League Pairings Announced

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (UCFKnights.com) - The American Athletic Conference announced the 2016-17 men's basketball conference pairings and the dates for the 2017 championship tournament, which will be held at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, March 9-12.

With having 11 league opponents, the Knights will play eight of the 10 AAC programs twice, while competing against two schools only once each - one at home and one away. This season, UCF will only take on SMU at home and Tulane on the road.

The Black & Gold are slated to play the rest of The American - Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, USF, Temple and Tulsa - both on the road and at CFE Arena in Orlando.

As previously announced, the American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship will be held March 9-12, 2017 (Thursday-Sunday) at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

The complete 2016-17 men's basketball schedule will be released later in the summer.

FIRST YEAR OF DAWKINS
The 2016-17 season will be the first of the Johnny Dawkins era after being named the Knights' head coach on March 23. Dawkins comes to Orlando, after an eight-year stint at Stanford, where he led the Cardinal to five postseason appearances, including and NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2014 and four 20-win seasons.

Prior to his stint in Palo Alto, California, Dawkins coached for 10 years under the legendary Mike Krzyzewski at his alma mater Duke. He played for the Blue Devils from 1982-86, where he was named the 1986 Naismith National Player of the Year and helped lead Duke to three NCAA Tournament berths, including an NCAA National Championship Game appearance in 1986.

2016-17 HOME AND AWAY PAIRINGS