American announces schedule pairing for men’s hoops

The first part of the 2015-16 men’s basketball conference schedule fell into place Wednesday when the American Athletic Conference announced team pairings and the dates for the 2016 championship.

American members will play an 18-game conference schedule. Each team will play eight of 10 opponents twice and the other two opponents once – one at home and one away. It was designated that UConn will play East Carolina only at home and USF only on the road.

The 2016 championship will be played March 10-13, 2016 (Thursday to Sunday) at Amway Center in Orlando.

The championship includes all 11 teams and will be seeded 1-11. The tournament begins Thursday, March 10 with matchups between the No. 9 and No. 8 seeds, No. 10 and No. 7 seeds and No. 11 and No. 6 seeds. The winners will advance to meet the first, second and third seeds, respectively, on Friday. Also playing on Friday will be the No. 5 and No. 4 seeds. The top five seeds in the championship will receive byes into Friday’s quarterfinal round. The entire American championship will be available across ESPN’s national outlets.

The complete 2015-16 men’s basketball schedule with dates and times will be announced at a later date.

American Men’s Basketball 2015-16 home and away pairings: