The Big East Conference was a collegiate athletics conference that consisted of as many as 16 universities in the eastern half of the United States from 1979 to 2013. The conference's members participated in 24 NCAA sports. The conference had a history of success at the national level in basketball throughout its history, while its shorter football program, created by inviting one college and four other "associate members" into the conference, resulted in two national championships.
The Great Midwest Conference was an NCAA Division I athletics conference that existed from 1991 to 1995.
Mid-major is a term used in American college sports at the NCAA Division I level, particularly men's basketball, to refer to athletic conferences that are not among the Power Five conferences and the Big East which are alternatively referred to as "high majors". The American Athletic Conference (AAC) is also invariably referred to as a high major conference.
The Memphis Tigers men's basketball team represents the University of Memphis in NCAA Division I men's college basketball. The Tigers have competed in the American Athletic Conference since 2013. As of 2020, the Tigers had the 26th highest winning percentage in NCAA history. While the Tigers have an on-campus arena, Elma Roane Fieldhouse, the team has played home games off campus since the mid-1960s. The Tigers moved to the Mid-South Coliseum at the Memphis Fairgrounds in 1966, and then to downtown Memphis at The Pyramid, initially built for the team in 1991 and later home to the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. In 2004, both teams moved to a new downtown venue, FedExForum. ESPN Stats and Information Department ranked Memphis as the 19th most successful basketball program from 1962 to 2012 in their annual 50 in 50 list.
The Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team represents Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. The school's team currently competes in the Big East Conference, and are coached by Sean Miller. Xavier has appeared in the NCAA tournament 29 times, 16 times in the 18 tournaments between 2001 and 2018. On March 11, 2018, Xavier earned its first ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Xavier is also a two-time winner of the NIT, with their most recent championship coming in 2022.
The Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball program represents the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. The school's team competes in NCAA Division I as part of the Big 12 Conference. The Bearcats are currently coached by Wes Miller.
The 2012–13 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 99th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the Big East Conference and were coached by Rick Pitino in his 12th season as head coach at Louisville. The team played its home games on Denny Crum Court at the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals finished the season 35–5, 14–4 in Big East play to earn a share of the Big East regular season championship.
The 2013–14 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Memphis in the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, the 93rd season of Tiger basketball. The Tigers played their home games at the FedExForum in Memphis. The 2013–14 season was the first season the Tigers participated in the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 24–10, 12–6 in AAC play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament to UConn. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated George Washington in the second round before losing in the third round to Virginia.
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the 11 full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and Midwest metropolitan areas. The conference was officially recognized as a Division I multi-sport conference on August 1, 2013, and since then conference members have won NCAA national championships in men's basketball, women's cross country, field hockey, men's lacrosse, and men's soccer. Val Ackerman is the commissioner.
The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as the American, is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States featuring 14 full member universities and 8 affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, with its football teams competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Member universities represent a range of private and public universities of various enrollment sizes located primarily in urban metropolitan areas in the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States.
The 2013–14 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season took place between November 2013 and concluded in March 2014. Practices began in October 2013, with conference play beginning in December, and the season ended with the 2014 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament. The season was the first since the split of the original Big East Conference into two separate leagues.
The American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament is the conference tournament in basketball for the American Athletic Conference. It is a single-elimination tournament that involves all league schools. Its seeding is based on regular season records. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament; however, the official conference championship is awarded to the team or teams with the best regular season record.
The 2013–14 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 100th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the American Athletic Conference and were coached by Rick Pitino in his 13th season. The team played its home games on Denny Crum Court at the KFC Yum! Center.
The 2005 Conference USA men's basketball tournament was held March 9–12 at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.
The 2006 Conference USA men's basketball tournament was held March 8–11 at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.
The 2019 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the American Athletic Conference. It was held March 14 through March 17, 2019, at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. Cincinnati defeated Houston 69–57 in the championship to earn the American Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. It was the second consecutive tournament championship for Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati–Memphis rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and the University of Memphis Tigers. The rivalry between these two schools dates to their first college football game in 1966, and has continued across all sports, with the men's basketball series gaining attention as well, having started in 1968. The schools have also shared conferences historically, with the rivalry stretching over the span of five conferences from the Missouri Valley Conference, to the Metro Conference, Great Midwest Conference, Conference USA, and more recently in the American Athletic Conference.
The 2022–23 Houston Cougars men's basketball team represented the University of Houston in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars were led by ninth-year head coach Kelvin Sampson. The team played their home games at the Fertitta Center as members of the American Athletic Conference. In September 2021, Houston and fellow conference members Cincinnati and UCF accepted bids to join the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 33–4, 17–1 in AAC play to win the AAC regular season championship. They defeated East Carolina and Cincinnati to advance to the AAC tournament championship game where they lost to Memphis. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the #1 seed in the Midwest Regional. They defeated Northern Kentucky and Auburn to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth consecutive year. There they lost to Miami (FL).
