AAC Reveals Conference Parings, Bearcats' Schedule Takes Shape

The American Athletic Conference released league pairings for the 2016-17 college basketball season, helping bring some clarity to the path the Cincinnati Bearcats and the rest of their conference brethren will take next winter/spring. The non-conference slate still needs to be finalized, but for now, we can look forward to 18 games that are locked in.

While no dates were set for these matchups, UC will be playing UCF, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, USF, SMU, Temple and Tulane in home-and-home series. That will make up 16 of the 18 games of the schedule, with a home matchup against Memphis and an away test against East Carolina filling things out.

Last season, the Bearcats played single games against Tulane and UCF while finishing 12-6 in conference play.

Its good to see that we'll get two more trial-by-combat battles with UConn so make sure to get your blood pressure meds ready. Other games to look forward to include two revenge chances against Temple and playing a Nic Moore-less SMU team twice.

In addition to the league pairing announcement, the AAC also confirmed details about the league tournament. As we already knew, it will be held at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, with all 11 teams participating from March 9-12, 2017.