American Conference men's basketball tournament
| American Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Conference basketball championship | |
| Sport | College basketball |
| Conference | American Conference |
| Number of teams | 14 |
| Format | Single-elimination |
| Current stadium | Legacy Arena |
| Current location | Birmingham, AL |
| Played | 2014–present |
| Last contest | 2025 AAC tournament |
| Current champion | South Florida (USF) |
| Most championships | Cincinnati, Houston, SMU, Memphis (2) |
| TV partner(s) | CBS ESPN / ESPN2 / ESPNU / ESPNews |
| Official website | theamerican.org/mbball |
The American Conference men's basketball tournament (sometimes known simply as The American Championship) is the conference tournament in men's basketball for the American Conference. It is a single-elimination tournament that involves all league schools (14 as of the 2023–24 season). 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 creation of the conference tournament was a product of the split of the original Big East Conference. While the American is the legal successor to the old Big East, it gave up the rights to the long-standing conference tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City to the new Big East. As a result, the 2014 tournament was numbered as the first tournament for the conference.
The conference adopted the "American Athletic Conference" name upon the Big East split, dropping the word "Athletic" in July 2025.