2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season
The 2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018 followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The conference held its media day in October 2018. Conference play began in December 2018 and concluded in March 2019.
Head coaches
Coaching changes
- UConn hired former Rhode Island and Wagner coach Dan Hurley after firing Kevin Ollie following his sixth season as head coach.
- Memphis fired Tubby Smith after 2 seasons and replaced him with alum Penny Hardaway.
- East Carolina head coach Jeff Lebo resigned 6 games into the 2017–18 season and was succeeded on an interim basis by assistant coach Michael Perry. After the season, the school hired former Florida Gulf Coast head coach Joe Dooley, who previously served as head coach of the team from 1995-99.
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 | 13 | 292–144 | 85–20 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Connecticut | Dan Hurley | Rhode Island | 1 | 14–16 | 5–12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| East Carolina | Joe Dooley | Florida Gulf Coast | 6 | 68–71 | 3–14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Houston | Kelvin Sampson | Houston Rockets | 5 | 111–50 | 57–34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Memphis | Penny Hardaway | East HS | 1 | 18–12 | 11–7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SMU | Tim Jankovich | SMU | 4 | 69–37 | 28–25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| South Florida | Brian Gregory | Michigan State | 2 | 29–33 | 11–24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Temple | Fran Dunphy | Penn | 13 | 269–160 | 58–49 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Tulane | Mike Dunleavy | Los Angeles Clippers | 3 | 24–67 | 8–45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tulsa | Frank Haith | Missouri | 5 | 95–64 | 54–35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| UCF | Johnny Dawkins | Stanford | 3 | 66–31 | 33–20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wichita State | Gregg Marshall | Winthrop | 11 | 290–101 | 23–12 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
Notes:
- Overall and AAC records are from time at current school and are through the end of 2018–19 season. NCAA records include time at current school only.
- AAC records only, prior conference records not included.
Preseason
Preseason Coaches Poll
The American Coaches poll was released on October 15, 2018, with UCF predicted to finish first in the AAC.| Coaches poll |
Preseason All-AAC Teams
Regular season
Rankings
Conference Matrix
This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 18 conference games: one game vs. four opponents and two games against seven opponents.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 12, 2018 | Shizz Alston Jr., Temple Markis McDuffie, Wichita State | Jayden Gardner, ECU |
| November 19, 2018 | Aubrey Dawkins, UCF | Tyler Harris, Memphis |
| November 26, 2018 | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati | Cedrik Alley Jr. |
| December 3, 2018 | Armoni Brooks, Houston | Jayden Gardner, ECU |
| December 10, 2018 | DaQuan Jeffries, Tulsa | Tyler Harris, Memphis |
| December 17, 2018 | Shizz Alston Jr., Temple Galen Robinson Jr., Houston | Alexis Yetna, USF |
| December 24, 2018 | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati | Alexis Yetna, USF |
| January 7, 2019 | Aubrey Dawkins, UCF | Nate Hinton, Houston |
| January 14, 2019 | Nate Pierre-Louis, Temple | Jayden Gardner, ECU Alexis Yetna, USF |
| January 21, 2019 | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati | Jayden Gardner, ECU |
| January 28, 2019 | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati | Alexis Yetna, USF |
| February 4, 2019 | Markis McDuffie, Wichita State | Jamarius Burton, Wichita State |
| February 11, 2018 | Corey Davis Jr., Houston | Cedrick Alley Jr., Houston |
| February 18, 2019 | Shizz Alston Jr., Temple | Jayden Gardner, ECU |
| February 25, 2019 | Jeremiah Martin, Memphis | Dexter Dennis, Wichita State |
| March 4, 2019 | Tacko Fall, UCF | Jamarius Burton, Wichita State |
| March 11, 2019 | Corey Davis Jr., Houston | Nate Hinton, Houston |
Honors and awards
All-AAC Awards and Teams
- Unanimous Selection
Postseason
[2019 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 |
| 3 | West | Houston | N/A | defeated Georgia State, 84–55 | defeated Ohio State, 74–59 | eliminated by Kentucky, 58–62 | |||
| 7 | South | Cincinnati | N/A | eliminated by Iowa, 72–79 | |||||
| 9 | East | UCF | N/A | defeated VCU, 73–58 | eliminated by Duke, 76–77 | ||||
| 11 | East | Temple | eliminated by Belmont 70–81 | ||||||
| W–L : | Total: |
NIT
Memphis and Wichita State received at-large bids to the NIT.| Seed | Bracket | School | First round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| 3 | TCU | Memphis | defeated San Diego, 74–60 | eliminated by Creighton, 67-79 | |||
| 6 | Indiana | Wichita State | defeated Furman, 76–70 | defeated Clemson, 63–55 | defeated Indiana, 73–63 | eliminated by Lipscomb, 64–71 | |
| W–L : | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 Total: 4–2 |
CBI
South Florida received an at-large bid to the CBI.| School | First round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| South Florida | defeated Stony Brook, 82–79OT | defeated Utah Valley, 66–57 | defeated Loyola Marymount, 56–47 | defeated DePaul, 63–61, 96-100OT, 77-65 |
| W–L : | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 Total: 6–1 |