2017–18 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season
The 2017–18 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2017 followed by the start of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The conference held its media day in October 2017. Conference play begin in December 2017 and concluded on March 3, 2018.
Cincinnati won the regular season championship by two games over Houston and Wichita State. The American Athletic Tournament was held at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida from March 8–11, 2018. Cincinnati also won the AAC Tournament championship, defeating Houston in the championship game.
Cincinnati's Gary Clark was named the AAC player of the year while Houston's Kelvin Sampson was named coach of the year.
Cincinnati, Houston, and Wichita State all received bids to the NCAA Tournament, but none made it past the Second Round as the conference went 2–3 in the Tournament.
Temple received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament, but lost in the first round.
The season marked the first season with Wichita State as a member of the AAC, having joined on July 1, 2017. As a result, the conference included 12 teams for the first time.
Head coaches
Coaching changes
head coach Orlando Antigua was fired after the first 13 games of the 2016–17 season amid academic fraud allegations. Interim head coach Murry Bartow coach was not retained by the school following the season. On March 14, 2017, the school hired Brian Gregory as the next head coach.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 | 12 | 268–140 | 72–18 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Connecticut | Kevin Ollie | Connecticut | 6 | 127–79 | 49–41 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| East Carolina | Jeff Lebo | Auburn | 8 | 124–138 | 20–52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Houston | Kelvin Sampson | Houston Rockets | 4 | 81–48 | 42–32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Memphis | Tubby Smith | Texas Tech | 2 | 38–26 | 19–17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SMU | Tim Jankovich | SMU | 3 | 58–21 | 23–13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| South Florida | Brian Gregory | Michigan State | 1 | 10–22 | 3–15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Temple | Fran Dunphy | Penn | 12 | 247–152 | 46–44 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Tulane | Mike Dunleavy | Los Angeles Clippers | 2 | 20–42 | 8–28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tulsa | Frank Haith | Missouri | 4 | 77–52 | 46–26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| UCF | Johnny Dawkins | Stanford | 2 | 43–25 | 20–16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wichita State | Gregg Marshall | Winthrop | 11 | 286–98 | 14–4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
Notes:
- Overall and AAC records are from time at current school and are through the end of 2017–18 season. NCAA records include time at current school only.
- AAC records are only from 2013–14 season to present, prior conference records not included.
Preseason
Preseason Coaches Poll
AAC Media Day took place October 15, 2017 in Philadelphia, PA. Cincinnati was picked to win the conference's regular season with Wichita State a close second.| Rank | Team |
| 1. | Cincinnati |
| 2. | Wichita State |
| 3. | UCF |
| 4. | SMU |
| 5. | Connecticut |
| 6. | Houston |
| 7. | Temple |
| 8. | Tulsa |
| 9. | Memphis |
| 10. | Tulane |
| 11. | East Carolina |
| 12. | USF |
first place votes in parentheses
Preseason All-AAC Teams
Regular season
Rankings
Conference Matrix
Player of the week
Throughout the regular season, the American Athletic Conference named a player and rookie of the week.| Week | Player of the week | Rookie of the week |
| November 13, 2017 | Shake Milton, SMU | Ethan Chargois, SMU |
| November 20, 2017 | Melvin Frazier, Tulane | Ceasar DeJesus, UCF |
| November 27, 2017 | Gary Clark, Cincinnati | Fabian White Jr., Houston |
| December 4, 2017 | Shake Milton, SMU | Shawn Williams, ECU |
| December 11, 2017 | Landry Shamet, Wichita State | Jamal Johnson, Memphis |
| December 18, 2017 | Jacob Evans, Cincinnati | Ethan Chargois, SMU |
| December 26, 2017 | Tacko Fall, UCF | David Nickelberry, Memphis |
| January 2, 2018 | Junior Etou, Tulsa | Ceasar DeJesus, UCF |
| January 8, 2018 | Jacob Evans, Cincinnati | Ceasar DeJesus, UCF |
| January 15, 2018 | Jeremiah Martin, Memphis | Nate Pierre-Louis, Temple |
| January 22, 2018 | Shake Milton, SMU Gary Clark, Cincinnati | Shawn Williams, ECU |
| January 29, 2018 | Gary Clark, Cincinnati | Fabian White Jr., Houston |
| February 5, 2018 | Junior Etou, Tulsa | Shawn Williams, ECU |
| February 12, 2018 | Armoni Brooks, Houston | J. P. Moorman II, Temple |
| February 19, 2018 | Shaquille Morris, Wichita State | Shawn Williams, ECU |
| February 26, 2018 | Raynere Thornton, Memphis | Caleb Daniels, Tulane |
| March 5, 2018 | Rob Gray, Houston | David Collins, USF |
Honors and awards
All-AAC Awards and Teams
- Unanimous Selection
Postseason
[2018 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament]
NCAA Tournament
The winner of the AAC Tournament, Cincinnati, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.| Seed | Region | School | First Four | First Round | Second Round | Sweet Sixteen | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
| 2 | South | Cincinnati | N/A | defeated Georgia State 68–53 | eliminated by Nevada 73–75 | ||||
| 4 | East | Wichita State | N/A | eliminated by Marshall 75–81 | |||||
| 6 | West | Houston | N/A | defeated San Diego State 67–65 | eliminated by Michigan 63–64 | ||||
| W–L : | Total: |
NIT
Temple received an at-large bid to the NIT.| Seed | Bracket | School | First round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| 5 | Notre Dame | Temple | eliminated by Penn State 57–63 | ||||
| W–L : | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 Total: 0–1 |
NBA Draft
The following list includes all AAC players who were drafted in the 2018 NBA draft.| Player | Position | School | Round | Pick | Team |
| Landry Shamet | PG | Wichita State | 1 | 26 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Jacob Evans | SG | Cincinnati | 1 | 28 | Golden State Warriors |
| Melvin Frazier | SF | Tulane | 2 | 35 | Orlando Magic |
| Shake Milton | PG | SMU | 2 | 54 | Dallas Mavericks |