WICHITA, Kan. -- The American Athletic Conference released 2017-18 home and road men's basketball opponents for all 12 member schools, Thursday afternoon.
 
The 12 American program play an unbalanced, 18-game league schedule.  Each team will play seven of its 11 opponents twice, and its four remaining opponents once each, two at home and two away.
 
Wichita State is slated for home-and-home series with UCF, Cincinnati, UConn, Houston, SMU, Temple and Tulsa.
 
Shocker fans will have to wait for their first live glimpses of Memphis and East Carolina. WSU will play both schools on the road in 2017-18 but won't receive a return visit until at least 2018-19.
 
Likewise, WSU hosts Tulane and South Florida this season but won't travel to New Orleans or Tampa, Fla.
 
The complete 2017-18 men's basketball conference schedule with dates and times will be announced at a later date.
 
Repeat games are annually determined by television inventory and contractual requirements, competitive issues/RPI implications and geographic rivalries.
 
Four of the Shockers' seven home-and-home opponents reached the postseason in 2016-17. SMU and Cincinnati both finished with top-25 national rankings in the Associated Press poll after reaching the NCAA Tournament, while UCF reached the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Additionally, Houston returned to the NIT for the second straight season.
 
Entering 2017-18, nearly 60 percent of the points scored and minutes played across The American return to their respective teams. Four squads (Cincinnati, Temple, Tulsa, and Wichita State) bring back over 70 percent of their points from last season, while half the players selected first or second team all-conference return as well.