SAN ANTONIO – Officials from the American Conference released the conference-wide slate on Wednesday, announcing the full 2026-27 UTSA men’s basketball conference schedule heading into the third season under head coach Austin Claunch. With 14 newcomers on the roster, Claunch’s Roadrunners will tip off the 18-game American schedule against Temple on Saturday, Jan. 2, in Philadelphia at the Liacouras Center. The American schedule will bring nine conference games to the UTSA home slate at the Convocation Center.
The opening date of the 2026-27 season is Sunday, Nov. 1, across NCAA Division I men’s basketball.
Opening up the league opposition on the road again this season, the Temple Owls finished 16-16 last year and head into the fourth year under Adam Fisher. The first conference appearance for the Roadrunners at the Convocation Center follows on Thursday, Jan. 7, with Tulsa visiting San Antonio for just the third time, and the Golden Hurricane entering year four under Eric Konkol coming off 30-8 campaign that saw Tulsa tie for second in the American regular season and reach the NIT championship game.
Back-to-back road dates in North Carolina follow, with East Carolina on Sunday, Jan. 10 at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, followed by Charlotte on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at Halton Arena. East Carolina was 11-20 heading to the fifth season under Michael Schwartz, while Charlotte saw a hot start end at 17-17 and enters the new year with a new staff under Wes Miller, who was the Cincinnati head coach last season.
UTSA closes out the week as host to Tulane on Sunday, Jan. 17, at the Convo. With Ron Hunter leading the Green Wave in his eighth season, Tulane finished 18-15 in the American Semifinal. The 2025-26 American regular season and tournament champion, South Florida will close out the week’s action at the Convo, with UTSA hosting the Bulls on Saturday, Jan. 23. Reaching the NCAA tournament repping the conference, USF went 25-9 with a 15-3 league mark - that success sending Bryan Hodgson to Providence, while his successor, Chris Mack, arrived from the top role at College of Charleston.
Seeing consecutive home games for the first time in the league slate, UTSA hosts rival North Texas on Thursday, Jan. 28. With Daniyal Robinson heading to his second year in Denton, the Mean Green were 19-14 a year ago, falling in triple overtime in the American Semifinal to end their season. The Roadrunners will end their week at Wichita State on Sunday, Jan. 31, at Koch Arena. Making a breakthrough season last year, Paul Mills is in year four at WSU, finishing 24-12 and reaching the NIT quarterfinal.
Only facing the Owls once in 2026-27, Florida Atlantic kicks off a three-game UTSA home stand on Thursday, Feb. 4, with FAU coming to San Antonio for year three under John Jakus. The Owls went 18-15 and reached the American semifinal. The first return game of the season follows, as Rice visits the Convo on Sunday, Feb. 7.
Following a long BYE, Memphis comes to the Convo on Valentine’s Day, Sunday, Feb. 14 in the ninth season of Penny Hardaway leading the Tigers. Memphis tallied a 13-19 record and was knocked out in the opening round of the American Championships.
UTSA’s second repeat game is next, as the Roadrunners travel to New Orleans to face Tulane at Devlin Fieldhouse on Thursday, Feb. 18. On the back end of the Week, UTSA will see its second matchup with Tulsa at the Reynolds Center on Sunday, Feb. 21.
Heading down the stretch, UTSA will see consecutive split weeks, beginning with a home rematch with East Carolina on Wednesday, Feb. 24, followed by a Saturday, Feb. 27 road rematch date at North Texas in the Super Pit.
The final regular season week opens with the lone date against UAB, traveling to Bartow Arena on Thursday, March 4 to face the Blazers in the seventh season under Andy Kennedy. UAB was fourth in the league last year and finished 20-12 after a first-round conference exit. The 2026-27 regular season finale will be at home for the Roadrunners, hosting Temple on Sunday, March 7.
The American Men’s Basketball Championship is set for March 10-14 at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. It will feature the league’s top 10 teams in a five-day bracket format. The No. 1 and 2 seeds will advance directly to the semifinals, while the No. 3 and 4 seeds will receive byes to the quarterfinals. The No. 5 and 6 seeds will receive byes to the second round.
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2026-27 UTSA Men’s Basketball American Conference Schedule |
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Saturday |
Jan. 2 |
Temple |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
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Thursday |
Jan. 7 |
Tulsa |
San Antonio, Texas |
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Sunday |
Jan. 10 |
East Carolina |
Greenville, N.C. |
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Wednesday |
Jan. 13 |
Charlotte |
Charlotte, N.C. |
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Sunday |
Jan. 17 |
Tulane |
San Antonio, Texas |
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Wednesday |
Jan. 20 |
Rice |
Houston, Texas |
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Saturday |
Jan. 23 |
South Florida |
San Antonio, Texas |
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Thursday |
Jan. 28 |
North Texas |
San Antonio, Texas |
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Sunday |
Jan. 31 |
Wichita State |
Wichita, Kan. |
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Thursday |
Feb. 4 |
Florida Atlantic |
San Antonio, Texas |
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Sunday |
Feb. 7 |
Rice |
San Antonio, Texas |
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Sunday |
Feb. 14 |
Memphis |
San Antonio, Texas |
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Thursday |
Feb. 18 |
Tulane |
New Orleans, La. |
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Sunday |
Feb. 21 |
Tulsa |
Tulsa, Okla. |
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Wednesday |
Feb. 24 |
East Carolina |
San Antonio, Texas |
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Saturday |
Feb. 27 |
North Texas |
Denton, Texas |
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Thursday |
Mar. 4 |
UAB |
Birmingham, Ala. |
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Sunday |
Mar. 7 |
Temple |
San Antonio, Texas |
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Wed.-Sun. |
Mar 10-14 |
American Championships |
Tampa, Fla. (Yuengling Center) |
The 2026-27 season will be the American’s seventh under its media rights extension with ESPN, which will allow for a minimum of 56 conference-controlled games to be televised on either ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. A minimum of 23 of those contests will be on either ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.
Game times and TV networks for the 2026-27 campaign will be announced at a later date.
UTSA men’s basketball season tickets are on sale now and available at http://utsa.pro/2627MBBTIX
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