AAC Tournament Odds, Preview, Picks & Schedule

• The American Athletic Conference Tournament will be held from Thursday, March 9th to Sunday, March 12th in Fort Worth, Texas
• No. 1 seed Houston is a -300 favorite, and also boasts the shortest odds to win March Madness
• Keep reading for the AAC Tournament odds, schedule, how to watch, and predictions

The American Athletic Conference is shaping up as a two-bid league for next week’s NCAA Tournament, barring a shocking Cinderella run in the conference tournament.

Top seed Houston is a lock, and is currently in contention to be the number one overall seed at March Madness. Memphis will also be dancing, and those two project to square off in the final of the AAC Tournament which begins on Thursday.

American Athletic Conference Tournament Odds

The Cougars are heavy -300 favorites to win the conference crown for a third consecutive year. The Tigers are next up at +450, but the gap is wider than you’ll see on any pre-tournament oddsboard between the first and second seed this week.

No. 4 Cincinnati checks in third at +1200, but a bet on any program besides Houston or Memphis in this event is essentially just lighting money on fire.

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Odds as of March 7, 2023, at DraftKings Sportsbook.

AAC Tournament Schedule

The AAC Tournament is made up of 11 teams, with seeds one through five earning an opening round bye. Seeds six through 11 will take the court for first round action beginning Thursday, with the winners advancing to Friday’s quarterfinals.

The semifinals are slated for Saturday, with the Championship Game tipping off Sunday night. All 10 games will be contested at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, with the ESPN family carrying the coverage through multiple channels. ESPNU and ESPN2 will split the first three days of coverage, before ESPN takes over for the final.

AAC Tournament Betting Trends

It’s hard to poke holes in the Cougars. They’re the only team in the nation to rank top-five, let alone top-10, in both offensive and defensive efficiency per KenPom’s metrics. They closed the year on a 12-game winning streak, and have lost once since December 10th.

They are the current favorite in the NCAA Tournament odds, and absolutely demolished AAC opposition this year. Houston was 17-1 in conference play, averaging 16 more points than they surrendered. They ranked top-three in virtually every key offensive category, and were number one on the offensive glass.

Defensively, the numbers are even better. They led the AAC in scoring defense, opponent field goal percentage, and blocks, while no team was better defending the three.

With the exception of Temple, who handed them their lone conference loss, they beat every AAC team twice. They racked up double-digit victories against every conference foe except Memphis, and they blew out the Owls by 26 points two weeks after they were upset by them.

Houston Cougars senior guard Marcus Sasser on how the American Athletic Conference tournament will prepare the team for the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s win or go home.”@UHCougarMBK pic.twitter.com/ZT97eTv4zq

— Pawd Slama Jama (@PawdSlamaJama) March 8, 2023

Senior guard Marcus Sasser led the AAC in win shares, while he along with four other teammates all score in double figures. That kind of balance is hard to find, and makes the Cougars a nightmare to play against.

Nevertheless, Memphis pushed them to the brink twice. The Tigers fell by eight points to Houston earlier this season, and were a buzzer beater away from upsetting them in the season finale.

Memphis closed the season on a 6-2 run, with their only two losses coming against the Cougars. They feature the conference’s top scorer in Kendric Davis, while only Tulane averaged more points per contest.

They currently project as an eight-seed in the March Madness bracket, where they’ll be dancing for the second consecutive year. The Tigers are the only other AAC program to rank inside the top-98 per KenPom, but it’s worth noting they dropped both meetings versus no. 3 seed Tulane during the regular season.

AAC Tournament Predictions

The Green Wave however, struggled down the stretch losing three of five. Houston blew them out by 30, while they also fell to East Carolina, who’s tied for the longest odds to win the AAC.

All that to say if Memphis does meet Tulane in the semis, we should expect the Tigers to extract revenge. The Championship Game will almost certainly feature Memphis and Houston, and it’s hard to envision anyone taking down the Cougars out of this bunch.

So we just gonna act like the #1 ranked Houston Cougars didn’t go 28-2 and win their conference championship tonight? Ok then..

Kelvin Sampson is a great coach. pic.twitter.com/gUZJSi5KoO

— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@VatorSports) March 3, 2023

Sure, the Tigers put a scare into them in the season finale, but Houston had already clinched the regular season title and was simply playing out the stretch. They’ll be more focused this weekend, and we should expect the cream to rise to the top.

Laying -300 seems like a foolish bet, so wait until championship Sunday and simply wager on the Cougars to cover the spread. Houston had a plus-19.5 average margin of victory this season, the best of any team in college hoops.