Aside from a location change for the American Conference men’s and women’s basketball championships this season, tournament seeding has been altered, too.

No longer will every team in the league participate. Only the top 10 out of 13 teams at the end of the regular season earn bids. 

The No. 1 and 2 seeds advance straight to the semifinals, while the No. 3 and 4 seeds start in the quarterfinals stage. The No. 5 and 6 seeds will have to win four games in four days. Teams seeded seventh through 10th must win five games in five days. 

According to The Memphis Commercial Appeal, the change is meant to reinforce “the league’s continued efforts to re-establish multi-bid status.” But it also becomes an added pressure for an already one-bid league.

The American sent only one team to the NCAA Tournament last season and is on track to repeat this year with no teams currently in the AP Top 25 or receiving votes. Tulsa or South Florida could snag an at-large bid, however, as both teams are in the top 60 of the NCAA NET rankings as of now. But that will depend on the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee come Selection Sunday and how they finish the season.

“I’m not a fan of this whole idea,” Wichita State coach Paul Mills said of the change during his weekly media availability last Friday. “Collegiate athletics should involve student athletes, right? … But you eliminate three teams, and you don’t give teams the opportunity for March.”

In years past, all participating teams in the conference earned a berth to the tournament, aside from in 2016 when then-No. 24 SMU was banned by the NCAA from postseason play.

The change also eliminates one of the defining qualities of NCAA basketball in March: the upset factor. Dumbing down the number of teams from a tournament nullifies the opportunity for quote-unquote miracle runs and Cinderella stories. 

And with how the seeding is set up, it favors the top two teams in the conference tremendously.

“The truth is the American is a one-bid league, and you’re going to have to win the conference tournament,” Mills said. “(With) the new format, it’s (set up in) a way that favors the top two seeds. Everybody in the conference understands it.”

Mills mentioned that Baylor went on a run in the 2008 season as a No. 9 seed in the Big 12 tournament, made the National Invitational Tournament and eventually lost the NIT championship game to Penn State. That underdog story catapulted the Bears, who went on to an NCAA Elite Eight appearance the next season — the first under long-time coach Scott Drew.

Heck, even the Shockers were considered Cinderellas not too long ago.

Outside of the “what could have been’s,” this year’s change eliminates students who sacrifice the time and effort required to be a college athlete. They spend an entire work week on their craft — around 40-50 hours, according to a study by the California Learning Resource Network in July 2025 — plus maintaining academic eligibility to participate.

That’s not to mention the time it takes to rehab injuries.

“To deprive student athletes of that opportunity — man, that’s one tough pill to swallow,” Mills said. “Kids put in so much time, and teams are where they are in the conference standings a lot of times because of injuries.

“Like, you’re just missing players, and you have to figure it out with a different group, and the injuries don’t come at an ideal time.”

WSU’s third-year coach said he made it clear to Athletic Directors around the conference how he felt, too.

“I shared my opinion. They obviously didn’t think much of it,” Mills said. “But … when you say that this is a sport for student athletes — that one’s really hard to stomach.”

He’s also aware of the arguments for the change. Regular season results do matter at the end of the day, but Mills said he thinks they shouldn’t affect anything but seeding.

“I just think everybody should be involved in your conference tournament,” Mills said. “(However) you organize the format is fine.”

With the March 11-15 conference tournament looming, WSU finds itself in a tie for second place in the conference standings with just five games left after beating Tulsa last weekend. 

The Shockers play games this week against East Carolina on the road Wednesday (tomorrow) and Temple at home Saturday.