American Athletic Conference Tournament 2015: Bracket, schedule and scores

The American Tournament is the last chance for bubble teams like Temple and Tulsa to bolster their resumes.

The American Athletic Conference begins its tournament on Thursday and will go all the way up to Selection Sunday, with the championship round concluding just hours before the committee submits its bracket. As such, there is plenty of pressure on the teams hanging around the bubble to make noise this weekend.

Top seed SMU is a stone-cold lock for the NCAA Tournament, and No. 3 Cincinnati should be safe as well. Tulsa and Temple are the teams that have the most to prove. The Golden Hurricane boast a 14-4 conference record, but almost no signature wins to speak of. Their best and possibly final chance will come in a potential semifinal matchup with the Bearcats.

Temple is on a bit steadier ground, but still has some work to do to avoid the First Four. The Owls could face SMU in the semifinal round if they get past Memphis.

UConn might be the biggest wild card. The Huskies are mostly an afterthought this year, but the tournament is being held in Hartford, Conn. and they could end up making a last-minute surge despite a mid-level seeding. Four straight wins from the defending champions this weekend might not be enough to get in, but it could make the committee take notice if other bubble teams stumble down the stretch.

The format

All 11 teams are eligible. The top five seeds get a bye into the quarterfinals, with the bottom six teams playing each other in the first round. The three winners go on to face the top three teams. After the first round, the tournament follows a standard eight-team format.

The teams

1. SMU Mustangs


2. Tulsa Golden Hurricane


3. Cincinnati Bearcats


4. Temple Owls


5. Memphis Tigers


6. Connecticut Huskies


7. Tulane Green Wave


8. East Carolina Pirates


9. UCF Knights


10. Houston Cougars


11. South Florida Bulls

Bracket

A complete bracket can be found here.

Schedule and results (all times Eastern)

Thursday, March 12 (First round)

Game 1: No. 8 East Carolina 81, No. 9 UCF 80 (OT)

Game 2: No. 10 Houston 66, No. 7 Tulane 60

Game 3: No. 6 Connecticut vs. No. 11 South Florida, 8 p.m., ESPNews

Friday, March 13 (Quarterfinals)

Game 4: No. 1 SMU vs. No. 8 East Carolina, Noon, ESPN2

Game 5: No. 4 Temple vs. No. 5 Memphis, 2 p.m., ESPN2

Game 6: No. 2 Tulsa vs. No. 10 Houston, 7 p.m., ESPNU

Game 7: No. 3 Cincinnati vs. Game 3 winner, 9 p.m., ESPNU

Saturday, March 14 (Semifinals)

Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 3 p.m., ESPN2

Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 5 p.m., ESPN2

Sunday, March 15 (Championship)

Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 3:15 p.m., ESPN

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