American Athletic Conference Announces 2016 Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket

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.

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 Thursday 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) earned the championship's 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.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting owlstix.com.

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

Temple University Athletics

American Athletic Conference Announces 2016 Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket

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