ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The American Athletic Conference announced schedule pairings for the 2017-18 season on Thursday. For the second straight season, the Knights welcome four-time reigning conference champion UConn, as well as in-state rival USF, to CFE Arena.
The league's 12 members will play a 16-game schedule. With the addition of Wichita State, each team will play five of its 11 opponents twice, and six opponents once each – three at home and three away.
In the single-game pairings for 2017-18, UCF will host East Carolina, Tulane and Wichita State, and will meet Cincinnati, Houston and Tulsa on the road. In addition to the Huskies and the Bulls, the Knights will play Memphis, SMU and Temple both at home and on the road.
The complete 2016-17 women's basketball regular season schedule with dates and times will be announced in the fall.
The 2018 American Women's Basketball Championship will be once again be played at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., from March 3-6. In May, the league announced a multi-year agreement for the Mohegan Sun to host the conference's championship through 2020.
The Knights are coming off one of the best seasons in program history. In her first year at the helm, head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson guided the squad to a 21-12 overall mark that included the program's first-ever win over a ranked opponent. The Knights knocked off then-No. 22 USF for their first victory in Tampa, and gave UCF the lead for good en route to a 51-33 win in the inaugural War on I4 rivalry series.
The Black and Gold finished fourth in the league standings and topped Tulane, 61-57, to pick up the program's first victory in The American Championship.
UCF returns nearly every member of the 2016-17 squad, including All-Conference First Team selection Aliyah Gregory. The Knights added five newcomers to its roster for the 2017-18 campaign, and will gain redshirt senior Zakiya Saunders, who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules.
