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The 2018-19 American Athletic Conference Tournament begins Thursday afternoon from FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.
Every game will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. If you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream of all those channels on your computer, phone or streaming device via one of the following live-TV streaming services:
PlayStation Vue: PS Vue–which doesn’t require an actual PlayStation console to sign up or watch–offers four different live-TV channel packages: All four include ESPN and ESPN2, while the upper three bundles include ESPNU.
You can start a free 5-day trial of PS Vue right here (select “Start Streaming” in the upper-right corner), and you can then watch a live stream of the games on your computer via the PS Vue website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation (3 or 4), or other supported device via the PS Vue app.
Hulu With Live TV: In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.
You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the games on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
Sling TV: ESPN and ESPN2 are both included in the “Sling Orange” channel bundle, while ESPNU is in the “Sports Extra” add-on.
You can start a free seven-day trial right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the games on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the Sling TV app.
2019 AAC Tournament Preview
Action begins with four First Round games, leading all the way up to the Championship Game on Sunday afternoon.
The @American_MBB Championship starts TOMORROW in FedExForum!
Don’t miss your favorite team punching their ticket to #MarchMadness!
🎟 » t.co/sHHNNWud2m
Entering the tournament as the No. 1 seed are the Houston Cougars (29-2; 16-2 in-conference, who finished the season as the AAC regular season champion and No. 11 in the AP Poll. For his efforts and contributions this season, Cougars head coach Kevin Sampson was rewarded by being named AAC Coach of the Year for the second straight season on Wednesday.
Houston’s Kelvin Sampson (@CoachSampsonUH) named American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for the second straight year. He joins Guy V. Lewis (1983 & ‘84) as only @UHCougarMBK coaches to win multiple conference coach of the year awards.
In addition to the Cougars, the Cincinnati Bearcats (25-6; 14-4 in-conference) also finished the regular season ranked inside the Top 25 at No. 24, thanks in large part to junior guard Jarron Cumberland, who finished the regular season averaging a team-leading 18.4 points per game. The two relevant bubble teams in the group are UCF and Temple, but more on them later.
What to Watch Out For:
Corey Davis Jr. figures to be the star of the show in Memphis. The Cougars senior guard has had a splendid season, leading the team with 16.6 PPG this season. Davis Jr. has been instrumental, primarily because of what he helps the Cougars do on both ends of the court. Houston, third in the AAC in scoring, also ranked first in scoring defense, allowing just 61.6 PPG.
UCF (23-7; 13-5 in-conference), the No. 3 seed, could objectively burst some bubbles should they make a run and win the conference tournament. Senior guard B.J. Taylor (16.2 PPG) has been the Knight’s best and most productive this season. UCF’s signature win came not too long ago, a 58-55 home victory against Cincinnati where Taylor scored 22 points.
The Temple Owls (23-8; 13-5 in-conference) boast one of the nation’s elite guard trios in Shizz Alston Jr. (19.7 PPG), Quinton Rose (16.5 PPG) and Nate Pierre-Louis (13.4 PPG). The primary issue for the Owls is that those three players make up roughly 66%, or two-thirds, of the Owls’ total offensive production — Temple averaged 74.9 points per game this season, good for third in the conference behind Memphis (81.3 PPG and Houston (76.4 PPG).
AAC Tournament History:
In the five years of the tournament’s existence, only one program has won the AAC Tournament more than once. That would be SMU Mustangs, who secured conference tournament championships in 2014-15 and 2016-17. The first-ever win of the AAC, Louisville, doesn’t even play in the conference anymore, moving on to the ACC.
Last season, Cincinnati won the AAC for the first time, narrowly defeating Houston 56-55. The Bearcats’ win avenged a loss the season prior to the aforementioned Mustangs.
The only other school with a victory in the AAC Championship Game is Connecticut. The Huskies defeated the Memphis Tigers in 2015-16.
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