2024 American Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament
The American Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament starts on Wednesday, March 13th. This conference is the new home of the Florida Atlantic Owls, who went to the Final Four in last year’s NCAA Tournament. So, there will be a lot of eyeballs on this conference tournament. That’s a good thing considering this is the most underrated conference in basketball.
While FAU is the team everybody will be looking for here, it’s the South Florida Bulls that enter the tournament as the top seed. They have had a spectacular regular season. Meanwhile, the Memphis Tigers are the defending champions here, and they’ll be out to win this in back-to-back years. However, there are plenty of other teams that can do damage in this tournament.
With all of that in mind, keep reading for our picks and predictions for what should be a fantastic five days of action.
How to Watch the American Athletic Conference Tournament
When: March 13-17
Where: Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas
Format: Seeding based on record in conference; top-four seeds receive byes to quarterfinals
Watch: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN+; Championship Game on ESPN at 3:15 pm ET on March 17
College Basketball Odds | College Basketball Betting Splits | Greg Peterson’s Daily Lines | Steve Makinen’s Power Ratings
American Athletic Conference Tournament Bracket
American Athletic Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds
1. South Florida Bulls (+500)
2. Florida Atlantic Owls (+185)
3. Charlotte 49ers (15-1)
4. UAB Blazers (16-1)
5. Memphis Tigers (+500)
6. SMU Mustangs (+400)
7. North Texas Mean Green (+850)
8. East Carolina Pirates (80-1)
9. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (150-1)
10. Tulane Green Wave (80-1)
11. Temple Owls (500-1)
12. Wichita State Shockers (90-1)
13. Rice Owls (500-1)
14. UTSA Roadrunners (1000-1)
(odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)
Favorite To Win American Athletic Conference Tournament
Florida Atlantic’s statistical profile isn’t quite as good as last year, but this is still a damn good basketball team. Offensively, the Owls can score with anybody in the country. They’re 22nd in the nation in 2PT% and 55th in 3PT%. Not many other teams can say they strike a balance quite like that. Overall, Florida Atlantic can be relied on to score efficiently. And the experience they gained from last year’s Final Four run will only help at this time of year. But the Owls did drop significantly on the defensive end. That’s why they didn’t meet expectations this season. However, it should be noted that FAU is in a significantly better conference than it was last year. The team also played a tough nonconference schedule.
American Athletic Conference Tournament Darkhorse
North Texas might not offer the type of game-changing payout you’re looking for in a darkhorse, but the Mean Green are a good team to back in this conference. North Texas played Florida Atlantic and USF close this season, and the Mean Green also split their two games with Memphis. So, this team has proven that it can compete with the AAC’s best.
The reason to love the Mean Green is that they can shoot the hell out of the ball. At 37.4% from 3, North Texas is the 21st-best shooting team in the nation. The Mean Green also do a decent job of defending the 3-point line. It’s hard to ignore that North Texas knows what it’s doing when it comes to the most important shot in basketball. The Mean Green also have a microwave scorer in Jason Edwards. He’s a player that opponents fear whenever he’s out there.
Overall, North Texas has shown that it can compete with anybody. The Mean Green would also draw FAU in the quarterfinals. With their ability to shoot the 3, they can definitely give a mediocre Owls defense problems.
Players to Watch in American Athletic Conference Tournament
Memphis’ David Jones and Nae’Qwan Tomlin are two of the best players in the conference, and they happen to be on the same team. Jones led the AAC in scoring at 21.7 points per game, and he had four games with at least 32 points this season. He’s simply a tremendous scorer that the Tigers can trust in isolation situations late in games. So, if things are close in the final minutes, he’s a threat to bring it home for Memphis. Jones also led the conference in BPM (+7.7).
Tomlin enters this tournament having averaged 24.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game over the final four games of the season. The Kansas State transfer is one of the toughest covers in college basketball, as he’s lengthy, athletic and highly skilled. Tomlin can adequately space the floor, score around the basket and do a little off the dribble. And now that he has truly found his footing, Memphis has a lot to work with.
Florida Atlantic big man Vladislav Goldin and guard Johnell Davis played big roles in the Owls’ postseason run last year. Goldin is a massive body that knows how to impact games with his size. And he took things to another level as a finisher this season, making him more of a scoring threat — while not sacrificing efficiency. Meanwhile, Davis is a smooth-shooting guard that averaged 18.2 points per game on 47.9% shooting from the floor and 43.8% shooting from 3 in the regular season. Both will be tough for opponents to stop as FAU tries to win this tournament. And the Owls have plenty of other pieces that can rise to the occasion.
North Texas guard Jason Edwards is the reason I like the Mean Green as a darkhorse pick. He averaged 19.1 points per game during the regular season, hitting 2.6 triples per contest. He’s a highly talented perimeter player with supreme confidence, and he won’t be intimidated by any matchup. Edwards had 32 points in a close loss to FAU on March 6th, 30 in a win over Memphis on February 15th and 31 in a close loss to South Florida on January 31st. He has proven he can go off against the top teams in this conference, making him dangerous in this tournament.
UAB has a few talented players in its rotation, making the Blazers a difficult team to out here. But forward Yaxel Lendeborg is the best of the bunch. Lendeborg is a walking double-double for the Blazers, and he’s also one of the best shot blockers in college basketball. The motor he plays with is something else, making him the heart of this UAB team.
Tulane is coming off a disappointing regular season, but the Green Wave will be a tough out because of Kevin Cross. Cross had five games with at least 25 points this season, and he is also a guy that really stuffs the stat sheet. In fact, he had two triple-doubles this year. Tulane had some close losses to some of the best teams in this conference, and Cross was the reason they were close. In a tournament like this, you can’t rule out the possibility of him leading his team on a run.
Tulsa guard PJ Haggerty is another player that has the firepower to will his team on a run. Haggerty was second in the conference in scoring (20.9 points per game) and ended the regular season with a 32-point effort in a win over top-seeded South Florida. Haggerty isn’t much of a shooter, but he can get into the paint at will and lives at the free throw line. Nobody in the conference has shown that they can stay in front of him.
Betting Pick to Win The American Athletic Conference Tournament
Memphis got hot towards the end of the regular season, earning a blowout win over Charlotte and a close home win over Florida Atlantic towards the end of February. So, the Tigers are coming into this tournament with some momentum, and the reality is that they’re as talented as anybody in the conference.
Memphis has very good guard play, as Jones is the best scorer in the AAC and Jahvon Quinerly can be dynamic himself. Those two bring a consistency in the backcourt that is hard to ignore in March, and Tomlin is as good as any forward in the conference. He has been an absolute monster over the last few weeks, and he has the ability to be the best player on the court whenever he’s out there.
When you combine all of that with the fact that Penny Hardaway won this thing last year, you’re looking at a team with the potential to do it again. That makes the Tigers a very enticing pick, especially compared to some of the prices on the other teams in the AAC.
Makinen Power Ratings for American Athletic Conference
Check out the other previews in our 2024 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.
