AAC Basketball, Beale Street and BBQ
The American Athletic Conference has picked a men’s basketball tournament home.
FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn., will host the inaugural AAC tournament from March 12-15.
The choice makes sense.
Memphis has a lot to offer. It also is in a good geographical location.
Defending national champion Louisville, Memphis, UConn, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Houston, Rutgers, South Florida, Southern Methodist University and Temple will compete for the tournament championship.
“We are very excited to have the first American Athletic Conference championship at FedExForum,” said AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said in a released statement. “We received significant interest from many outstanding venues.
“FedExForum is an outstanding facility and the Forum, the city of Memphis, the University of Memphis and the local community will combine to create a wonderful inaugural event that our teams, coaches, administrators and fans will embrace and enjoy.”
Every tournament game will be televised on the ESPN networks. The tournament will start on Wednesday, March 12, with two first round games and culminate with the championship game on Saturday, March 15. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
FedExForum, which seats 18,400, is the home to the University of Memphis men's basketball team and the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. It will also host the 2014 NCAA South Regional.
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