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AAC sets basketball pairings

The American Athletic Conference releases the 2014-15 basketball schedule, offering a first peak at Temple's season.

    by TYLER R. TYNES
    Published 

THE AMERICAN Athletic Conference yesterday announced its 2014-15 men's basketball pairings.

With the loss of Rutgers and Louisville, the AAC brings in Tulane, East Carolina and Tulsa, expanding from 10 to 11 members and necessitating a new format for the pairings. Each team will play eight of its 10 opponents twice, home and away, and the other two once.

For Temple, coming off the program's worst season ever, the one-off games will be against Houston (home) and Memphis (away).

All 11 teams will play in the conference tournament, with three first-round games and five first-round byes.

"We are very pleased with the schedule format we have put together for the 2014-15 season," AAC commissioner Mike Arseco said in a statement.

"We took into consideration rivalries, marquee matchups and geographical and travel considerations. The move of our championship to a Thursday-Sunday format offers our traveling fans more convenience while affording us significantly better coverage on ESPN platforms and a championship window that has historically produced better ratings."

The AAC had a successful opening year with Connecticut winning the men's and women's national titles.Temple's pairings for the upcoming season:

Home: UCF, Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, USF, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa

Away: UCF, Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina, Memphis, USF, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa.