 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament

Due to the coronavirus pandemic the tournament was cancelled on March 12, 2020 – only minutes before the first game was set to begin.[25]

First round
Thursday, March 12 		Quarterfinals
Friday, March 13 		Semifinals
Saturday, March 14 		Championship
Sunday, March 15
            
1 Cincinnati
 
8 UCF
9 South Florida
 
 
4 Wichita State
 
5 UConn
12 Tulane
 
 
2 #22 Houston
 
7 SMU
10 Temple
 
 
3 Tulsa
 
6 Memphis
11 East Carolina

[26]

NCAA Tournament

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Main article: 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

On March 12, the tournament, as well as all other postseason tournaments for the remainder of the academic season, was cancelled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It was the first time the tournament had been cancelled since its creation in 1939.

NBA draft

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The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2020 NBA draft.

Player Position School Round Pick Team
James Wiseman C Memphis 1 2 Golden State Warriors
Precious Achiuwa PF Memphis 1 20 Miami Heat

References

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  1. ^ Fay, John; Williams, Jason; Perry, Michael (April 14, 2019). "What you need to know about new University of Cincinnati basketball coach John Brannen". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  2. ^ Smith, Guerry (March 24, 2019). "Georgia State's Ron Hunter hired as new Tulane coach, vows to 'turn the program around'". The Advocate. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  3. ^ "Temple Coach Fran Dunphy Deserved Better". Philadelphia magazine. February 4, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Houston, Memphis Tabbed 2019–20 American Men's Basketball Preseason Favorites". American Athletic Conference. October 14, 2019. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  5. ^ "Pierre-Louis, Wiseman Earn Weekly Awards". American Athletic Conference. November 11, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  6. ^ "Tulsa's Rachal, Memphis' Quinones Earn Men's Basketball Weekly Awards". American Athletic Conference. November 18, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  7. ^ "Memphis' Achiuwa, UConn's Bouknight Earn Men's Basketball Weekly Honors". American Athletic Conference. November 25, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  8. ^ "Temple's Rose, Memphis' Ellis Earn Men's Basketball Weekly Awards". American Athletic Conference. December 2, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  9. ^ "Houston's Grimes, Wichita State's Etienne Earn Weekly Honors". American Athletic Conference. December 9, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  10. ^ "Wichita State's Stevenson, Houston's Mills Earn Weekly Honors". American Athletic Conference. December 16, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  11. ^ "ECU's Gardner, Memphis' Achiuwa Earn Men's Basketball Weekly Honors". American Athletic Conference. December 23, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  12. ^ "Houston's White, Wichita State's Sherfield Earn Weekly Awards". American Athletic Conference. December 30, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  13. ^ "Wichita State's Stevenson, Memphis' Achiuwa Earn Weekly Honors". American Athletic Conference. January 6, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  14. ^ "ECU's Gardner, Memphis' Achiuwa Earn Men's Basketball Weekly Honors". American Athletic Conference. January 13, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  15. ^ "Tulsa's Rachal, Memphis' Jeffries Earn Weekly Honors". American Athletic Conference. January 20, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  16. ^ "Tulsa's Igbanu, Houston's Mills Earn Weekly Honors". American Athletic Conference. January 27, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  17. ^ "Tulsa's Joiner, Memphis' Achiuwa Earn Weekly Honors". American Athletic Conference. February 3, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  18. ^ "UConn's Bouknight, UCF's Green Jr. Earn Weekly Honors". theamerican.org. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  19. ^ "Cincinnati's Scott, UConn's Bouknight Earn Weekly Honors". theamerican.org. February 17, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  20. ^ "Tulane's Hightower, Memphis' Achiuwa Earn Men's Basketball Weekly Awards". theamerican.org. February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  21. ^ "UConn's Vital, Houston's Sasser Earn Men's Basketball Weekly Honors". theamerican.org. March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  22. ^ "UConn's Vital, Memphis' Achiuwa Earn Weekly Honors". theamerican.org. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  23. ^ "American Athletic Conference Announces All-Conference, All-Freshman Teams". theamerican.org. March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  24. ^ "American Athletic Conference Announces Individual Awards". theamerican.org. March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  25. ^ "American Athletic Conference Statement on 2020 Air Force Reserve Men's Basketball Championship - American Athletic Conference". Archived from the original on March 12, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  26. ^ "American Athletic Conference – 2020 MBB Championship Bracket" (PDF). theamerican.org.
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