Updated March 8, 2026
One of the most intriguing conferences from a college basketball betting perspective is the American Athletic Conference. This league has been impacted by conference realignment in a major way, and the landscape of the conference in basketball has changed dramatically in recent years. Here, we look at the futures betting odds for the AAC tournament and break down which contenders are worth backing in the futures markets to win it.
Team | Odds |
|---|---|
South Florida | -120 |
Tulsa | +270 |
Wichita State | +370 |
UAB | +2200 |
North Texas | +6500 |
Memphis | +8000 |
Florida Atlantic | +12000 |
Charlotte | +12000 |
Temple | +15000 |
Tulane | +30000 |
Odds current as of March 9, 2026
The favorites to win the American Athletic Conference championship are the USF Bulls. South Florida went on a tear late in the regular season, getting nine straight wins to grab the regular-season title in this conference. The question will be whether they can keep up that level of play with the pressure of conference tournament time on them at this point.
There are a couple of other teams in contention to win this conference tournament this March. Wichita State is no stranger to postseason success as a program, though the glory days of Fred VanVleet and company are long behind them. Still, the Shockers finished in a tie for second place with a 13-5 record in conference play this season and they have shown they can go toe-to-toe with the best teams in this league.
The team Wichita State finished in a tie with in conference play this season was the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Tulsa won five straight games to close out the regular season and look like a quality group going into the postseason. But the Golden Hurricane went 13-2 at home this season and the big test for them will be whether or not they can perform away from home in must-win games.
Going into conference championship week, it looks likely that the AAC is going to be a one-bid league this year. The latest Bracketology projections have USF in as a 12-seed as the conference's automatic qualifier, but the rest of the league isn't even on the bubble, which suggests that the winner of this tournament will be the only team in the NCAA Tournament.
The American Athletic Conference, also known simply as the AAC, consists of 14 teams and was created in 2013 after the splitting of the original Big East Conference. Every year, the conference’s men’s basketball teams play out their regular-season schedule before competing in the AAC Men’s Basketball tournament. Seedings for this single-elimination tournament are determined by the regular season standings in conference play. The winner of the AAC tournament earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball tournament.
Being a relatively new conference, the AAC isn’t exactly steeped in history, especially after conference realignment. Schools like UConn, Houston, and Cincinnati have all been a part of this conference in the past, but have since moved onto other leagues. But the schools that are currently in the league will look to write plenty of history of their own.
Wins | AAC Team | Last Yr Won |
|---|---|---|
2 | Houston | 2022 |
2 | Cincinnati | 2019 |
2 | SMU | 2017 |
2 | Memphis | 2025 |
1 | UAB | 2024 |
1 | Connecticut | 2016 |
1 | Louisville | 2014 |
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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