2026 American Conference men's basketball tournament
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| 2026 American Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Site | Legacy Arena Birmingham, Alabama |
| Champions | South Florida (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Bryan Hodgson (1st title) |
| MVP | Wes Enis (South Florida) |
| Television | ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN+ |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Florida † | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 25 | – | 9 | .735 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wichita State | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 24 | – | 11 | .686 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulsa | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 28 | – | 7 | .800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UAB | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 20 | – | 12 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charlotte | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 17 | – | 17 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Texas | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 19 | – | 14 | .576 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida Atlantic | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 18 | – | 15 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memphis | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 13 | – | 19 | .406 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulane | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 18 | – | 15 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temple | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rice | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 13 | – | 18 | .419 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Carolina | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 11 | – | 20 | .355 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UTSA | 1 | – | 17 | .056 | 5 | – | 25 | .167 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 American tournament winner As of March 22, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 American Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the American Conference for the 2025–26 season. The tournament was held from March 11–15, 2026, at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.[1][2] The winner, South Florida, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament.
This was the first conference tournament under the American Conference name. In July 2025, the conference dropped the word "Athletic" from its name, renaming itself the American Conference.[3]
Only the top ten conference teams will qualify to participate in the tournament.[4] Teams will be seeded by conference record. The conference adopted a stepladder format for the tournament, with the top two seeds receiving byes to the semifinals, the third and fourth seeds to the quarterfinals, and so on.[5]
Tiebreakers may be applied as needed to properly seed the teams.
| Seed | School | Conference record |
Tiebreaker 1 | Tiebreaker 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Florida | 15–3 | ||
| 2 | Wichita State | 13–5 | 1–1 vs. South Florida | |
| 3 | Tulsa | 13–5 | 0–2 vs. South Florida | |
| 4 | UAB | 11–7 | ||
| 5 | Charlotte | 9–9 | 2–0 vs. Rice | |
| 6 | North Texas | 9–9 | 1–1 vs. Rice | 1–0 vs. Florida Atlantic |
| 7 | Florida Atlantic | 9–9 | 0–1 vs. Rice | 0–1 vs. North Texas |
| 8 | Memphis | 8–10 | 2–1 vs. Tulane/Temple | |
| 9 | Tulane | 8–10 | 2–2 vs. Memphis/Temple | |
| 10 | Temple | 8–10 | 1–2 vs. Memphis/Tulane | |
| DNQ | Rice | 7–11 | ||
| DNQ | East Carolina | 6–12 | ||
| DNQ | UTSA | 1–17 |
Schedule
| Game | Time * | Matchup | Score | Television | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Round – Wednesday, March 11 | ||||||
| 1 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 8 Memphis vs. No. 9 Tulane | 69–81 | ESPNews | ||
| 2 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 7 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 10 Temple | 63–59 | ESPN+ | ||
| Second Round – Thursday, March 12 | ||||||
| 3 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 5 Charlotte vs. No. 9 Tulane | 74–60 | ESPNU | ||
| 4 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 6 North Texas vs. No. 7 Florida Atlantic | 74–70 | |||
| Quarterfinals – Friday March 13 | ||||||
| 5 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 4 UAB vs. No. 5 Charlotte | 78–83 | ESPN2 | ||
| 6 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 3 Tulsa vs. No. 6 North Texas | 90–84 3OT | |||
| Semifinals – Saturday, March 14 | ||||||
| 7 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 1 South Florida vs. No. 5 Charlotte | 86–64 | ESPN2 | ||
| 8 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 2 Wichita State vs. No. 3 Tulsa | 81–68 | |||
| Final – Sunday, March 15 | ||||||
| 9 | 2:15 p.m. | No. 1 South Florida vs. No. 2 Wichita State | 70–55 | ESPN | ||
| * Game times in CDT; ()-ranking denotes tournament seeding. | ||||||
Bracket
| First Round March 11 ESPNews, ESPN+ | Second Round March 12 ESPNU | Quarterfinals March 13 ESPN2 | Semifinals March 14 ESPN2 | Final March 15 ESPN | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | South Florida | 86 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UAB | 78 | 5 | Charlotte | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Charlotte | 74 | 5 | Charlotte | 83 | 1 | South Florida | 70 | |||||||||||||||
| 8 | Memphis | 69 | 9 | Tulane | 60 | 2 | Wichita State | 55 | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Tulane | 81 | 2 | Wichita State | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Tulsa | 90 | 3 | Tulsa | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | North Texas | 74 | 6 | North Texas | 84 3OT | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Florida Atlantic | 63 | 7 | Florida Atlantic | 70 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Temple | 59 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Source:[6]
Game Summaries
First Round
| No. 8 Memphis 69, No. 9 Tulane 81 | ||
| Scoring by half: 31–39, 38–42 | ||
| Pts: 13 – Thedford Rebs: 8 – Davis Asts: 3 – Givens III |
Pts: 35 – Brumbaugh Rebs: 8 – Brumbaugh Asts: 3 – Tied (2) | |
| Game 1 | ||
March 11 8:00 p.m. CDT |
| No. 7 Florida Atlantic 63, No. 10 Temple 59 | ||
| Scoring by half: 29–27, 34–32 | ||
| Pts: 19 – Moretti Rebs: 6 – Tied (2) Asts: 3 – Moretti |
Pts: 16 – Ford Rebs: 7 – Felt Asts: 1 – Tied (4) | |
| Game 2 | ||
Legacy Arena Birmingham, AL Referees: Casady, Land, Seales |
Second Round
| No. 5 Charlotte 74, No. 9 Tulane 60 | ||
| Scoring by half: 18–20, 56–40 | ||
| Pts: 29 – Bradford Rebs: 16 – Bonke Asts: 11 – Mingo |
Pts: 25 – Brumbaugh Rebs: 8 – Williams Jr. Asts: 3 – Daniels | |
| Game 3 | ||
ESPNU |
March 12 8:00 p.m. CDT |
| No. 6 North Texas 74, No. 7 Florida Atlantic 70 | ||
| Scoring by half: 34–30, 40–40 | ||
| Pts: 24 – Stevenson Rebs: 8 – Hammer Jr. Asts: 7 – Terrell Jr. |
Pts: 20 – Elohim Rebs: 8 – Elohim Asts: 3 – Moretti | |
| Game 4 | ||
Legacy Arena Birmingham, AL Referees: Evans, Nance, Rorke |
Quarterfinal Round
| No. 4 UAB 78, No. 5 Charlotte 83 | ||
| Scoring by half: 33–31, 45–52 | ||
| Pts: 20 – Rivera Rebs: 9 – Rivera Asts: 15 – Westry |
Pts: 35 – Mingo Rebs: 9 – Bonke Asts: 6 – Tied (2) | |
| Game 5 | ||
ESPN2 |
March 13 2:00 p.m. CDT |
| No. 3 Tulsa 90, No. 6 North Texas 84 (3OT) | ||
| Scoring by half: 25–36, 44–33 Overtime: 4–4, 6–6, 11–5 | ||
| Pts: 26 – Riley Rebs: 11 – Behrend Asts: 5 – Riley |
Pts: 21 – Stevenson Rebs: 8 – Arnett Asts: 5 – Terrell Jr. | |
| Game 6 | ||
Legacy Arena Birmingham, AL Referees: Poole, Ramnanan, Rorke |
Semifinal Round
| No. 1 South Florida 86, No. 5 Charlotte 64 | ||
| Scoring by half: 40–33, 46–31 | ||
| Pts: 24 – Enis Rebs: 10 – Omojafo Asts: 5 – Enis |
Pts: 15 – Bonke Rebs: 9 – Bonke Asts: 2 – Elliott | |
| Game 7 | ||
ESPN2 |
March 14 4:00 p.m. CDT |
| No. 2 Wichita State 81, No. 3 Tulsa 68 | ||
| Scoring by half: 39–33, 42–35 | ||
| Pts: 27 – Giles Rebs: 14 – Berg Asts: 6 – Gray Jr. |
Pts: 18 – Riley Rebs: 6 – Behrend Asts: 5 – Riley | |
| Game 8 | ||
Legacy Arena Birmingham, AL Referees: Adams, Shortt, Shows |
Final Round
| No. 1 South Florida 70, No. 2 Wichita State 55 | ||
| Scoring by half: 33–26, 37–29 | ||
| Pts: 19 – Enis Rebs: 7 – Jones Asts: 3 – Tied (2) |
Pts: 15 – Battie Rebs: 7 – Boyd Asts: 4 – Boyd | |
| Championship | ||