After SMU emerged from a winner-take-all game for the American Athletic Conference regular season championship on Sunday, they earned the No. 1 seed for the 2015 American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship. The Mustangs entered the final day of the regular season tied with Tulsa for the top spot in the conference standings, but a five-point victory against the Golden Hurricane gave SMU its first regular season championship since 1993.
The American Athletic Conference tournament takes place from March 12th through March 15th at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
Tulsa, which fell to SMU in Sunday’s regular season finale, enters the tournament as the No.2 seed. Cincinnati and Temple finished tied for the third in the conference standings and split their two regular-season meetings, but Cincinnati earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament based on the Bearcats’ two wins against SMU.
Temple is the No. 4 seed and will face Memphis, the No. 5 seed, in a Friday quarterfinal matchup at 2 p.m. ET.
All 11 American Athletic Conference teams will compete for the league title, including 2014 NCAA champion UConn, which is one of the six conference teams that have reached the NCAA Final Four. According to TiqIQ.com, an all sessions pass to the tournament has an average price of $237.18 with a walk-in price of $68. The least average ticket price is on March 13th, the four-game quarterfinal round at $32 with a walk-in price of $5.
Given the sprawling nature of the teams in this conference, travelers’ best bet might be looking for flights to New York City and traveling to Hartford from there. Hotels in New York City could be a good option, although staying in Hartford would be optimal. Either way, Hipmunk.com is the optimal source for booking your travel arrangements.
The 11 teams that comprise the American Athletic Conference have a combined six NCAA titles, made 22 Final Four appearances, 67 Sweet Sixteen appearances and 173 NCAA tournament appearances.
