2016–17 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season
The 2016–17 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2016, followed by the start of the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The conference held its media day on October 24, 2016. Conference play began on December 27, 2016 and concluded on March 4, 2017.
SMU won the regular season championship by one game over Cincinnati. The American Athletic Conference Tournament was held from March 9 through March 12 at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. SMU defeated Cincinnati in the tournament championship to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Simi Ojeleye was named the Tournament MVP.
SMU's Semi Ojeleye was also named the conference's Player of the Year. SMU's head coach, Tim Jankovich, was named Coach of the Year.
Two AAC teams were invited to the NCAA Tournament, Cincinnati and SMU. Houston and UCF received bids to the NIT.
Head coaches
Coaching changes
- Josh Pastner left Memphis for the Georgia Tech job and was replaced by Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith.
- Larry Brown resigned as SMU coach on July 8, 2016. Tim Jankovich, who had been hired along with Brown in 2012 as his top assistant and designated successor, was elevated to the top spot.
- Tulane fired Ed Conroy. Former NBA coach Mike Dunleavy was hired for his first college coaching job, after a six-year hiatus from coaching.
- UCF fired Donnie Jones was fired on March 10 after six seasons. Johnny Dawkins was hired after being fired by Stanford.
Coaches
| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Years at school | Overall record | AAC record | AAC titles | NCAA Tournaments | NCAA Final Fours | NCAA Championships |
| Cincinnati | Mick Cronin | Murray State | 11 | 237–135 | 56–16 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Connecticut | Kevin Ollie | Connecticut | 5 | 113–61 | 42–30 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| East Carolina | Jeff Lebo | Auburn | 7 | 114–118 | 16–38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Houston | Kelvin Sampson | Houston Rockets | 3 | 56–40 | 28–26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Memphis | Tubby Smith | Texas Tech | 1 | 19–13 | 9–9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SMU | Tim Jankovich | SMU | 2 | 39–5 | 17–1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| South Florida | Murry Bartow | South Florida | 1 | 1–16 | 1–15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Temple | Fran Dunphy | Penn | 11 | 230–136 | 38–34 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Tulane | Mike Dunleavy | n/a | 1 | 6–25 | 3–15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tulsa | Frank Haith | Missouri | 3 | 58–40 | 34–20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| UCF | Johnny Dawkins | Stanford | 1 | 24–12 | 11–7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Notes:
- Overall and AAC records are from time at current school and are through the end of 2016–17 season. NCAA records include time at current school only.
- AAC records are only from 2013–14 season to present, prior conference records not included.
- Orlando Antigua was fired after the first 13 games of the season amid academic fraud allegations. Murry Bartow was named interim coach for the remainder of the season.
- Jeff Lebo underwent hip surgery on January 16, 2017 and missed the rest of the 2016–17 season. Assistant coach Michael Perry took over as head coach in Lebo's absence.
Preseason
Preseason Coaches Poll
AAC Media Day took place October 24, 2016 in Philadelphia, PA. Cincinnati was picked to win the conference's regular season with Connecticut a close second.| Rank | Team |
| 1. | Cincinnati |
| 2. | Connecticut |
| 3. | SMU |
| 4. | Houston |
| 5. | Memphis |
| 6. | Temple |
| 7. | East Carolina |
| 8. | UCF |
| 9. | Tulsa |
| 10. | South Florida |
| 11. | Tulane |
first place votes in parentheses
Preseason All-AAC Teams
SourceRankings
Conference Matrix
Honors and awards
Semi Ojeleye was an honorable mention AP All-American.All-AAC awards and teams
On March 7, the AAC announced its conference awards.| Honor | Recipient |
| Player of the Year | Semi Ojeleye, SMU |
| Coach of the Year | Tim Jankovich, SMU |
| Scholar-Athlete of the Year | Semi Ojeleye, SMU |
| Rookie of the Year | K. J. Lawson, Memphis |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Tacko Fall, UCF |
| Most Improved Player | Cameron Reynolds, Tulane |
| Sixth Man Award | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati |
| Sixth Man Award | Ben Emelogu, SMU |
| Sportsmanship Award | Troy Caupain, Cincinnati |
| All-AAC First Team | Jalen Adams, Connecticut |
| All-AAC First Team | Damyean Dotson, Houston |
| All-AAC First Team | Rob Gray, Houston |
| All-AAC First Team | Dedric Lawson, Memphis |
| All-AAC First Team | Semi Ojeleye, SMU |
| All-AAC Second Team | Sterling Brown, SMU |
| All-AAC Second Team | Troy Caupain, Cincinnati |
| All-AAC Second Team | Shake Milton, SMU |
| All-AAC Second Team | Ben Moore, SMU |
| All-AAC Second Team | B. J. Taylor, UCF |
| All-AAC Second Team | Kyle Washington, Cincinnati |
| All-Rookie Team | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati |
| All-Rookie Team | Vance Jackson, Connecticut |
| All-Rookie Team | K. J. Lawson, Memphis |
| All-Rookie Team | Quinton Rose, Temple |
| All-Rookie Team | Jeremy Sheppard, East Carolina |
Postseason
2017 American Athletic Conference Tournament
NCAA tournament
| Seed | Region | School | First Four | First Round | Second Round | Sweet Sixteen | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
| 6 | East | SMU | N/A | eliminated by USC 65–66 | |||||
| 6 | South | Cincinnati | N/A | defeated Kansas State 75–61 | eliminated by UCLA 67–79 | ||||
| W–L : | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 Total: 1–2 |
NIT
| Seed | Bracket | School | First round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| 2 | California | Houston | eliminated by Akron 5–78 | ||||
| 4 | Illinois State | UCF | defeated Colorado 79–74 | defeated Illinois State 63–62 | defeated Illinois 68–58 | eliminated by TCU 53–68 | |
| W–L : | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 Total: 3–2 |
NBA Draft
The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2017 NBA draft.| Player | Position | School | Round | Pick | Team |
| Semi Ojeleye | F | SMU | 2 | 37 | Boston Celtics |
| Damyean Dotson | SG | Houston | 2 | 44 | New York Knicks |
| Sterling Brown | SG | SMU | 2 | 46 | Philadelphia 76ers |