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2025 AAC Baseball Tournament: Preview, schedule, how to watch

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The 2025 AAC Baseball Tournament is set to begin in Clearwater, FL on Tuesday. Here’s how to watch and what to look for this week.

The field wasn’t finalized until the final weekend of the regular season, but now eight teams have secured their spots in the 2025 AAC Baseball Tournament. An automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and hopes of playing for a trip to the College World Series are at stake. The bottom two teams in the standings: Memphis and UAB, will be watching from home.

All games will be streamed on ESPN+ with the exception of the tournament championship, available on ESPN News. The tournament runs from Tuesday, May 20 to Sunday, May 25. The full schedule and updated bracket are available on the American Conference Baseball Tournament website.

Assessing the field

The favorite | UTSA has lost four conference games this season. To think of them picking up a pair of defeats in a few short days in Clearwater seems unlikely, which makes them the easy chalk pick to win it all. If there’s any blemish on their resume, it’s their record outside of San Antonio (17-9) which is merely very good as opposed to their sterling 25-2 mark at home.

The contender | Charlotte was in a gaggle of teams a few games back of UTSA with a month left in the regular season and while the 49ers couldn’t catch the Roadrunners, they enter the tournament on a nine-game winning streak. Ace Blake Gillespie has the best ERA in the conference (2.53).

The dark horse | South Florida is one of two teams (UTSA being the other) that ranks inside the top three teams in the conference in batting average and pitching ERA. The Bulls have won four of their last five conference series and are among the most consistent teams in the conference, capable of grinding out wins.

The wild card | Florida Atlantic is going to live and die by the long ball. The Owls lead the league with 42 home runs in conference play and have allowed the fewest long balls as a pitching staff on the mound against league opponents (21). One swing of the bat can be extremely consequential in elimination-style tournaments making this team a dangerous out.

The bracket

The opening day of games will take place on Tuesday, May 20:

Game 1 – 9:00 AM | (5) Tulane vs (4) Florida Atlantic

Game 2 – approx. 12:30 PM | (1) UTSA vs (8) Rice

Game 3 – 4:00 PM | (7) Wichita State vs (2) Charlotte

Game 4 – approx. 7:30 PM | (6) East Carolina vs (3) South Florida

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2025 AAC Men’s Basketball Tournament Preview

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The 2025 AAC Men’s Basketball Tournament is slated to tip off in DFW this week. Here’s a preview of the action.

The Favorite: Memphis

At 16-2 in league play and 26-5 overall, Memphis is the front runner to cut down the nets this season, entering the conference tournament as the No. 2 scoring team in the league, thanks to PJ Haggerty and company with strong defensive metrics to go alongside it. The only AAC team in the top 50 of KenPom as of Monday, anything less that a tournament championship would be disappointing for this program.

The Contenders: North Texas, UAB

There are at least two squads capable of thwarting the Tigers’ aspirations. UAB is the only team in the league that averages more points per game than Memphis while North Texas allows nearly 13 points fewer per game than the Tigers. Neither has been as consistent as Memphis has been this season, but both boast NCAA Tournament history and enough talent to beat the Tigers head-to-head. The Mean Green came closest to doing that in the regular season, losing by four in Memphis.

The Dark Horse: FAU

Florida Atlantic is as battle tested as they come and despite an uninspiring 17-14 record. The Owls looked to be contenders for an top four seed at times this year, but a three game losing streak in late February, including losses to Memphis and North Texas, buffeted them down to the five spot. FAU can shoot it and has moments on defense to stay afloat on that side of the court.

The Wild Card: Temple

When in doubt, bet on the three ball to cause chaos in March. Temple is second in the conference behind Memphis in three point field goal percentage and is one of the teams most capable of getting hot behind the arc and knocking off someone they shouldn’t. Once that happens, it’s anyone’s guess how the rest of the tournament might play out.

The Bracket

The opening play-in game will take place on Wednesday, March 12, with first full day of action set for Thursday, March 13. Here is the slate for the first two days. The full schedule is available on the conference website. All early-round games can be streamed on ESPN+, with the championship on ESPNU.

First Round | Wednesday, March 12 (Super Pit in Denton, TX)

Game 1: No. 13 Charlotte vs. No. 1 Rice – 12 p.m. CT

Second Round | Thursday, March 13 (Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX)

Game 2: No. 9 South Florida vs. No. 8 Wichita State – 11:30 a.m. CT
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 FAU – 1:30 p.m. CT
Game 4: No. 10 Tulsa vs. No. 7 Temple – 6 p.m. CT
Game 5: No. 11 UTSA vs. No. 6 ECU – 8 p.m. CT

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2025 AAC Women’s Basketball Tournament Preview

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The 2025 AAC Women’s Basketball Tournament is slated to tip off in DFW this week. Here’s a preview of the action.

The Favorite: UTSA

Sitting at 26-3 overall and a staggering 17-1 in conference play, UTSA hasn’t lost a game since January and their only loss in the state of Texas, where the 2025 AAC Tournament will be played, came in their opening game at Texas A&M. With no guarantees the Roadrunners will receive an at-large bid, this team should be plenty motivated to finish what they started and a tournament championship to their regular season title.

The Contenders: North Texas, South Florida

South Florida has been to the NCAA Tournament three times in the last four years and was the only AAC squad to beat UTSA in the regular season. As for North Texas, the Mean Green tied their own program record this season with 23 victories. Either might be a front runner in a typical season and each is perfectly capable of taking home the title this year.

The Dark Horse: Tulsa

Winners of the regular season championship a year ago, Tulsa finished fifth in the standings this time around but is playing their best basketball right now. The Golden Hurricane have won their last five games, including a victory over South Florida at home. If there’s a good bet outside of the upper tier of the standings, Tulsa is the pick.

The Wild Card: Rice

It was only a season ago that 10-Seed Rice ripped off four straight victories in this tournament to punch a their ticket to the Big Dance. This year’s squad has faced similar regular season struggles, but retains the core pieces like Malia Fisher, Dominque Ennis and Sussy Ngulefac who made last season’s run possible. Can lightning strike twice?

The Bracket

The opening play-in game will take place on Saturday, March 8, with first full day of action set for Sunday, March 9. Here is the slate for the first two days. The full schedule is available on the conference website. All early-round games can be streamed on ESPN+, with the championship on ESPNU.

First Round | Saturday, March 8 (Super Pit in Denton, TX)

Game 1: No. 13 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 12 Charlotte – 12 p.m. CT

Second Round | Sunday, March 9 (Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX)

Game 2: No. 9 Rice vs. No. 8 UAB – 12 p.m. CT
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 Tulsa – 2 p.m. CT
Game 4: No. 10 Memphis vs. No. 7 East Carolina – 6 p.m. CT
Game 5: No. 11 Wichita State vs. No. 6 Tulane – 8 p.m. CT

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Rice Football 2024 Special Teams Player of the Year: Quinton Jackson

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One record-setting return was only part of a tremendous season for Quinton Jackson, our 2024 Rice Football Special Teams Player of the Year.

Quinton Jackson set a program record when he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against UConn on October 26. The return was one of the most exciting moments in a wayward season for the Owls and contributed to Jackson being the runaway winner for our 2024 Rice Football Special Teams Player of the Year.

To accurately describe Jackson’s heroics, we must first start with Pete Alamar. Alamar was the Owls’ special teams coordinator that day who would soon after be promoted to interim head coach following the dismissal of head coach Mike Bloomgren. That news came the day following Jackson’s scamper that brought the team within a score of tying the game but would not be enough to salvage the win.

A 40-year veteran in the industry, Alamar had coached a lot of football before taking charge at South Main. His brief stint as the headman of the Owls’ program was a momentary departure from the world of special teams that have been his central focus for most of his career.

During that time, Alamar had the honor of coaching some of the best of the best ever to play teams.

He coached Desean Jackson at Cal and Dennis Northcutt at Arizona. Then he went on to coach Ty Montgomery and Christian McCaffrey at Stanford. This man was well acquainted with what excellence special teams play looks like. That’s what made his endorsement of Rice return man Quinton Jackson so impactful.

More: 2024 Rice Football Season Superlatives

“What he did was phenomenally cool,” Alamar said of Jackson’s big return.

“I’ve told the team, that cat, right there,” he said during that week’s media availability, pointing toward Jackson, “is as good as any kick returner I’ve had at hitting and getting. His first 25 is what makes him special because when he hits it, he hits it.”

Jackson “hit it” that day, but that play was one of 22 kick returns Jackson had during the season. Jackson averaged 26.8 yards per return, eighth nationally among all players. His 589 total return yards ranked fourth and his 49.1 kick return yards per game ranked fifth.

When you have a 4-8 season, not many players rank in the top 10 nationally in any metric. For Rice football, Jackson was the exception, earning AAC Special Teams Player of the Week following that return, the only weekly individual honor any Owl received from the conference this season.

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Jackson carried himself humbly when given the opportunity to react to the special moment. At the same time, he knew the play didn’t come about by accident. He credited the hours and hours of work put in by his protection unit and everything and everyone surrounding him that helped set up that moment.

At the end of the day, it was Jackson that had to made to make the play.

“I feel like I’ve been confident all year. It’s just waiting for my moment to happen.”

Jackson did his best best to absorb the moment and savor the memory he had helped create. Then it was time to move forward, to think about the next game and consider what more could be done to help the team find a way to win.

“You can’t let that get into your head, though. That’s just one,” Jackson remarked. “You can’t just be a one-hit wonder.”

Jackson’s return was the first Rice football kick return touchdown since 2012. Even if Jackson’s tally stops at one, he’ll have carved his names in the program’s record books forever.

** Photo Credit: Maria Lysaker **
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AAC Football 2024: Bowl Schedule and Coaching Changes

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Army has won the 2024 AAC Football Championship. Now eight teams venture on to bowl season with the first game fast approaching.

TeamBowlOpponentTimeDate
MemphisFriscoWest Virginia8:00 PMDec. 17 (Tues)
TulaneGasparillaFlorida2:30 PMDec. 20 (Fri)
UTSAMyrtle BeachCoastal Carolina10:00 AMDec. 23 (Mon)
USFHawaiiSan Jose State7:00 PMDec. 24 (Tues)
NavyArmed ForcesOklahoma11:00 AMDec. 27 (Fri)
ArmyIndependenceMarshall8:15 PMDec. 28 (Sat)
ECUMilitaryNC State4:45 PMDec. 28 (Sat)
North TexasFirst ResponderTexas State3:00 PMJan 3 (Fri)

All times are in central time

Coaching Changes

Rice opened up the AAC coaching carousel when they dismissed Mike Bloomgren at the end of October. Tulsa wrapped things up by hiring East Tennessee Stat’s Tre Lamb this week. Here’s the final list of changes in the league this offseason:

TeamPrevious CoachNew CoachHired From
CharlotteBiff PogiiTim AlbinOhio (HC)
ECUMike HoustonBlake HarrellECU (Interim)
FAUTom HermanZach KittleyTexas Tech (OC)
RiceMike BloomgrenScott AbellDavidson (HC)
TempleStan DraytonK.C. KeelerSam Houston (HC)
TulsaKevin WilsonTre LambEast Tennessee St (HC)
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